2011/06/26

Does Alcachofa Really Help You Lose Weight?

There have been many fads in weight loss methods, from the Atkins Diet to Fen-phen and everything in between. Some of them seem to live up to the hype and some of them don't. A newer, trending weight control aid is Alcachofa supplements. This trend started in Mexico and is now becoming more and more popular in the United States. But the real question is, "Does Alcachofa really help you lose weight?"

Alcachofa supplements are based primarily on Artichoke extract. How exactly does the artichoke extract in Alcachofa help you lose weight? The main way that Alcachofa products help you lose weight is by helping the body remove extra water. For various reasons, the human body retains water and thus causes us to feel and look bloated. This also gives us extra water weight. Artichoke is a naturally-occuring diuretic, so by taking Alcachofa, the excess water in our bodies gets flushed out. Without that much extra water in our bodies, we lose inches because our bodies are less bloated, and we lose pounds because we no longer carry the weight of all that water.

Now losing inches and pounds is a great thing, but what most of us are interested in is losing fat also, not just water. The basic premise of losing fat is to burn more calories than we eat. Even if we lose as much water weight and size as we can, our bodies can still increase in body fat if we end up eating more calories than we can burn. So in terms of losing fat, Alcachofa supplements that only contain Artichoke extract as the active weight loss ingredient are insufficient. They will help with water weight, but not with fat loss. Alcachofa supplements would work best when combined with other ingredients that actually help you lose fat. Two other naturally-derived plant extracts that can help with this are African Mango and Bitter Orange.

As mentioned in the previous paragraph, in order to lose fat, we must burn more calories than we eat. And for a lot of us, that's a difficult feat! Unlike Artichoke extract which deals with water weight, African Mango extract actually contributes to losing fat. African Mango extract helps increase the body's metabolism by increasing the energy used by the body. This means that your body will burn more calories than it normally does if you consume African Mango extract. And on top of helping you burn more calories, African Mango extract also helps reduce your appetite, so you eat less calories than you normally do. This makes African Mango extract an excellent weight loss aid because you end up burning more calories than usual and eating less calories than usual.

Another natural plant extract that can help with fat loss is Bitter Orange extract. Bitter Orange extract, like African Mango extract, also helps in suppressing appetite to help you consume less calories. But unlike Artichoke extract which helps you lose water weight and unlike African Mango extract that increases the amount of calories your body burns, Bitter Orange extract not only helps you eat less, it actually aids in breaking down body fat directly. One important thing to note with Bitter Orange extract is that it contains stimulants, so you should only consume it earlier in the day so that it does not interfere with your sleep.

In conclusion, Alcachofa itself is an effective method to lose water weight and size, but it is ineffective for fat loss. Other natural active weight loss ingredients that are more effective for fat loss are African Mango and Bitter Orange. So an effective combination of losing inches and pounds more quickly is to combine Alcachofa, African Mango, and Bitter Orange together to target weight loss in all directions: flushing out excess water, reducing appetite, burning more calories, and burning fat.

Alcachofa is a dietary supplement, as with any dietary supplement, consult your health care provider before use. Dietary supplements should not be used by pregnant or breastfeeding women. Alcachofa is the same family as sunflower seeds and chrysanthemum, so if you are allergic to any of these you should not take this supplement.


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