What’s all the fuzz about night time fat burners lately?

I mean I understand the appeal – just take a pill every day and lose your unwanted fat while you sleep. But can it be that easy? And do these fat burners work?

And what about the quality – are all fat burners the same or are the subtle and not so subtle differences?

There must be benefits and also some drawbacks I imagine. One can only be 100% sure abut the efficacy of the pills if the scientific research supports it – so let’s look at the benefits, ingredients, side effects and some of the most frequently asked questions about night time fat burners.

The top benefits using a night time fat burner?

1. Burn fat while you sleep

I mean that’s a given. Why else would you do it, right? So the trick is to take a night time fat burner that has the ability to supercharge our metabolism or keep the “fat burning” process in tact while you’re in a deep relaxing state of sleep.

It does so by supercharging our metabolism and by raising your HGH levels that both help to melt the fat away while you sleep and keep melting it throughout the next day.

2. Reduced appetite in the evening and night time

We’ve all been there – it’s 10pm and you haven’t eaten in a few hours, so your brain desperately wants to have something to snack. You rush to the refrigerator and stuff yourself with fatty, energy dense foods and now you go back to bed with a full stomach.

Not only does this impair your deep sleep but also prevents you to lose weight the day after. A high quality night time fat burner prevents reduces your hunger cravings trough the day and prevents the dreadful bing-eating episodes.

3. Better sleep and recovery (enhanced sleep cycles)

A good sleep (rem phase) is essential for your body to work as it’s supposed to. But a lack of sleep has many negative consequences.

Your energy levels are reduced, you feel fatigued and you just don’t function properly plus your hunger cravings are through the roof trough out the next day. You just can’t control yourself like you can after a good night sleep.

4. Reduced stress levels

So a high quality night time fat burner usually includes some kind of compounds that reduces stress levels and promotes a better sleep.

The stress hormone cortisol is scientifically proven to increases belly fat so it’s good that your reduce this hormone as much as you can.

So always look at the bottle for ingredients that lower the stress (cortisol) levels to achieve that perfect 7 – 8 hour sleep without interruptions.

Ingredients – which ones are essential in any night time fat burner?

There are many clinical studies that comb trough natural compounds which are found in night time fat burners.

Lot’s of them don’t have any benefits, but a selected bunch of ingredients are surprisingly effective in fat burning, appetite reduction and stress prevention.

Here are some that should be in any high quality fat burner:

L-Arginine

A well studied amino acid that’s one of the building blocks of proteins. It not only boost hormone levels that increase metabolism trough the night, but in some studies it also affects athletic performance while reducing waist circumference [1]. There’s more – L Arginine regulates blood sugar and decreases the risk of type 2 diabetes [2]

L-Lysine HCL

Another essential amino acid that is used to restore and produce protein hormones. It can be consumed trough food or supplements. It not only converts fatty acids into energy (the results is weight loss [3]), but also increases energy levels and improves performance.

Further it regulates serotonin secretion which is responsible for our happiness, mood, appetite regulation and sleep.

Biotin

Biotin is a powerful vitamin needed by the body. It’s responsible for revving up your resting metabolism so you burn more calories trough the night – according to this study [4].

Biotin increases the activity of the ACC enzyme, which is needed for using fat as an energy source. Another benefit of this vitamin is the blood sugar (or Glucose) regulation that keeps your hunger attacks at bay.

Choline

Choline is an essential nutrient that’s not a vitamin or mineral, although it has similarities to vitamin B. It’s responsible for many mechanisms in our body although I’m mostly interested in the “metabolism boosting” properties. An interesting study [5] in female Taekwando athletes showed a pretty dramatic body fat loss (10%) and BMI reduction of 12%, while reducing leptin levels after taking Choline for only 7 days.

More essential Ingredients

There are other powerful ingredients like Chromium [6], that’s an an appetite reducer which also maintains healthy blood sugar levels helping your to reduce unwanted hunger cravings. Another appetite suppressor is Vitamin B6 [7], which also reduces water weight of your body and boosts the metabolism rates.

Some of the essential compounds in a night time fat burner are also 5-HTP [8], a chemical that increases serotonin levels, helping you feel good and relaxed while simultaneously have less hunger cravings and binge eating episodes.

If you want even a more relaxed sleep or reduces stress levels, there’s also an amino acid called L-Theanine, which can help with all of the above. And let’s not forget an essential ingredient – Vitamin B5 – It reduces stress, increases happiness, promotes a better and a more relaxed sleep.

Potential side effects – are there any?

Well to be frank, there’s a really tiny chance that some of the ingredients in these pills cause side effects, because most the compounds are of a natural origin.

• One thing to look for is that your fat burner does not contain caffeine or similar compounds to caffeine (like a guarana extract or a green tea extract).

You don’t want to take a pill in the evening and then won’t be able to sleep. That would impair your recovery, your well being and the ability to stop hunger cravings the next day.

Do night time fat burners really work and how to pick a good one?

In my opinion there’s a high chance that you might lose weight if you choose a night time fat burner. There’s lots of scientific evidence that support the claims written on a bottle or a website.

• You just have to be careful to pick the right one. I would suggest to stay away from inexpensive general use fat burners that you can find on ebay, amazon, gnc or your local pharmacy.

Take your time to research and read the reviews to find a really high quality one with ingredients that have been studied and are proven to work. I will test some of the more popular high quality night time fat burners soon and will post an update here.

The top 5 frequently asked questions

1. What’s the difference between regular fat burners and a night time fat burner?
The main difference is in the ingredients. Usually a night time fat burner don’t contain caffeine or any other stimulants that could disturb your sleep.

2. How much weight can I loose and how quickly?
That’s really up to you mostly. If you take a fat burner and don’t do any exercise and eat like a “pig” for a lack of a better word, there’s a small chance for you to lose unwanted pounds (kilos). But stick to a lower calorie diet and a few times a week some exercise and there’s a high chance of losing the weight and keeping it off for good. A healthy amount of weight would be around 1 – 2 Kilos per week (2 to 4 pounds).

3. When is the best time that I should take the pills?
Usually, the pills are taken 30 minute to 1 hour before you go to sleep. Double check the dosage instructions on your bottle to be 100% sure.

4. How do these pills affect my sleep?
A high quality night time fat burner has the compounds that improve your sleep by reducing stress and promoting a more relaxed good night sleep.

5. Which diet is best with a night time fat burner?
Any diet that is low in calorie density should do the trick. The majority of foods you eat should be from fruits, vegetables and legumes (beans,..). Avoid too much fatty and sugary ultra processed foods. Also don’t eat 4 hours before going to bed to improve your sleep.

Sources:

[1] L-Arginine Modulates Glucose and Lipid Metabolism in Obesity and Diabetes
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/27356939/

[2] Decreased diabetes risk over 9 year after 18-month oral l-arginine treatment in middle-aged subjects
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/labs/pmc/articles/PMC6267392/

[3] Effect of beta-hydroxy-beta-methylbutyrate, arginine, and lysine supplementation on strength, functionality
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/15105032/

[4] Biotin and chromium histidinate improve glucose metabolism and proteins expression levels of IRS-1
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6139124/

[5] Effect of Choline Supplementation on Rapid Weight Loss and Biochemical Variables Among Female Taekwondo and Judo Athletes
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4096089/

[6] Effects of Chromium Picolinate on Food Intake and Satiety
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2753428/

[7] The Effect of Pyridoxine Hydrochloride Supplementation on Leptin, Adiponectin, Glycemic Indices, and Anthropometric Indices in Obese and Overweight Women
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8331291/

[8]5-Hydroxytryptophan (5-HTP): Natural Occurrence, Analysis, Biosynthesis, Biotechnology, Physiology and Toxicology
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7796270/