AmbiSlim Reviewed: Will AmbiSlim Help You Lose Weight While You Sleep?

Posted By Paul on Aug 16, 2012 | 0 comments

The AmbiSlim promise is pretty darn appealing; lose weight while you sleep. It’s a difficult claim to swallow, however, especially since your metabolism and activity levels both being at their lowest when you’re sleeping. It’s hard to imagine just how AmbiSlim is going crank up the calorie burning process while you languish comfortably in the land of “nod.”

Of course, this isn’t the first time a weight loss product retailer has made this promise. Other retailers have made similar claims and have found themselves in serious hot water with the Federal Trade Commission!

The AmbiSlim retailer’s first attempt to qualify this claim occurs early on in the sales pitch, where you’ll find this…

“Research has shown that weight loss has a direct correlation with sleep: People who get 5 hours or less of quality sleep are 73% more likely to be clinically obese than those who get 7+ hours of quality sleep!”

Here’s where it starts to get fun.

There is a study (Arch Intern Med. 2005 Jan 10;165(1):25-30) that does confirm that reduced amounts of sleep is associated with overweight and obese status.

However, the authors of the study contradict the AmbiSlim claim made directly above when they say…

“We caution that this study does not establish a cause-and-effect relationship between restricted sleep and obesity. Investigations demonstrating success in weight loss via extensions of sleep would help greatly to establish such a relationship.”

Oops. I’d say the makers of AmbiSlim must have missed this!

With that addressed, let’s look at the ingredient profile. Are the ingredients potent enough to justify any of the claims in AmbiSlim?

First of all, it should be said that although the retailers reveal the ingredients in the ‘weight loss formula” and the “maximum sleep formula” just how much of each, or even a total dosage size is not revealed.

With 10 ingredients in the weight loss formula and 8 in the sleep formula, we can be assured that the majority of the compounds will not be present in large enough amounts to elicit any response.

For instance, one ingredient in formula — Caralluma fimbriata, or Slimaluma — needs to be present at a 1,000 mg dosage (1 gram). That’s the amount that was used in the study referenced in the advertising material (see Appetite. 2007 May;48(3):338-44. Epub 2006 Nov 13).

Does AmbiSlim contain 1,000 mg of Caralluma fimbriata? Who knows?

Simple logistics can tell us a lot about the potency of a product’s ingredients. AmbiSlim is delivered in a once-daily two-capsule serving.If AmbiSlim retailers are interested in developing a product their customers can swallow, the actual size of the capsules is the limiting factor to the amount of active ingredients a serving can deliver.

This is usually around 1,500-2,000 mg, but can vary slightly.

There are other problems with the AmbiSlim formula as well.

For instance, much is made about green tea’s fat burning powers and the growing body of scientific evidence that validates its effectiveness.

The AmbiSlim retailers neglect to mention that these studies were not performed on decaffeinated versions of the tea — which their product contains. One study performed on EGCG (a critical catechin and component of green tea, and one thought to be instrumental in its fat burning characteristics) found that it fared relatively poorly on its own (see J Am Coll Nutr. 2007 Aug;26(4):396S-402S). The authors concluded…

“Moderate consumption of EGCG can improve the health status of overweight individuals undergoing regular exercise by reducing HR and plasma glucose concentrations. Loss of body fat, however, may require a higher intake of EGCG, other catechins or addition of metabolic stimulants.”

In other words, it seems green tea is most powerful as a fat burner when it contains ALL the critical components — polyphenols, catechins, and caffeine.

Ingredients like Garcinia cambogia (a source of hydroxycitric acid or HCA) have largely been debunked as being useful for weight loss. A more powerful version of HCA known as SuperCitrimax does show some promise though… although it was studied at a dosage far exceeding what you could possibly jam into AmbiSlim (see J Med. 2004;35(1-6):33-48)

There is a small body of evidence supporting guggulsterone’s role in weight loss (although some contradictory evidence exists), but again, we can’t be sure how potent a dosage exists in AmbiSlim.

Ditto for Coleus forskohlii — an ingredient for which some positive, but hardly earth shattering data exists.

In short, the AmbiSlim weight loss formula is a tepid one. It’s not that it doesn’t contain a couple of decent ingredients. However, due to the elimination of the caffeine from the green tea for the nighttime formula and the sheer number of ingredients in the product, it’s highly doubtful any are present in dosages high enough to elicit a response.

The same criticism can be made of the “maximum sleep formula”. Frankly, there are some useful compounds here. Valerian root, melatonin, passion flower, chamomile extract & jujube extract are all especially useful as natural sleep aids. Just how much of each is included in the formula, and whether its enough to elicit a response is another story altogether.

Bottom line?

AmbiSlim may help you sleep better. If sleeping better provides you with the necessary energy to adopt an exercise program and prepare sensible meals, then I guess it’ll help you lose weight too. But you won’t lose weight while you sleep. That claim, I can assure you, has as great a basis in reality as the dreams you have while you’re sleeping.