Energy Drinks and Weight Loss

Often people exercising to lose weight are put off using energy drinks because they think that they are high in calories, but it is important to remember that quality exercise depends upon carbohydrate energy. When carbohydrate energy supply is compromised exercise intensity has to be reduced. This means that fewer calories are burned for each hour of exercise. The graph below illustrates the importance of carbohydrate even for fat burning exercise. Notice that in this typical example for a trained cyclist, maximum fat burning of about 40g per hour requires over twice as much carbohydrate. Even at low intensities like this, carbohydrate usage is faster than optimal replacement. Exercising with low carbohydrate supply also increases muscle protein breakdown and the risk of infections.

CLA

CLA has been shown to …

reduce body fat accretion and increase lean muscle mass

Since CLA has been shown to reduce body fat. Human studies have supported evidence from animal studies to show that supplementation with as little as 3.2g of CLA per day can significantly reduce body fat mass in overweight and obese humans. (Blankson et al 2000)

CLA has also been shown to …

improve immune function

Exercising and dieting to reduce body fat often has the adverse effect of compromising immune function, which increases the chance of becoming ill. This often results in the breakdown of the diet/training program. For this reason athletes should also consider supplementation with Glutamine if they do not use REGO after exercise sessions. As well as being a good source of glutamine, there is evidence that using REGOhelps keep carbohydrate storage online. This ensures that the carbohydrate consumed in your next meal gets stored in your muscles as glycogen and not as a different energy store possibly around your waist.

There is also some evidence that taking a protein supplement like BUILD 30-60 mins prior to a meal will help you to reduce your calorie consumption at meal times.

 

The title image is taken from this shot of James Toseland, World Super Bike Champion and Science in Sport fan, courtesy of Cosmopolitan.

James posed for Cosmopolitan Centrefolds to raise awareness for the Everyman Campaign, the UK’s leading male cancer campaign

 

All Science in Sport products are manufactured in-house and are drug-free.