What you need to know about exercise to increase muscle and reduce fat, and prevent iron legs! Why are Garcinia Cambogia, Green Yerba Mate, L-carnitine, and Guarana so popular?

Under the trend of exercise, the purpose of many people's exercise is no longer to pursue the goal of fat loss, but to challenge their own limits. In response to this trend, eating sports health foods has become a popular trend. It is not only for losing weight and getting rid of body fat, but also for the goal of helping recovery to avoid "iron legs", increase muscle strength and explosive power, and prolong exercise time. But what are these health foods? How to supplement it? Let a nutritionist explain.

What are the benefits of the health foods such as "Garcinia Cambogia", "Green Yerba Mate", "L-carnitine", "Guarana" and so on that are currently hotly discussed in the market for sports health? Nutritionist Lin Shihang shares how these nutrients can assist in fat loss through exercise and improve athletic performance.

What is Garcinia Cambogia? How to assist fat loss and improve athletic performance?

The main ingredient of Garcinia cambogia is hydroxycitric acid (HCA). Garcinia cambogia is a fruit that grows in South Asia/Southeast Asia and looks like a small pumpkin. Many studies in the past have found that it has fat-reducing effects, and the most famous active ingredient is hydroxycitric acid (HCA).

Garcinia cambogia is a health ingredient for fat loss. Studies have found that its main ingredient, HCA, can reduce appetite by affecting serotonin in the body, promote the metabolism of fat cells and reduce fatty acid synthesis, and has the potential to assist people who want to lose weight in losing fat. In a 2011 literature review, nine human trials on Garcinia Cambogia or HCA were reviewed. In these trials, obese subjects lost 4 kg more than the placebo group after taking supplements for up to 8 weeks with exercise.

However, without controlling diet or exercising, supplementing with garcinia cambogia or HCA alone will not have a significant weight loss effect, which means that if you want garcinia cambogia to work, you may have to combine it with exercise and diet control to achieve the effect.

Supplementing with garcinia cambogia or HCA alone does not lead to significant weight loss results, which means that if you want garcinia cambogia to work, you may need to combine it with exercise and diet control to achieve the desired effect.

What is Green Mate? How to help exercise effectiveness?

The main component of green yerba mate is chlorogenic acid, which has antioxidant properties. Green yerba mate is commonly known as yerba mate tea, the main ingredient of which is chlorogenic acid (CGA), a phytochemical that has antioxidant properties and can eliminate free radicals.

Green yerba mate is rich in phytochemicals such as chlorogenic acid. Studies have found that it can help "untrained people" increase the rate of fat oxidation during exercise and help increase exercise intensity. Not only "untrained people", but also "athletes" have been studied. The results show that supplementing with Green Yerba Mate can increase oxygen uptake during exercise, improve the utilization of fat, and help athletes increase their athletic performance.

What is L-carnitine? Can it help with sports recovery and prevent iron legs?

L-carnitine, also known as "carnitine", is one of the substances needed by the human body to metabolize fat. In addition, there have been many studies in the past exploring the relationship between L-carnitine supplementation and exercise performance. In a 2018 review, dozens of studies on carboxylic acid were summarized. In terms of strength, L-carnitine can promote muscle cells to produce energy and increase muscle strength by regulating epithelial cells and affecting blood flow.

In addition to strength, moderate supplementation of L-carnitine can also reduce delayed onset muscle soreness (commonly known as iron legs) caused by post-exercise injuries and help recovery after exercise.

Moderate supplementation of L-carnitine can also reduce delayed muscle soreness (commonly known as iron legs) caused by post-exercise injuries and help recovery after exercise.

What is Guarana? Can Caffeine Help Athletic Performance and Fat Loss?

The main components of guarana are caffeine and theobromine. Some formulas for sports, weight loss or men's "sexual related" will add guarana, mainly because guarana extract is rich in "caffeine". In addition, it also contains theobromine.

Many studies have shown that caffeine can enhance athletic performance. In a 2012 paper, scholars tested 21 subjects and performed a sprint test one hour after supplementing with caffeine (5 mg per kilogram of body weight). The results found that the sprint speed of those who supplemented with caffeine increased, and their overall sprint performance improved.

Many studies have shown that caffeine can enhance athletic performance.

Not just for running, studies have also found that caffeine can reduce a person's rating of perceived exertion during weight training, allowing people to push themselves to their limits. The overall recommendation is to supplement with caffeine (3-9 mg per kg of body weight) 1 hour before exercise to help increase athletic performance.

In the past, there have been many studies on how caffeine can help burn fat. A 2019 systematic review also analyzed 13 clinical trials. The amount of caffeine supplemented ranged from 60 to 720 mg per day. The results showed that caffeine was helpful for "weight", "BMI" and "body fat".

How to choose sports supplements and health foods?

There are many health foods on the market that claim to help reduce fat and weight and supplement exercise, and many of them are not supported by relevant research. Therefore, it is recommended that you first give priority to products that have been published in international journals and have patents when selecting.

In terms of fat loss and weight loss, the government's health certification includes an item called "helping to reduce body fat formation". To obtain this seal, it is necessary to undergo certification of efficacy, stability and safety, which is more secure for consumers.

Therefore, when purchasing this type of health food, be sure to look for those with the little green man logo that says "helps reduce body fat formation."