Cuur Fat Burner Review: Is Curr The Swedish Weight Loss Secret?
Cuur claims to be the “Swedish weight loss secret.” Apparently, millions of Europeans have used Cuur to shed pounds of fat and build lean, sexy bodies. If you’re feeling a bit left out on this side of the Atlantic, don’t worry… the Swedes don’t have “a special advantage” over Americans, Canadians— and anyone else for that matter—when it comes to losing weight.
Cuur’s claim to fame is that it is formulated by “world-renowned weight loss expert Dr. Marcin Krotkiewski.”
While this description may be a “bit of a stretch” , it does appear that Dr. Marcin Krotkiewski is a very real person who has dedicated a large portion of his professional life to the study of obesity related issues.
To his credit, he has also co/authored some peer-reviewed journal studies (see Eur J Pharmacol. 2002 Apr 12;440(2-3):85-98, Pol Merkur Lekarski. 2002 Aug;13(74):129-32, Gynecol Obstet Invest. 2003;55(2):88-95, Med Sci Monit. 2003 Nov;9(11):PI131-5).
Of course, if you’re a regular visitor to UltimateFatBurner.com, you’ll know that doesn’t give either Cuur or Dr. Krotkiewski a free pass. Because there are some things I like, as well as dislike, about Cuur. Let’s start this review with an overview of the ingredients…
According to the official web site, Cuur contains “an all-natural, clinically tested weight-loss supplement consisting of four botanical extracts, designed to help you achieve your weight loss goals.” (It should be noted that there have been no independent, double blind, placebo-controlled, peer-reviewed, published studies performed on Cuur. It would also be remiss of me not to point out that the “term “all natural” is a near meaningless term used by the supplement industry to cast a “warm glow” over their products).
Although these four ingredients are revealed (green tea, yerba mate, Coleus forskohlii and Betula alba), it takes a bit of detective work to figure what sort of dosage the product contains…
1. Green tea: The foundation of the Cuur formula lies with green tea—one of the few supplements that show some real promise for weight loss (for a complete review of green tea and accompanying clinical references, click here).
The “frequently asked questions” section of the Cuur web site reveals that a single 3-capsule daily serving contains 570 mg of EGCG (one of the green tea catechins thought to be most beneficial for weight loss) and 150 mg of caffeine (50 mg per capsule). That’s about an average sized “decent dose.”
2. The remainder of this formula contains yerba mate, Coleus forskohlii and Betula alba.
Although none of these ingredients have been proven particularly effective as fat burners by existing research, there’s another problem; just how much is included in this formula is not revealed. Fortunately, we have some clues. For instance…
We already know that a daily serving of Cuur contains 570 mg of EGCG and 150 mg of caffeine. We know that 3 capsules equals one daily serving. We also know standardization can vary greatly depending on the potency of the tea. Therefore, if we can assume that the tea is standardized for 50% EGCG, there will be over 1100 mg of green tea in this formula.
Why is this important?
Because we can determine the amount of the remaining ingredients that can be included in this formula are largely limited by capsule size.
As you can see with this capsule specification chart, even if the makers of Cuur use a fairly large capsule size (unlikely, since this increases the percentage of people who will be unable to use the product comfortably) they don’t have a heck of a lot of room left for the other ingredients.
One “not-so-postive” study performed on Coleus forskohlii (see J Int Soc Sports Nutr. 2005 Dec 9;2:54-62) used 500 mg of the ingredient daily. Although we can’t be 100% sure, it’s likely Cuur contains nowehere near that amount, simply because it would be impossible to jam that much ingredient into a capsule you could actually swallow. Plus, there’s two other ingredients that still need to be included, right?
In other words, it’s pretty conclusive—yerba mate, Coleus forskohlii and Betula alba are little more than label dressing for this product.
OK, let’s move on. There is one thing about Cuur I am not happy about…
They feature a free trial offer. Although I have yet to receive any feedback about Cuur billing practices, I have yet to encounter one free trial program that isn’t intended to rope unsuspecting consumers into a never-ending monthly “membership” program. Worse still, there does not seem to be any way to purchase the product from the official web site without signing up for this program.
If you are intent on experimenting with Cuur, do not use the free trial option unless you know exactly what you are getting into (we’ve created a video on what we call the 5-7 Day free trial scam. Click here to view it!) In fact, I’d recommend purchasing it from a local retailer (it appears to be available at Walgreens) to avoid any potential billing issues.
Cuur also comes with a diet plan. It’s called “The Cuur Plan.”
It’s a simple, no-frills, sensible plan—eat 5 meals per day, limit starchy carbs, drink lots of water, eat more fiber and exercise regularly—that is almost guaranteed to work for anyone who does not currently exercise or have decent eating habits. It almost makes the Cuur product redundant, since most people will obtain results on the program, with or without the product.
When you come right down to it, Cuur is a green-tea based fat burner. And that’s OK, because green tea is worth experimenting with. However, you can buy a decent green tea product for a lot less than the $40 you’ll pay for Cuur. 1 Bottle (60 capsules) Primaforce Lean Green green tea extract will set you back $10 on BodyBuilding.com.
Your call.
