Cellucor T7 Extreme Fat Burner Review: Does It Work?
Cellucor’s T7 Extreme is, according to the advertising I viewed…
“…specifically designed to decrease body fat by increasing BMR (basal metabolic rate) and increasing the body´s ability to convert fat into instant heat energy.”
This, the product advertising goes on to say, is largely due to…
“…its use of fucoxanthins…”
Really?
Let’s take a closer look at T7 Extreme and see what ingredients it contains exactly, and what the existing scientific literature says about them.
I was pleased to note that T7 contains a mere 4 ingredients, but less pleased that Cellucor has decided to disguise the fact that its product contains a mere sprinkling of them. Yes, the label appears impressive, boasting 96,000 mcg of ingredient. Unfortunately, 96,000mcg is the equivalent of 96 mg, which is next to nothing.
Sidebar: Mcg or “micrograms” are typically used to label ingredients present in dosages less than a milligram. 500 mcg, for example, would be .5 mg. For a company to use “mcg” when “mg” is the logical choice… well, it’s a clear indication that they’re trying to disguise the fact their product contains so little ingredient.
So what’s T7 Extreme contain?
1. Zinc aspartate: Zinc has important antioxidant, immune and anti-inflammatory properties . More importantly (at least from a bodybuilding perspective), zinc plays a role in normal reproductive and sexual functions for both men and women.
It doesn’t play any significant role in weight loss, and supplementation is only beneficial if you’re deficient in zinc, which is not normally an issue. Additionally, most supplements containing zinc aspartate usually offer up 30 mg per serving—which would leave a paltry 66 mg to be divided up amongst the remaining 3 ingredients.
2. Fucoxanthin: A carotenoid present in seaweed and other marine vegetables. There is 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.
If there’s any silver lining here, it’s that the positive animal studies used relatively small amounts of this ingredient, meaning there may be enough fucxoxanthin in this product to elicit an effect, should there actually be one.
Still, we don’t know exactly how much is included here, although given the 96 mg serving size, it can’t be much.
3. Salix matsudana extract: Salix matsudana is a species of willow native to China. Certain chemical constituents (polyphenols, actually) have been isolated from the leaves and demonstrated (in preliminary Chinese and Japanese animal studies) to have anti-obesity action (Phytother Res. 2003 Dec;17(10):1195-8, Zhongguo Zhong Yao Za Zhi. 2000 Sep;25(9):538-41).
Two problems here; first, these are animal studies, and not necessarily applicable in humans. Second, the apparent effective dose seems quite high—570mg/kg in this study. Even if Salix matsudana is helpful in humans (and this is mere speculation) the HED (human equivalent dose) would be significantly higher—and many times the size of the entire 96 mg T7 ingredient profile.
Conclusion?
Label dressing. Looks impressive on the label, but included at a dosage too low to offer any benefit (should there be any).
4. 3,5-Dihydroxy Phenylacetate: Sounds less impressive when described as a water soluble B9 vitamin. According to Cellucor, because of its similarity in structure to thyroid hormones precursors, it has an ability to increase the activity of thyroid, elevate the metabolism, and therefore encourage weight loss.
Uh-huh.
I guess I would ask Cellucor a few questions about this assertion; first, upon what clinical evidence are they basing this claim, and two, if such evidence exists, what dosage is required, and is an appropriate amount in the product?
So there you have it. Cellucor’s T7 Extreme in a nutshell.
So what’s the verdict?
As you can see, the claims for the product are based entirely on speculation. Speculation mostly, that the positive results bourne out in animal studies will also apply to humans.
None of the weight loss ingredients in this product are backed by any credible human research.
In addition to that, at least one, and possibly more of the ingredients in this product are under-dosed, even if we are to presume a positive correlation between animal studies and human results.
Of course, that doesn’t mean T7 Extreme does not work.
It may.
But there’s no proof that it does. And the onus is on Cellucor to provide that proof.
So, despite the impressive sounding advertising spiel, what you’re left with is little more than smoke and mirrors.
And when you’re forking out your hard-earned money for a product, you deserve more than that.
Just my opinion, of course.
