Review: Revolution's Abdominal Cuts Green: Do Abdominal Cuts Work?

Revolution's Abdominal Cuts Green is a new offering from the folks who brought us the popular Abdominal Cuts, a CLA (conjugated linoleic acid) based diet supplement. The new "Green" version of this product builds upon the original formula, subtracting a few ingredients and adding a couple of new (and hopefully more effective) ones.

The reason why this product is now labeled as "green" is because of the addition of fucoxanthin, which is derived from certain types of seaweed. Fucoxanthin or not, how does this product measure up to the advertised claims of being able to target fat loss from hips, butt, stomach and mid-section, as well as suppressing your appetite?

To answer that, let's have a closer look at the ingredient profile.

According the product labeling I saw at GNC, a single serving of one capsule contains 1645 mg of ingredients. Considering that the largest capsule most people can tolerate (size 00) holds a maximum of 600-1000 mg of ingredients or so (how much exactly depends on the density of the ingredients included), I'm going to assume this is a typo and this dosage is reflective of a two-capsule serving.

Of course, I know what is said about "assuming" anything, but since a single, 3-capsule serving of Abdominal Cuts offers up 2400 mg of ingredients (or 800 mg per cap), it seems logical to assume a 1645 mg dose of this similar product would be offered up in 2 capsules.

Additionally, this is a proprietary blend, so we can't actually confirm the exact amount of any of the ingredients. Which means we don't know which ones are present in dosages strong enough to elicit an effect. It's quite possible several of them are present only as label dressing. Anyhow, here's what's in Abdominal Cuts Green...

1) Vitamin E: A fat soluble vitamin, a potent antioxidant, and a natural preservative.

2) Organic safflower oil: Commonly used as a source of CLA or conjugated linoleic acid (although the label does not indicate this). There is some evidence that CLA is beneficial for weight loss. A recent meta-analysis (see American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, Vol. 85, No. 5, 1203-1211, May 2007) concluded...

"Given at a dose of 3.2 g/d, CLA produces a modest loss in body fat in humans."

Incidentally, not all of CLA's characteristics are beneficial; it may also increase inflammation and insulin resistance.

There's also a small issue with one of the isomers in CLA, specifically the T10 C12 isomer, stimulating the production of mammary tumors in animal models.

Don't panic though; for one, you're not a mouse, and two, the other primary isomer in CLA (called T9 C11) seems to have the opposite effect.

Does Revolution's Abdominal Cuts Green contain the minimum 3.2 grams (3200 mg) of CLA shown to be effective?

There's no way to be sure, although with a full-day's dose of 6 caps delivering just over 4900 mg of ingredients, it is certainly possible.

3) Conjugated Linolenic Acid (CLnA) (from Organic Pomegranate Seed Oil): There are preliminary animal studies show promising results for weight loss (see J Agric Food Chem. 2007 May 2;55(9):3741-8. Epub 2007 Mar 30, Nutrition. 2006 Jan;22(1):54-9. Epub 2005 Oct 12, Lipids Health Dis. 2004 Nov 9;3:24), but to date, no published human-based data exists.

4) Alpha Linolenic Acid: An omega 3 fatty acid, there is some evidence that ALA lowers blood pressure, serum cholesterol and blood lipids (see J Hum Hypertens. 1990 Jun;4(3):227-33, Am J Clin Nutr. 1986 Sep;44(3):336-40). Whether or not its included in Abdominal Cuts in a dose strong enough to elicit such beneficial effects is something we do not know.

5) Organic Wakame: Wakame is a seaweed, and in this product, a source of fucoxanthin.

Fuco-what?

Fucoxanthin. It's a carotenoid present in seaweed and other marine vegetables. Thereis a small amount of promising evidence that indicates Fucoxanthin is useful for weight loss (see Biochem Biophys Res Commun. 2005 Jul 1;332(2):392-7, Asia Pac J Clin Nutr. 2008;17 Suppl 1:196-9). The bad news is that to date, any published material has been based on animal studies.

Additionally, there's the problem of low bioavailability of these compounds in humans. This study (see Br J Nutr. 2008 Aug;100(2):273-7) concluded...

"... results indicated that the plasma response to dietary epoxyxanthophylls was very low in humans even after 1-week intake of epoxyxanthophyll-rich diets."

The question then becomes...

If the human body has such real difficulty accessing this compound, how effective can it be as a fat burner? This is a question that can only be answered in a peer-reviewed, published study. And of course, nothing like that exists yet.

On a more positive note, there is some newer study data that indicates the combination of fucoxcanthin and pomegranate oil does show positive weight loss effects. Does this product contain the precise amounts shown helpful in the study? Although there's no way to tell for sure, my guess would be, "probably not."

6) Gamma linoleic acid (GLA): Commonly derived from borage or evening primrose oil, GLA is an omega-6 fatty acid. Although it is commonly prescribed to treat illnesses that involve inflammation (i.e., rheumatoid arthritis) some studies have investigated GLA's role in weight loss. One study (Int J Obes. 1983;7(6):549-53) concluded...

"It would appear that any antiobesity property possessed by EPO (evening primrose oil) is clinically insignificant."

Another study (Swed J Biol Med. 1986;4:8-11) demonstrated GLA elicited a small amount of weight loss in people who have a family history of obesity.

At this point, GLA's role in weight loss has not been clearly demonstrated, although it's certainly a beneficial addition to anyone's diet.

7) Organic sesame seed oil: Sesame seed oil contains a lignan (a phytoestrogen) called sesamin, which according to some retailers, lowers both blood pressure and cholesterol, increases the oxidation of fatty acids in the liver and muscle tissue (which should result in increased fat burning), as well as reduces the levels of certain enzymes which contribute to the storage of fat.

Although there are preliminary studies that confirm this (see Lipids, Volume 26, Number 7, 512-516, Journal of Lipid Research, Vol 32, 629-638, J. Agric. Food Chem., 2001, 49 (5), pp 2647–2651, Biological & Pharmaceutical Bulletin Vol. 25 (2002), No. 9 1247, Atherosclerosis 122 (1996) 135- 136), the vast majority of them are animal-based, performed with doses much larger than likely to be present here (especially when you factor in a Human equivalent dose, or HED).

So while it's probably fair to say that sesamin is a healthy addition to anyone's diet, it's a bit of a stretch to describe it as a fat burning miracle, especially at what is likely to be an insignificant dosage.

8) Organic grape seed oil: Grape seed oil has a light taste and a high flash point, making it ideal for cooking. It's also a great source of alpha linoleic acid, a beneficial omega-6 fatty acid. You've probably also heard about the amazing antioxidant benefits of grape seed extracts—none of these pertain to grape seed oil however (proanthocyanidins, the type of antioxidant present in grape seed, are insoluble in lipids).

So there you have it; Abdominal Cuts Green in a nutshell.

How's it fare as a weight loss supplement?

The main weight loss benefits are largely attributable to CLA. And, if CLA is present at the minimal effective dose of 3.2 grams (and we can't confirm this) that leaves 1735 mg of ingredients left to be divided up between the remaining 7 ingredients (this, at the full 6-caps per day dosage).

So it is entirely possible that several other healthy or beneficial ingredients are present at a useful dose.

But we can't confirm if they are, and which ones they are, which makes it very difficult to accurately assess the value of this product (of course, if Revolution wanted to make things easier for us, they could reveal all this information on the label).

For instance, CLA can be purchased relatively inexpensively—as little as $16 for more than a month's worth. Same for borage oil, a great source of GLA.

Other ingredients, like fucoxanthin, are more expensive to purchase in isolation. So a product that contained a useful dosage of fucoxanthin within its formula might justify a higher cost.

The problem—at the risk of sounding like a broken record—is that we can't confirm the dosage of any of the ingredients so in fairness, we can't speculate on Abdominal Cuts Green's value.

Not from either a "bang for the buck" perspective or a "fat burning" perspective.

But the thing is, Revolution should make it easy for you to assess the value of its product, and the fact that they don't, speaks volumes. If some of the ancillary ingredients were present at helpful dosages, wouldn't you want to flaunt that fact?

Hardly confidence inspiring, in my opinion.

So the choice is up to you; you can buy CLA in isolation for $16. Or you can shell out $45 or so for Abdominal Cuts Green in the hopes that perhaps it contains a useful dose of CLA, plus enough of the other worthwhile ingredients to justify the difference in cost.

Your call. I know what I'd do.

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