As a fitness and health bootcamp instructor and personal trainer in Singapore, I get really bothered by most of the “fat loss supplement” I see being sold in health stores and sports supplement stores. Most of these are expensive, quite ineffective (you could get the same effect with just a few weeks of clean eating) and have nasty side effects. Not good for fat loss, fitness, muscle gain or weight loss!

There are good fat loss “supplements” of course (fish oil, chromium, conjugated linoic acid, bitter melon, ginseng etc), but did you know there are 3 great, super-healthful, super-delicious fat loss supplements in your kitchen that do not entail spending extra cents?

1. CINNAMON
Cinnamon works as a fat loss supplement because it is able to help significantly moderate blood sugar levels and make cells more sensitive to insulin. ( High blood sugar levels and cells insensitive to insulin makes the body overproduce insulin to clear all that sugar in the blood, which will be stored at fat! Other health problems related to high blood sugar include high blood pressure, increased risk of heart disease and increased cancer risk)

Why?
- Cinnamon educes the speed at which the stomach empties after a meal, thus slowing the speed at which blood glucose rises after a meal (sudden rises in encourages fat storage).
- Cinnamon contain chalcone polymers that increase glucose metabolism in cells twenty times or more.
- cinnamon contains methylhydroxychalcone polymer, or MHCP that imitates insulin. It can increases uptake of sugar by cells and signal some cells to turn glucose (the kind of sugar you get in blood) into glycogen (the storage form of sugar).

Other health benefits:
Not just that, but cinnamon can reduce levels of bad fats in the blood and has a positive impact on cholesterol levels. At the same time, it has antimicrobial and antiinflammatory properties.

Best type: supermarket variety of powdered or stick cinnamon is fine (don’t eat cinnamon oil – it might have toxins!), go organic if it’s available.

How to enjoy (other than as an ingredient for sweet stuff) :
1. Use it in marinades and rubs for meats, curries etc (check out baharat recipes for great ideas on how to begin)
2. Make cinnamon tea by boiling cinnamon sticks till the liquid is deep brown, or by steeping cinnamon powder in hot water.

2. APPLE CIDER VINEGAR
Like cinnamon, apple cider vinegar (and other vinegars) helps with fat loss because it helps make cell more sensitive to insulin.

Other health benefits:
Apple cider vinegar and many other vinegars contain amino acids, vitamins and minerals, has anti-fungal, antibacterial and antiviral properties.

Note: Buy organic, unpasteurized vinegar. Pasteurization destroys germs but it also destroys tons of the good stuff – the heat-sensitive vitamins, enzymes, and organic acids that can fight body toxins and inhibit unfriendly bacteria.

Serving suggestions:
1. Sprinkle salads with vinegar or vinegar-based dressings.
2. Sip on diluted vinegar with your meals.

3. GREEN TEA.
Green tea is good for burning fat – drink it frequently, everyday if possible.

Why?
Green tea has a compound, epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG) that appears to “increase” metabolism. Green tea also has caffeine and various studies have shown that EGCG works together with caffeine to help the body use more energy (and so burn fat etc) than either compound alone.
Best type: organic, steamed green tea.

Other health benefits:
Green tea has thiamine with helps with relaxation, has antioxidants, seems to protect the body against cancer and heart disease and reduces the amount of bad cholesterol in the body.

There you go! Use these three great tasting “supplements” to help your weight loss and muscle gain goals, as you stick to your healthy diet and personal training and boot camp sessions!