10th Article: Fat Loss Stacks
Hi dear readers. After spending almost 3 months together, it's time to release my 10th article. But before I publish it, I want to thank all of you for the big response that I got from your emails these 3 months, telling me how much my articles have helped you with dieting, nutrition, supplementation and exercising.
I feel very happy and proud that I was able to help hundreds of you. I promise I will keep up the good job that I am doing so far for this site. The only favour that I want from you is to stay patient sometimes when you are asking me questions, because I have a pretty strict schedule and it's not easy to send my response immediately. But I am trying to do my best in order to reply to you as fast as I can.
Ok back to this article now. As I have said, this time I will give you the best stacks for fat loss supplements. There are many stacks that can help you. The question is what to stack with what, how much you should take safely, while losing nothing more than your bodyfat levels.
Remember always to follow the "wave," either if you want to get or to lose some pounds. (If some of you have not read my 9th article, I would suggest that you read it first in order to better understand why I prefer to use a new sophisticated method for better results, while maintaining safety and effectiveness.
One last thing though. Since the first stack that I will present to you is based on ephedra, remember taking more than the recommended serving may result in heart attack, stroke, seizure or death. Do not use Ephedra if you are taking a MAO inhibitor or any allergy, asthma, or cold medications containing ephedrine, pseudoephedrine, or phenylpropanolamine.
Discontinue use if dizziness, sleeplessness, loss of appetite, or nausea occurs. And finally if you have high blood pressure, heart or thyroid disease, diabetes, difficulty urinating, or glaucoma, or are using any prescription drugs, consult with a health care practitioner first, and always consult your physician before you start any supplement program. Also for people that have any kind of thyroid function problems, skip any use of Guggulsterones, because their primary function is to increase the thyroid hormone levels.
So let's get started!
"FAT LOSS" SUPPLEMENTS THAT YOU CAN STACK
1) E/C/A (Ephedrine/Caffeine/Aspirin) and Guggulsterones
This is the best "legal" stacking combination that you can use in order to achieve your desired effects. Here we have a combination of a potent stimulant (E/C/A), and a non stimulant (Guggulsterone). Most companies use instead of Ephedrine, the herbal extract (Ma Huang), instead of Caffeine they use Guarana, and instead of Aspirin they use White Willow Bark.
Let me give you a very brief review of these three ingredients:
Ma-Huang
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The "Ephedra sinica" form of this herb contains the thermogenic chemical "Ephedrine" at a concentration of about 6%-8%.
Guarana
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Guarana is basically Caffeine in herbal form. Guarana extract contains around 10%-20% of Caffeine
White Willow Bark
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This herb contains a substance called salicin. Fortunately this is unlike aspirin which when consumed in large quantities can cause serious stomach problems. (White Willow Bark contains certain nutrients which can not put your stomach at risk).
Guggulsterones
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What they do is preserve or increase thyroid output, preserve or increase the metabolic rate, and provide much needed substrates for the production of neurotransmitters (epinephrine and norepinephrine) involved in weight loss and metabolic rate. And most importantly... they seem to be very safe!
Now for simplicity reasons, because it would be too boring for you to over analyze how much extract of Ephedrine and Caffeine one product has and how much extract has some other, MOST of the E/C/A supplements in the market (7 out of 10 I would say), are using either 334mg of Ma Huang extract in order to get 6% of Ephedrine Alkaloids, or they use 250mg of Ma Huang extract but they can get 8% of Ephedrine Alkaloids.
They also use 910mg of Guarana extract in order to get 200mg of Caffeine, when some others don't use Guarana and they just put this quantity (200mg) from pure caffeine, but the point is that the result is almost the same. (20-24mg of Ephedrine, 200-250mg of Caffeine, and 75-100mg of Salicin per serving). 
About Guggulsterones, even though I don't like to recommend a specific brand but I prefer to give you the freedom to search for yourself in order to find the best supplement (with the ingredients I am mentioning) that can help you, at this time that I understand it is very difficult for you to find a product that contains ONLY that so I can recommend "Syntrax's GuggulBolic," and "Nature's Herbs Gugulmax". (They both contain 25-30mg of Guggulsterones per capsule).
Finally, remember NEVER to take your E/C/A stack before you sleep or with your last meal. It is always better to take your last serving at least 4 hours before you sleep. I don't think that you will experience any insomnia problems with Guggulsterones since they are not stimulants and personally when I was using them, I never had any insomnia problems, even if I was taking them before my final (6th) meal of the day.
For better results take them alternatively throughout the day, (until your last meal of the day, taking the Guggulsterones last), but inevitably for a few weeks you will have to take 4 servings of E/C/A and 3 servings of Guggulsterones, try to take them with around 1 hour difference. Also after your cycle is finished, take at least 3-4 weeks off.
So let's see how can you "stack" these together.
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2) L-Carnitine + Guggulsterones
This is a much "easier" approach to lose some fat pounds. Of course it is not as potent as the previous stack I mentioned, but for people that either don't want to mess with any Ephedrine/Caffeine based product, or had bad experiences (insomnia or jitters), this method seems the best solution for them. L-Carnitine also is not considered a strong stimulant.
Even though in some cases it has appeared that it increases slightly your heart palpitations, it is not as strong as an E/C/A stack or any Ephedrine based product. Now let me give a very brief view about L-Carnitine.
L-Carnitine
lt is made in the body from the amino acids Lysine and Methionine. It is needed to release energy from fat. Also its main action is to transfer fatty acids across cell membranes to the mitochondria where it can be used as energy. Also, many researches have shown that it plays an important role in fat metabolism. Again I would suggest, not to take your last serving of L-Carnitine before you go to sleep. lt is better to use it up to the second to last meal.
Again remember to take these two alternatively throughout the day and for the few weeks that the total servings will be more than your meals, again, try to take them with 1 hour difference. Also remember to take at least 3-4 weeks off, after your cycle.
Here is the best stack you can have in order to take these two.
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3) Yohimbe + Guggulsterones
Another good combination that you can use is these two fat burners at the same time. Let me tell you a few words about Yohimbe and what to be careful of when you go to buy any product that contains Yohimbe.
Yohimbe
The bark of this African tree is used medicinally. But what we care about is the "Yohimbine Hydrochloride Chemical", which is the active component of the Yohimbe tree. It appears to increase libido and it has been used for many years to treat male impotence. It has also been shown that it can actually decrease fat synthesis in the body, as well as, increase fatty acid mobilization from fat stores. (Especially in the hips, so many women would like this stuff!)
Now the reason that I tell you to be careful has to do with what form you will take it in the market. As I said, it works, but in the form of "Yohimbine Hydrochloride," because that's what the medical field was using also in order to get these interesting studies.
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So when you go to get a product, be careful of what you read. It must say how much "Yohimbine" (which is the active component in yohimbe bark), it contains, and not only "Yohimbe Bark Extract," because this is very general and you can not be sure how much of the active componenent of the yohimbe bark you are getting.
If the supplement companies that you will search, write how much of the Yohimbe Bark Extract is Yohimbine (i.e. if it says in 500mg you get 1%, it means 5mg of Yohimbine, if it says in 800mg you get 1% it means 8mg of Yohimbine), at this time most of the products on the supplement market contain around 5-8mg. That's good so feel safe buying the product.
Again remember not to take Yohimbine before you go to sleep, and when you will take your three daily servings (at the 3rd and 4th week), prefer to take them with your first 3-4 meals of the day, but never very late at night.
Finally remember, Yohimbine in quantities bigger than 40-50mg per day can create some problems such as loss of muscle function, chills, and vertigo. (So stay with my recommended amounts, and don't even think about taking a bigger quantity of Yohimbine).
Yohimbe is also a short term MAO (monoamine oxidase) inhibitor and should be used with caution, especially if you have high blood pressure. Being an MAO inhibitor, Yohimbe should not be taken with any food or drink containing tyramines (cheese, chocolate, beer, aged meats, nuts, etc.) Also anyone with a heart condition, kidney disease, glaucoma or history of gastric or duodenal ulcers should avoid this herb.
Remember that after your cycle, you should wait at least 3-4 weeks before you start a new one.
Let's see a good stacking combination with these two now!
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4) Chromium Picolinate + Guggulsterones
This is the mildest stack that you can use for fat loss. Of course as you understand, the more potent the stacking combination the better the results, and vice versa. But for many people that care to lose only few pounds over a not very short period of time, (the lucky ones) and don't belong to the category of people that want to lose 10 pounds and more, this combination would suit them better. Again, remember for better results to take both of them at different hours and with different meals. (And when you can not do that, just remember to take them with at least 1 hour difference).
Chromium Picolinate
Chromium is an essential trace mineral that helps the body maintain normal blood sugar levels. Chromium Picolinate has been studied for its potential role in altering body composition. Preliminary research in animals and humans suggested that chromium picolinate increases fat loss and lean muscle tissue gain.
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Most supplements contain 200mcg of 100% pure pharmaceutical grade Chromium Picolinate. Also, here is another very important thing: Preliminary research has found that vitamin C increases the absorption of chromium. So it won't be a bad idea to increase also your vitamin C ingestion when you do this stacking combination.
About toxicity, some people take up to 1 mg. (1,000 mcg.) per day for short periods without problems, but this is not suggested as a long-term regimen but rather to help replenish chromium stores when deficiency is present. So remember never to exceed the recommended dosages and also the time period that I gave, even if this supplement seems to be very safe, it is a trace mineral so excess quantities (more than 600mcg), are not a good idea at all.
One last thing. People that have kidney problems should avoid supplementing with Chromium Picolinate.
Ok it's time to see what is the best for this combination.
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Conclusion
These were the best combinations that I could suggest for people that want to lose some pounds. I also told you why you should not use more than the recommended amounts. I assume that many of you, would now say, "Hey John, why this mania with Guggulsterones? You did not recommend some other combination of the above ingredients, you stacked Guggulsterones with everything!"
Well friends, what I care most of all is to give effective stacks that CAN work. Guggulsterones seem to be from the scientific literature we have so far, the SAFEST way for fat loss, and you can stack them also with any other fat loss supplement. Also it is a specific reason (and you will learn it very soon, when I will write my article what stuff NOT to stack together), why I don't recommend some other stacks here, because what I care about most is your health.
I prefer you use what I suggested, lose the pounds, and to stay healthy. It would be totally worthless, if someone could lose an abudance of pounds by using some other dangerous combination, and risking his/her health.
Also I can give you one more good tip. lt would be a good idea to use some small amount (around 25gr per day), of some good soy protein isolate. Soy protein supplementation can help boost thyroid-hormone levels and may help maintain them during calorie restricted diets.
When you start dieting, your body always tries to keep your fat by lowering thyroid hormone levels, making it even more difficult to lose fat.
So isolated soy protein is the best since it contains large amounts of phytochemicals which can help support natural production of your thyroid hormones. (Again remember, that people with thyroid problems, should not use it).
This was the end of the second part of my series. After learning the previous week about the best stacking combinations for "Muscle Building Supplements," this week you learned the best combinations for "Fat Loss Supplements."
In my next week's article, I will continue my series by analyzing more supplements, and I will talk more specifically about "cyclings." Many new things for you to learn are coming soon. Stay tuned!