As I’ve mentioned before, I am not generally a fan of weight loss supplements. Long-term, sustainable weight loss is about more than just eating less and has a huge mental component. You have to teach yourself the right foods to eat, how to balance your calorie intake/deficit, and understand why you gained weight in the first place. I think that many times weight loss supplements completely bypass everything except making you feel less hungry so you consume fewer calories overall.
Still, I decided to try the ANS Performance High Intensity Thermogenic (HIT) weight loss supplement that came in my first Bulu Box to see if it worked any differently.
This is the 7-day supply I received in my Bulu Box.
The instructions said to take one capsule before each meal, except on the first three days during which a capsule should only be take before breakfast and lunch to determine tolerance of the product. The instructions also stipulated no snacking after dinner or between meals.
The label lists the following ingredients:
Vitamin B12 (as Cyanocobalamin) 0.20 mcg
Vitamin C (as Ascorbic Acid) 20.00 mg
Vitamin B1 (as Thiamine Hydrochloride) 0.50 mg
Vitamin B6 (as pyridoxine HCl) 0.67 mg
Vitamin B5 (as calcium d-pantothenate) 3.30 mg
The HIT™ – Proprietary Blend 388.00 mg
- Hordenine
- Caffeine Anhydrous
- L-Theanine
- Alchemilla vulgaris extract [frauenmantle (leaf)]
- Olea europaea extract [wild olive (leaf)]
- Cuminum cyminum [komijn (seed)]
- Mentha longifolia extract [wild mint (leaf)]
- Coffea Arabica extract [50% chlorogenic acids (bean)]
- Evodia rutaecarpa extract (supplying evodiamine)
- Schizandra chinesis extract (supplying Schizandrol A)
Note that the proprietary blend contains both caffeine and Arabica extract as primary ingredients, but the rest I couldn’t readily identify. While the supplement does contain 33% of your recommended daily value of vitamin C, the amount of B vitamins is almost negligible.
For the first three days I did as instructed and took one capsule before breakfast and lunch. I didn’t feel at all jittery, but I’m also a pretty heavy consumer of caffeine on a regular basis. I did, however, start having a lot of stomach issues. I thought they were stress-related symptoms of a stomach ulcer and did not immediately make the connection to the supplement. That is, until the day that I had three of the capsules and had such intense burning and gnawing in my stomach that I almost couldn’t bear it.
Needless to say I did not continue taking the supplement for the entire week’s supply. If the way to eat less is to give you unbearable stomach pain, it would have probably worked for me. I admit that I have a sensitive stomach to some things, so this may not happen to everyone (or even most people). Still, I think it is an important consideration for anyone who is thinking of trying out this supplement, pre-existing stomach conditions or not.
While I am no expert on weight loss supplements, I can’t help but think there must be something better out there that will accomplish the same thing without the harsh side-effects. If what you want is to reduce your appetite, drink more water and eat lower calorie foods with a lot of volume and fiber. You won’t be as hungry, but it won’t come at the cost of physical discomfort.
