Leptorexin Diet Pill Review: Guaranteed Fat Loss?
Leptorexin claims to be “the only diet pill that guarantees fat loss”, and “boasts” 6 proprietary matrixes that are, according to the retailers “the keys you your permanent fat loss success.” There’s a “vitamin and mineral” matrix, plus the following matrixes…
- Motivation & Hunger: Euphoric Fat Burning Matrix
- SuperFoods: SuperFoods Matrix
- Fat Loss, Not Weight Loss: Lean Muscle Matrix
- Body & Liver Detox: Cellular Detox Matrix
- Anti-Aging Benefits: Anti Aging Matrix
The web site, of course, abounds with plenty of breathlessly enthusiastic testimonials from people who have lost weight, built muscle, cleared up their acne, and improved their skin tone. Too bad none of these testimonials are verifiable or an accurate reflection of what can be expected from using this product.
More disturbingly, Leptorexin appears to be a re-branded and re-labeled version of Leptitrex, reviewed here. Why would any company re-brand an existing product? Not for any good reason that I can think of. Usually, it’s because consumers have “wised up” to the claims made for the original product, and in order to continue to make sales, the retailer has to re-name it and present it as something completely new. Which, of course, it is not.
Now that I’ve told you what Leptorexin claims to be able to do for you, it’s time to explain what you sort of results you can really expect from the product.
The first problem faced by Leptorexin—and any product that contains SO many ingredients (Leptorexin contains 48)—is that the majority of ingredients are included in dosages much too small to be of any use. They constitute little more than “label dressing.” It’s simple logistics; the amount of active ingredient is limited by capsule and/or serving size—there’s only so much “stuff” you can jam into capsules people can tolerate easily.
The second problem is that most of the product’s claims are not based in anything remotely resembling reality. Let’s take a look at the individual matrixes…
1. Vitamins and Minerals Matrix: According to the retailer…
“When our bodies aren’t properly nourished it creates an environment where fat loss is impossible.”
While it’s hard to argue with the importance of maintaining an adequate intake of vitamins, this statement simply is not true. The fundamentals of weight loss—consuming a caloric deficit so that your body has to access fat stores to make up the difference—remain true, regardless of your intake of vitamins and minerals (to make an extreme point; if you ever seen a picture of an under-nourished, third-world person, you’ll realize how ridiculous this statement is).
Sure, vitamins and minerals help create a “more optimal” operating environment where your body functions more efficiently, but an ordinary vitamin blend like the one found in Leptorexin won’t help you lose weight any more than your daily multi-vitamin will. Only one ingredient, chromium, offers any real benefit for weight loss. And even then, clinical studies have demonstrated contradictory results.
2. Motivation and Hunger Matrix (Euphoric fat burning matrix):
This 15-ingredient, 715 mg blend of ingredients is claimed to boost energy, promote feelings of well being (apparently described by users as “total ecstasy”), suppress appetite, and promote fat burning.
To be quite frank, there are some ingredients here that do exhibit “positive cognitive effects.”
Vinpocetine, 5-HTP, St John’s Wort, ginko biloba, rhodiola and tyrosine all show promise in this regard.
Unfortunately, all are hugely under-dosed in this formula, and are unlikely to have much effect.
As an example, one positive study on tyrosine (see Aviat Space Environ Med. 1995 Apr;66(4):313-9) used 150 mg of tyrosine per kg of body weight.
Yikes!
That means a 180 lbs. individual would need to take 12 grams (or 12,000 mg) to see an effect. That’s more than 17 times more ingredient than the entire “motivation and hunger” matrix.
What about the fat burning claims?
Well, caffeine (in the form of dicaffeine malate) is included in this matrix, and it’s a well known and proven thermogenic (see Am J Clin Nutr. 1989 Jan;49(1):44-50, Am J Clin Nutr. 1980 May;33(5):989-97). Hard to say whether there’s an effective dose of caffeine here though, although I suspect there is—it’s cheap enough, and one of the ingredients customers can “feel.”
L-tyrosine, because it is a precursor to one the main thyroid hormones, is often included in fat burners for its ability to “elevate thyroid levels and burn fat.” However, clinical data has yet to demonstrate tyrosine’s benefit for weight loss.
There is some evidence that 5-HTP may be helpful for appetite suppression (see Am J Clin Nutr. 1992 Nov;56(5):863-7). If you check the study though, you’ll see it used 900 mg of ingredient. Leptorexin’s entire fat burning matrix, complete with 15-ingredients, only comprises 715 mg.
Leptorexin also contains several “chocolate-derived” ingredients — chocamine and phenylethylamine (PEA). Phenylethylamine is the “ampthetamine-related” chemical present in chocolate which produces that famous “chocolate high.”
Retailers of fat burners tout PEA’s mood-elevating qualities, claiming it burns fat and elevates mood. Unfortunately, simple supplementation with phenylethylamine won’t do much to improve your mood. That’s because the majority of it gets metabolized by an enzyme known as “monamine oxidase” (MAO). And there’s no evidence it has any positive effects on weight loss.
I’m sure the retailers of Leptorexin would dismiss my comments, suggesting that it is the unique blend of ingredients, all acting synergistically together, that causes this effect. I would counter by challenging them to provide the clinical evidence to prove this (there is no such evidence, of course). I would also point out that there’s a inherent conflict of interest present any time the people who stand the most to profit from a product are the same ones demonstrating its effectiveness.
3. SuperFoods:
This product contains the ten “SuperFoods” introduced to Oprah Winfrey by Dr. Perricone. As I said in my review of Orovo (a product based on these ten ingredients), there’s no doubt that these 10 SuperFoods offer benefits, although none of the claims made by either Orovo or this product’s retailers reflect the reality of those benefits.
In this formula too, there’s only 400 mg of all 10 ingredients — meaning these ingredients are certainly not present in high enough doses to generate much of an effect.
4. Fat Loss, Not Weight Loss (Lean Muscle Matrix):
Here’s what the good folks selling Leptorexin have to say about their “Lean Muscle Matrix”…
“Losing weight causes your metabolic rate (the rate at which you burn fat) to come to a Complete Halt. Losing FAT & INCREASING Lean Muscle tissue sends your metabolic rate through the roof which is the key to staying Permanently Thin.”
This is starting to get really silly. First of all…
The only thing that builds lean muscle mass is weight/resistance training. Yes, the only thing. Are there drugs that exist that can build muscle in the absence of training? Yes. They are called anabolic steroids. Leptorexin’s “muscle building” ingredients are no alternative to anabolics.
The second thing to note is this: losing weight and muscle building are two contrary pursuits. In order to build muscle, you need to eat more. Often, A LOT more.
In order to lose weight, you need to eat less.
Expecting your body to build a significant amount of muscle in the face of caloric restriction is sort of like handing a carpenter two two-by-fours and asking him to build a garage. Simply put, the raw material is not available. And that’s the reality everyone faces—even professional bodybuilders taking vast amounts of illegal anabolic steroids (that’s why professional bodybuilders go on “mass building” phases and “cutting” phases. They divide their training into two distinct elements; muscle building, and later, fat loss).
What about the ingredients in the “Lean Muscle Matrix?” Well, in multi-gram doses (many, many times what’s included in this 8 ingredient, 480 mg matrix) glutamine is a fantastic recovery supplement (a full review of glutamine is available here).
However, research shows glutamine has no positive effect on muscular performance whatsoever even at the appropriate high dosage (See J Strength Cond Res. 2002 Feb;16(1):157-60, Sports Med. 2003;33(5):323-45).
Creatine monohydrate has been well studied, and its effects on muscular performance are well documented (see J Am Diet Assoc. 1997 Jul;97(7):765-70, Med Sci Sports Exerc. 2002 Feb;34(2):332-43, Med SCI Sports Exerc. 1998 Jan;30(1):73-82 , J Strength Cond Res. 2003 Aug;17(3):425-38).
However, the dosages shown to be effective as indicated in the studies are in the 20-25 gram per day range. That’s 40-50 times more creatine than the “Lean Muscle Matrix” altogether.
Ditto for l-arginine, also included in this formula.
In other words, ALL of the ingredients in this matrix do nothing more than look good on the label. There is nothing here that will help you build lean muscle and elevate your metabolism.
5. Body And Liver Detox: Cellular Detox Matrix
Detox” is a pretty popular “buzzword” in the supplement industry these days. Unfortunately — as you’ll see in this blog post where I discuss “detoxing” in detail — it means nothing. As of this writing, there is no evidence that supplementing with a blend of herbs of indiscriminate strength and potency will do anything to make you more healthy.
This formula contains diuretics like dandelion root and uva ursi, plus minuscule amounts of milk thistle extract, an ingredient that when present in the appropriate dosage, can help with liver disease. Again, it’s not that these herbs are not helpful when they are present in the appropriate dosage, it’s just that they are extremely under-dosed in this formula.
6. Anti-aging:
A lot of unsubstantiated claims regarding certain ingredients’ ability to “turn back the hands of time” are being made these days. Such claims are being made for almost any product that contains antioxidants—the chemicals that fight the free radicals that are associated with aging.
Leptorexin contains a minuscule amount of green tea, alpha lipoic acid, DMAE and acetyl-l-carnitine. (This “anti-aging” element of the formula only contains a mere 150 mg of ingredients. To give you an example of how little this is, DMAE is recommended in doses of between 50-600mg for effectiveness). In other words, this is a perfect example of the “label dressing” I was discussing earlier.
What’s the bottom line on Leptorexin?
- The vast majority of ingredients are hideously under-dosed, present only as “label decoration.”
- Claims are vastly exaggerated and in most cases, are not reflective of existing clinical data.
- No clinical trials have been performed on this formula.
- The product is expensive.
- The product is a re-branded, identical copy of Leptitrex.
Should you buy Leptorexin?
It should be obvious by now… I wouldn’t recommend that you do.
