Review: Revolution’s Thermogenic Push Female

Posted By Paul on Nov 2, 2012 | 0 comments

Revolution’s Thermogenic Push Female is a “extreme fat burner” for women, and is advertised to…

• Boost the metabolism
• Increase energy
• Suppress appetite
• Provide mood support
• Reduce water retention

This, of course, is the standard series of claims made for just about any weight loss product targeting women. But there are problems with making too many promises; given the logistics of capsule size and the required minimum effective dose of the appropriate ingredients, most of the time it’s next to impossible to deliver on all of them.

And, by creating a product that promises to be “all things”, the retailers dilute the overall effectiveness of the product because they can’t focus on a single element of the formula.

So let’s take a closer look at Thermogenic Push Female and see if that’s the case.

One capsule contains 408 mg of ingredients—and there are 11 of those in total. Recommended dosage is 2 caps in the morning, and 1 cap later in the afternoon. Given the large number of ingredients and relatively small serving size, it’s not unreasonable to assume most ingredients will not be present in a dosage strong enough to elicit any effect.

For some ingredients, this will be fairly obvious, but not so for others—since Revolution does not provide a detailed breakdown of the ingredient profile. In other words, we don’t know which ingredients are included at what dosages.

Anyway, let’s take a closer look at them…

1. Dandelion root: This ingredient is included as a diuretic—therefore addressing the “water retention” claim. And yes, there is some preliminary evidence it works in this regard. However, products that are focused on water loss contain either a significant amount of dandelion root (250-500 mg and up), or combine it with other natural diuretics. At the two capsule dosage, Thermogenic Push Female may contain enough dandelion root to elicit an effect, although we cannot verify that for sure.

2. Green tea extract: Green tea exhibits numerous characteristics that make it a helpful supplement for weight loss, although its effects are extremely exaggerated. Like all supplements, it needs to be standardized for the appropriate compounds and be present in a potent enough dosage to offer any effect. The retailers of Thermogenic Push Female don’t reveal what they’ve standardizing their tea for, and how much ingredient is included. It’s value, therefore, is somewhat debatable.

3. Caffeine: The obvious energy booster in this formula; caffeine has a well established record as a mild thermogenic, and does deliver mild weight loss results (see Am J Clin Nutr. 1989 Jan;49(1):44-50, Am J Clin Nutr. 1980 May;33(5):989-97). It also cheaply and effectively addresses the most common complaint of dieters; lack of energy.

4. White willow: A natural source of salicin, an anti-inflammatory similar to aspirin. In the old days, white willow was used as an alternative to aspirin in the ephedra / caffeine / aspirin stack. In non-ephedra based fat burners like this one, white willow offers no demonstrated benefit beyond that as an anti-inflammatory.

5. Hoodia: An African succulent advertised to suppress appetite and enhance weight loss. I say “advertised” because there is no clinical evidence to validate these claims. Plus, there are additional problems with hoodia which may call its effectiveness into question.

6. Yohimbe: From our glossary…

“The bark of Pausinystalia yohimbe, a tree indigenous to Western Africa. The active ingredient in yohimbe is the alkaloid yohimbine. Yohimbe bark extracts are often added to fat loss supplements and/or “male” enhancement supplements, although the amount of yohimbine is variable, and often low.”

Yohimbe also possesses stimulant qualities, which may enhance the “energy-boosting” effect of the caffeine in this product. There have been studies performed on its weight loss characteristics, for which of course, it is used in this formula. Study results have been less than stellar: they range from showing no effect at all (J Pharmacol. 1986 Jul-Sep;17(3):343-7) to a slight improvement. This studyconcluded…

“The results obtained warrant further research on the applicability of alpha 2-receptor inhibitory drugs as a supplementary management in the treatment of obesity.”

Evidence does validate yohimbe’s “lipid-mobilizing action”, however.

7. N-acetyl-l-tyrosine: In large doses (100-150 mg/kg of bodyweight) tyrosine helps with cognitive stress and fatigue (see here and here!). It’s often added to weight loss supplements on the basis that as a precursor to the thyroid hormone thyroxine, it may elevate thyroid levels, and consequently, the metabolism. There is little evidence this is the case however.

8. Evodiamine: Several thermogenic products I’ve investigated recently include Evodiamine, a compound derived from the Chinese fruit Evodia rutaecarpa.It’s claimed to burn fat by increasing the body’s production of heat, as well as reducing the body’s ability to store fat.

Although a preliminary animal study shows promising results, to date there’s no evidence showing evodiamine works in people.

9. Cayenne powder: At extremely large doses (3-10 grams) evidence suggests cayenne can elevate the metabolism, reduce appetite and decrease fat intake (see study abstracts here, here and here as examples). At the dosage included here, we doubt it will do anything much.

10. Vinpocetine: An alkaloid derived from periwinkle that affects cerebral blood flow, memory and learning. Vinpocetine is often added to pre-workout, stimulant blends designed to improve focus, concentration and training drive. It does not need to be present in a large dosage in order to work, however; most effective products only contain 10 mg of ingredient.

11. 5-HTP: Also known as 5-hydroxytryptamine and derived from Griffonia simplicifolia, it is used as an alternative treatment for depression, and, at a much larger dosage (900 mg/day) as an aid for weight loss and appetite suppression.

And there you have it; the entire Thermogenic Push Female formula deconstructed.

How’s it measure up?

At the risk of sounding like a broken record, this is a difficult formula to analyze effectively since a complete breakdown of each ingredient’s potency is not revealed. Ingredients like vinpocentine, 5-HTP, caffeine, dandelion root and green tea may be present in dosages high enough to provide some benefit, but it’s impossible to tell.

Other ingredients are much less likely to be included at the dosage shown helpful in various clinical studies (if the ingredients are listed in decreasing order of amount, as they are supposed to be).

Since Revolution is charging a premium price for their product—$40 for a month’s supply at BodyBuilding.com—we feel they need to come to the table with some specifics—anything to justify the cost they are charging.

For a vastly reduced cost you can buy each of the three ingredients most likely to be present in a useful dosage, and stack them together…

• One bottle of NOW Dandelion root extract ($4.40 / 100 caps)
• One bottle of AllMax caffeine pills ($3.99 / 100 tabs)
• One bottle of a potent green tea product ($9.98 / 60 caps)

… and probably get 90% of the benefits for a third of the cost. Despite the slick packaging and cool name, there’s not a lot here to justify the elevated cost.