Top 10 Best Supplements for Weight Loss

Most people have lived with extra body weight at one point in their lives, and know how difficult it is to sustain healthy weight loss. Yet, weight loss pills come with concerning side effects, and exercise only tends to be as effective as calories in, calories out.

In getting you toward your goals, healthy, natural weight loss comes from a well-rounded diet and exercise routine. The principles of integrative medicine help support different hormones, neurotransmitters, and metabolic reactions that work with your physiology. This will help you burn fat more efficiently. At the same time, dietary supplements and vitamins for weight loss can complement your overarching efforts.

The experts at CentreSpringMD, the Atlanta area’s leading functional medicine center and holistic primary care provider, are here to get to the root cause of your concerns and deliver more personalized recommendations.

Check out these superfoods, amino acids, special botanicals, and other natural dietary supplements for weight loss.

What’s Behind Weight Gain?

Traditional medicine takes a simplistic view of weight loss. Especially if you’re just above the healthy weight range, your doctor has likely told you to exercise more and watch your diet.

But, you already do that! Instead, your body might be contending with one of the following:

Imbalanced gut health: Your gut microbiome affects several processes. Too much bacteria or decreased biodiversity can lead to inflammation and cravings for carbohydrates and sugar. You, in the process, eat more, which can lead to weight gain.
Hormonal imbalances: For both men and women, elevated estrogen levels throw off your metabolism and affect your thyroid’s performance. As a result, you feel sluggish and find your weight stays in the same place. In addition to estrogen, elevated cortisol levels — a byproduct of stress — affect how your body manages fat deposits.
Muscle loss: Losing muscle is somewhat normal as you age. However, accelerated muscle loss means your body’s lean muscle mass sharply and rapidly declines. In turn, you burn fewer calories relative to what you eat.
Chronic stress: Chronic stress affects your health on a broader scale. Many constantly living in this fight-or-flight mode get cravings for salty or sweet foods, sleep less, and can’t stay focused for long periods of time. Through this combination, your body doesn’t regulate hunger as well. You might also consume more calories in response to less-structured eating.

Do Weight Loss Supplements Really Work?

You’re right to be skeptical about using supplements for weight loss. It’s important to choose safe supplements supported by functional medicine.

The body has hundreds of reactions and metabolic processes going on at any given time. The best supplements for weight loss facilitate processes involved in fat oxidation (burning), steady energy levels, and improve the use of body fat for fuel.

There are several mechanisms we can influence when choosing the best supplements for losing weight. Berberine, for example, promotes a healthy insulin response, which, when it remains high, promotes the storage of body fat.

Some amino acids also spare glucose during the breakdown of fuel sources, allowing the body to opt for easier fat-burning.

Controlling cravings and appetite plays a significant role for many chronic snackers. To quiet those cravings, we can use ketogenic supplements for weight loss like MCT, spirulina, or collagen peptides.

There’s a functional weight loss supplement to support every goal when used properly, and integrative medicine can show you how to leverage the best herbal supplements for weight loss to help you reach your goals.

Some of our top 10 natural supplements for weight loss even have other great benefits, like promoting a healthy liver, normal blood sugar levels, and healthy detox function!

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Natural Supplements for Safe, Effective Weight Loss

Have you continued to struggle with popular weight loss efforts? Has your weight loss plateaued? Your functional medicine provider can help you navigate your unique chemistry to restore balance to the systems holding you back.

Working with the support of integrative medicine will give you access to genetic testing, nutrient deficiency tests, and a health coach who can truly help you implement the changes that others continue to struggle with.

Are you ready for real weight loss results? Then, it’s time to use the support of integrative medicine in your personal weight loss and wellness program.

Learn about natural supplements for weight loss, including one that won’t cost you a penny!

#1 Natural Supplement for Weight Loss: Berberine

This bioactive compound is part of a class of plant alkaloids, naturally occurring in shrubs like Oregon grape and barberry. It might be one of the most effective natural weight loss supplements ever. Berberine has a long history in Ayurveda and traditional Chinese medicine. Lately, this extract has received much attention for its ability to promote healthy blood sugar levels and insulin response, which are key for weight loss (1).

natural weight loss supplement berberine

In one meta-analysis, berberine was as effective as oral glucose-lowering drugs in maintaining healthy blood sugar levels (2).

Berberine also activates an enzyme called AMPK, which stands for AMP-activate protein kinase. This enzyme has been unofficially labeled the body’s “metabolic master switch,” and activating it can provide benefits similar to exercise.

2. Carnosine or L-Carnosine: Natural Metabolism Booster

Carnosine is an amino acid. You’ll commonly see it labeled l-carnosine, which is the form more readily used by the body’s cells.

Carnosine has been shown to modulate the effects of metabolic syndrome, which affects nearly one in six people in the U.S. (4). Metabolic syndrome can make it difficult to lose weight due to the dysregulation of insulin, blood sugar, and inflammatory proteins called advanced glycation end-products (AGEs).

Carnosine helps modulate the production of these “AGEs,” supporting metabolic health and other health-preserving efforts (5).

Carnosine is made in the body by combining the amino acids beta-alanine and histidine. However, when carnosine supplements enter the stomach, the protein is quickly broken down into amino acids, histidine, and beta-alanine.

For this reason, studies show that supplementing with beta-alanine has been shown to raise carnosine concentrations in muscle more efficiently than carnosine itself, leading to benefits in muscle performance, especially during high-intensity exercise (6).

If you’re looking to make your workout work a little harder, a clean pre-workout including beta-alanine may be your new go-to.

Herbal supplements for weight loss such as carnosine may be of special importance for vegetarian and vegan diets. Plant-based diets provide little to no carnosine compared to diets that contain meat.

3. Omega-3 Fatty Acids

Could inflammation be driving your weight gain? Diets low in omega-3s are linked to higher inflammation, which leads to decreased insulin sensitivity in cells (7). The less sensitive our cells are to the message insulin sends, the more body fat we’re likely to store

Fish oil and omega-3s have become one of the most recommended supplements by conventional and functional medicine doctors alike, which isn’t surprising considering their role in not only inflammation levels, but the health of your heart, brain, and overall cellular function.

4. Spirulina

A natural fat burner, this blue-green alga is packed with vitamins, minerals, and phytonutrients, including antioxidants, tocopherols, and phenolic compounds. It’s one of the hardest-working superfoods out there. Spirulina has been shown to decrease appetite, inflammation, and body fat in one study over the course of 12 weeks (8). In addition, studies find it also modulates the production of oxidative stress produced by excess body fat. This may be one mechanism by which it supports a healthy inflammatory response.

Spirulina is a key ingredient in The EastWest™ Way’s Belly Fix by Dr. Taz to restore digestive function and promote a healthy metabolism.

5. Collagen Peptides

Collagen is the most abundant protein in the body. It helps support dozens of different processes from joint health and skin elasticity to a healthy appetite and digestive function.

Its power to heal the gut and satiate appetite might be behind its use for weight loss. Collagen, like other proteins, helps to activate your fullness hormone, leptin. Leptin tells your brain that you’ve had enough and it’s time to stop eating.

6. MCTs

Medium-chain triglycerides (MCTs) aren’t new, but they’ve become popular as a main ingredient in high-fat coffee blends. They are a popular part of ketogenic weight loss supplements. Proponents of MCT swear by their appetite-lowering benefits while still helping to bring energy to the brain.

How is this possible? This special fat might be worth its weight in gold to those trying to lose weight.

Their special molecular structure bypasses normal digestion, passively diffusing MCTs straight to the liver. Then, they are further broken down into free fatty acids. From there, they’re sent to the brain or muscles, helping to promote mental clarity and steady energy.

In addition, once in the liver, MCTs promote the utilization of other fatty acids already present in the liver, further promoting satiety and reduced cravings and appetite (9).

The best part about MCTs is that we don’t store this type of fat if our body does not need it at the time. Therefore, MCTs help keep cravings at bay while promoting healthy energy levels and the body’s own use of fat for fuel.

Belly Fix contains coconut MCTs in addition to superfood spirulina and collagen peptides in a simple, complete digestive health supplement to restore digestion and promote a well-functioning metabolism and the healthful use of body fat for fuel.

7. Probiotics

Healthy gut bacteria are the key to many different metabolic processes, and healthy weight loss is one of them. Studies comparing intestinal flora have found a reduced number and type of these friendly bacteria in obese individuals compared to those considered to be at a healthy weight (10).

8. B Complex

For a healthy liver and weight loss, B vitamins provide some of the most valued nutrients for the body and are sometimes the hardest to get in diets. Their functions are vast and help support a healthy and robust metabolism.

There are eight different B vitamins, and they function optimally synergistically, or when combined in the proper ratios. The B vitamins that make up a B complex are:

B1 (thiamine)
B2 (riboflavin)
B3 (niacin)
B5 (pantothenic acid)
B6 (pyridoxine or pyridoxal-5-phosphate)
B7 (biotin)
B12
Folate

Vitamin B1 helps the body utilize carbohydrates for energy. Differently, B6 is essential for facilitating movement, metabolism, and blood flow and for managing the adrenal glands’ response to stress. B12 is necessary for dozens of metabolic functions, in addition to energy expenditure (11).

When incorporating B vitamins, it’s important to look for fully methylated sources free of additives or dyes.

9. Greens

When trying to lose weight, we often overlook the hardest-working organ in our body that’s at the root of a healthy weight, the liver. It properly manages metabolism and helps prevent unwanted substances from causing damage to our bodies.

Your liver has much more to do with optimal well-being AND a healthy weight than most people realize.

Broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, and leeks, or any vegetable in the cruciferous family, help support natural detox pathways that play a role in a well-functioning metabolism. You can also opt for any deeply colored green veggie for similar benefits.

If your diet is low in these foods, adding a high-quality greens supplement can support your weight loss goals. Plus, it can promote healthy insulin function, normal blood sugar levels, and detox pathways.

10. Sleep

Rest is not typically thought of as a supplement. However, quality sleep is too important to neglect if you’re working on safe, effective weight loss.

Your body is a finely tuned machine of hormones and chemical messengers that control every function, including your appetite.

What does sleep have to do with the hormones that control appetite? When we’re sleep-deprived, we experience a rise in the hunger hormone, leptin, and a decrease in the fullness hormone, called ghrelin.

This means you may be able to handle a few nights of not-so-great sleep, but with prolonged deprivation, you’re likely to stay hungry and crave carbohydrate-dense, high-sugar foods that pack on extra weight quickly and dramatically.

Other Functional Weight Loss Recommendations

There are many common problems we ALL face when trying to lose weight, even modest amounts. Yet, for every aspect we have in common, we have just as many unique factors that set us apart from our neighbors. What works for you may not work for any of your friends or family, and vice versa.

At the same time, no single solution contributes to effective, sustained weight loss. Complementing vitamins and other natural supplements:

Continue to monitor your diet, in terms of diversity of nutrients and your portions. On top of a less-is-more mindset, strive to obtain key weight loss vitamins through what you eat before adding the dietary supplements we’ve listed.
Consider adding green tea. While often included in weight loss pills in concentrated form, the mix of polyphenols and caffeine generates heat and causes your body to burn more calories.
Don’t forget about soluble fiber, further known to control ghrelin and your appetite.
Shift your diet toward protein, not only for its ability to manage your appetite but also for its muscle-supporting benefits. Stronger muscles often help your body burn more calories.
Complement any natural weight loss supplements with exercise to create a calorie deficit and streamline your efforts to reduce the pounds on your frame.

Considering these factors, it’s incredibly important to work with a functional medicine provider or health coach. Together, you’ll identify aspects of your physiology that work best with different weight loss techniques.

Weight gain has a different root cause for each person, and you must identify within the body that will open the door for not only weight loss but optimal whole-body wellness.Get started with holistic and integrative weight loss at CentreSpringMD today. See which natural supplements for weight loss can push you in the right direction.