Doctor Reviews: Burn Evolved 2.0

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Burn Evolved 2.0 claims to “activate your TRPV1 receptors to help skyrocket your metabolic rate”. They say that it’s a “secret control switch” embedded in your fat cells, and by activating it, it will force your fat cells to start burning.

Now this already sounds ridiculous, but what are TRPV1 receptors and what do they actually do?

What does TRPV1 do?

TRPV1 receptors are like little detectors in your body. They help you sense heat and spice, especially in your mouth, on your skin, and in certain organs.

When you eat something like a spicy chili pepper, or when hot water touches your skin, these TRPV1 receptors send signals to your brain. Your brain then interprets these signals as heat or spiciness.

So TRPV1 receptors are your body’s heat and spice detectors. They make sure you can feel and respond to hot temperatures or spicy foods to keep you safe and help you react accordingly. They aren’t some secret switch to increase fat burning.

TRPV1 and fat burning?

But you might be wondering why some people seem to believe that eating cayenne extracts and activating these TRPV1 receptors can somehow burn more fat.

This myth arises from a few studies on cells and mice. These studies suggested that activating TRPV1 receptors might lead to small cellular changes that could help with obesity.

These cellular changes included a few things like reducing fat production and increasing brown adipose tissue activation.

While these cellular changes do seem interesting, the problem is that every single one of these studies are done in cells in a petri dish, or in mice. Not in actual humans.

There is no evidence to show that activating TRPV1 receptors in humans can do any of these things. And even if it could, there’s certainly no evidence to suggest that taking cayenne extracts orally could even activate the TRPV1 receptors in your fat cells to do those things in the first place.

In fact, studies in humans show that taking cayenne extracts are not likely to have much effect on weight at all. Other studies show that taking capsaicin is also not likely to have much effect on fat loss or energy burning.

So we don’t really have any evidence that turning on TRPV1 receptors does anything meaningful for our metabolism or burning fat in humans. However, people may seem inclined to believe this myth because of a few weak studies in mice.

Also, eating cayenne extracts might give a burning sensation in the mouth, which some people might think means it’s burning fat elsewhere in the body. Sadly, that’s not the case, and clinical studies have shown that taking cayenne extracts do not significantly affect body weight or fat in humans.

Ingredients of Burn Evolved 2.0

With that in mind, let’s talk about the supplement itself. Here are the doses per capsule. The recommended dosing is 2 per day.

We’re going to analyze each ingredient to see whether they contain a sufficient dose, whether it contains the active compounds to work, and how effective they might be for weight loss. Then at the very end, I’ll look into cheaper alternatives and give the supplement an overall rating.

Chromium

Chromium is a mineral our body needs to help with glucose metabolism. I’ve explained this in more depth before, but taking extra chromium only really helps if you’re lacking it, which is super uncommon in North America.

Or if you have diabetes or PCOS, in which case it might give you a bit of a boost in dealing with those conditions.

But when it comes to losing weight or shedding fat, the benefits are pretty small, as studies show only slight weight loss in these groups.

So chromium has been studied in numerous clinical trials. However, those trials show that if you’re already in good health, adding chromium won’t do much for your weight or your body composition.

Gymnema extract

Gymnema has been studied for its possible role in assisting people with metabolic diseases in managing their blood sugar levels, but the research is pretty weak.

Also, there isn’t any good evidence to suggest it offers benefits to individuals who don’t have metabolic diseases.

It’s worth noting that the studies typically utilized a daily dose of 600 mg. Burn Evolved 2.0 only provides 300 mg.

Alpinia galanga

Alpinia galanga is a plant related to ginger, but it doesn’t really taste like ginger. It’s used in traditional medicine for things like colds and sore throats when you chew it. However, there’s no evidence that it can assist with losing fat or weight.

Coleus forskohlii

Coleus forskohlii is a member of the mint family. It contains forskolin, which is believed to be the active constituent in Coleus forskohlii.

Now, forskolin has been looked into for obesity in two small studies. Proponents use these studies to say that Coleus forskohlii can help people lose weight, since the study authors suggested it might be good for weight loss.

But, if you actually look at the results of these trials, they show that Coleus forskohlii was no more effective than a placebo for weight loss.

One of these studies is even kind of tricky. In this study, the group taking Coleus forskohlii actually started off a bit lighter than the placebo group.

So if you just look at the final weight, it seems like the Coleus forskohlii group lost more weight. But when you calculate the weight that was actually lost, there’s no real difference between Coleus forskohlii and the placebo.

So, the idea that Coleus forskohlii can help you lose weight is just not true. The myth likely came from these studies. I mean, yes, they looked at it for obesity, but it turns out it’s not any better than a placebo for losing weight.

Nevertheless, the studies used 500 mg of a standardized 10% forskolin extract daily. Burn Evolved 2.0 provides only 150 mg of a non-standardized extract daily.

Caffeine

Caffeine, whether it’s from so-called “natural” extracts, or even pure caffeine in the anhydrous form, can really only help with weight loss if it amps up your physical activity.

Burn Evolved 2.0 gives you about 130 mg of caffeine each day, which is equivalent to one and a half cups of coffee.

Caffeine is by far the closest ingredient in Burn Evolved 2.0 that has anything to do with burning fat or losing weight.

L-theanine

L-theanine is an amino acid that could be useful for improving brainpower and staying focused when you’re stressed, especially if you combine it with caffeine. You’ll find it in lots of workout supplements.

While it won’t help you lose weight or get stronger, it might help you concentrate better during your workouts.

Normally, you’d take about 200 mg or more of L-theanine, so Burn Evolved 2.0 falls a bit short here.

Cayenne extract and Evodiamine

Cayenne extract is a spice which can activate TRPV1 receptors. Evodiamine is an extract of Evodia fruits, and is believed to work in a similar way to cayenne extract. Burn Evolved 2.0 is really pushing the idea that activating these receptors can burn fat.

But as I’ve explained earlier, the proof for this is mainly from studies on mice and cells. When it comes to humans, the studies don’t show any actual major fat or weight loss.

Grains of Paradise

Grains of Paradise is another supplement that proponents claim can help you burn fat and lose weight. This belief mostly comes from one small study that seemed to find benefits for shedding fat.

This study dug into how it affects your overall energy use and the fat around your organs. But, the study only had a tiny group of 19 people. So, you should take the results with a pinch of skepticism.

Now, in the study, the people who took the extract did have less fat around their organs compared to those who took a placebo.

But there weren’t any big differences in subcutaneous fat, body fat percentage, or total weight loss.

Actually, oddly enough, the placebo group seemed to lose more weight overall, though this wasn’t a super strong finding.

And to make things worse, other research backs up the fact that Grains of Paradise likely won’t affect your weight or fat loss.

So despite the belief that Grains of Paradise can theoretically activate brown adipose tissue or increase energy expenditure, research shows that taking it is not realistically going to help with any significant fat or weight loss.

Burn Evolved 2.0 Side effects and warnings

In terms of side effects, the ingredient most likely to cause any problems is the caffeine content. One and a half cups of coffee isn’t too much, but if you’re sensitive to coffee, or are pregnant, you may need to be careful.

Is Burn Evolved 2.0 effective?

Burn Evolved 2.0 doesn’t offer much beyond caffeine and chromium. They’re throwing in various other ingredients that they think are linked to fat burning, like cayenne extracts or Grains of Paradise.

But here’s the thing: these ideas aren’t backed by strong proof. The studies that seem to support these claims are really just theoretical and don’t actually prove that these ingredients work in people. And the studies that do involve humans don’t show much better results than a placebo.

This just goes to show that having a study or a research paper on a topic, even if the author seems to suggest it’s helpful, doesn’t automatically make it true. You’ve got to look at the results for yourself.

Overall review: Burn Evolved 2.0

Reviewing Burn Evolved 2.0 by effectiveness for weight loss, I’m giving it an C. It makes an incorrect claim about TRPV1 receptors and fat loss and is functionally nothing more than a caffeine supplement with some chromium.

Reviewing Burn Evolved 2.0 by cost, I’m giving it a D. You can replicate what Burn Evolved 2.0 is trying to provide you for many times less.

Reviewing Burn Evolved 2.0 for safety, I’m giving it a C. Caffeine can cause some people who are sensitive to it unwanted side effects.

Overall review, I’m giving Burn Evolved 2.0 a D. I wouldn’t recommend it at all.

Top alternatives to Burn Evolved 2.0

If you’re looking to achieve effects similar to, or perhaps even better than, those of Burn Evolved 2.0, I would combine caffeine, with chromium and a quality Gymnema extract. If you really wanted to you could also add cayenne extract or Coleus forskohlii, even though research has shown that they are not very helpful at all:

• Caffeine anhydrous – 1 cap / day
• Capsaicin (cayenne) – 2 to 5 caps / day
• Chromium nicotinate (GTF) – 1 to 5 caps / day
• Chromium picolinate – 1 to 5 caps / day
• Coleus forskohlii – 2 caps / day
• Gymnema – 1 to 2 caps / day

Learn more about

• Is Coffee Good For Weight Loss?
• Capsaicin For Weight Loss
• Chromium For Weight Loss
• 6 Things To Look For On Supplements
• 5 Things to Know Before Buying Weight Loss Supplements
• Other weight loss supplements

See also

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  Doctor Reviews: ZBiotics
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  Doctor Reviews: Bee Bread
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