Zylotrim has been discontinued by the manufacturer/marketer, the so-called "Obesity Research Institute."
A few visitors have contacted us about Zylotrim, wondering if there was anything to the hype behind this product. Now, we don’t normally review every single product that a visitor inquires about. We simply don’t have the resources. However, after doing a couple of searches on Google to see the what the other “review” sites were saying, I though it would be worthwhile to review Zylotrim—because no one has actually got it right yet.
Zylotrim is produced by the infamously nefarious “Obesity Research Institute”, a company that has incurred the wrath of the Federal Trade Commission on several occasions for making false and unsubstantiated claims (see more on the FDA action here).
A visit to the official Zylotrim web site does nothing to re-instill confidence in this company; no company information is provided, the ingredients are revealed as a special South American “yam” extract, and a slick and polished video plays a typical “weight loss” message that has exactly zero scientific credibility.
Fortunately, Walgreens stocks Zylotrim, so it was relatively easy to confirm that the active ingredient in Zylotrim is 3-Acetyl-7-Oxo-Dehydroepiandrosterone, normally referred to as 7-Keto DHEA, or simply, 7-Keto.
7-Keto is a metabolite of DHEA. DHEA is a steroid hormone produced naturally by the bodies of both men and women.
The good thing about 7-Keto is that it displays no apparent side effects (i.e. no conversion to testosterone or estrogen, and no effect on the sex hormones). In other words, it doesn’t “act” like a typical steroid.
What’s promising about this ingredient is its positive effect on thyroid hormone levels in obese people — again, without any adverse effects of any kind. And yes, there is a small amount of clinical data to validate this! (see Journal of Exercise Physiology, Volume 2, Number 4, October 1999, J Nutr Biochem. 2007 Sep;18(9):629-34. Epub 2007 Apr 5, Current Therapeutics, (7):435-442 2000).
The dosage for these studies was 100 mg, given twice a day. And yes, a single two-capsule dosage of Zylotrim contains 100 mg.
So, as unbelievable as it may seem, there actually is some merit to Zylotrim. The main problem I have with this product (other than the fact it is a manufactured by company that has shown complete disdain for its customers) is that it is extremely expensive.
For instance, the Walgreens information reveals that a single bottle of Zylotrim contains 15 2-capsule servings. That’s 30 caps. At the time of this writing, they are selling this product as a two-bottle bonus pack, so you end up getting 60 caps for $24.99.
If you plan to take Zylotrim at the dosage shown effective in the clinical references I mentioned above, you will need to take 2 caps, twice daily. At 4 caps per day, those two bottles will last you exactly 15 days. You’ll need 4 bottles—an investment of $50—to get you through the month.
As an alternative, you can buy a month’s worth of the NOW brand 7-Keto from BodyBuilding.com for $19.99… a $30 savings.
Bottom line?
7-Keto is no weight loss miracle, but current clinical data indicates it may provide some benefit at the appropriate dosage. It’s up to you if you think it warrants an experiment. It’s probably worthwhile if you’re paying $20 for a month’s supply. Not sure I’d bother with Zylotrim though… it’s expensive, and produced by a company with “questionable” ethics.
