Natural weight loss products fill the market, but just because a weight loss aid is "natural", it does not mean that it is completely safe, nor is it a sure thing that it will help your weight loss efforts in the long run. The truth is, some very popular natural weight loss products pose some health risks, and even though they might stimulate quick weight loss at the beginning, in the long run they can actually cause you to gain weight.

Natural weight loss aids that act as stimulants create most of the problems. Natural stimulants do pretty much the same thing that stimulant drugs do, and because the biochemical effects are basically the same, the risks of natural stimulants are essentially the same as the risks of the drugs.

The most commonly used stimulants in natural weight loss products include ephedra (also called ma huang), kola nut, guarana, yerba mate' and caffeine. All of these are very strong stimulants, and are similar in effect to drugs like amphetamines. Most people are aware that taking amphetamines can be dangerous, but they may be lulled into thinking the natural stimulants are safe for the sole reason that they are natural products.

There are two reasons that I recommend against using any kind of stimulant to promote weight loss. First, such products have potential health risks such as high blood pressure, tachycardia (elevated heart rate), insomnia, and stroke. Second, although these products do usually stimulate weight loss initially, in the long run they actually hinder weight loss and discontinuation of these products is typically followed by rapid weight gain.

As you first start using stimulants, the adrenal glands produce large quantities of the hormone adrenaline. Adrenaline speeds up the metabolism and causes fat burning and weight loss. This may sound great if you are trying to lose weight, but the problem is that the adrenals cannot keep up with high adrenaline production for more than a few weeks. When the adrenal glands can no longer produce large quantities of adrenaline, the metabolism slows down and weight loss typically ceases.

At the same time that the fat-burning effects of adrenaline are dying off, another problem is occurring. Stimulants, in addition to promoting high adrenaline production in the short term, also cause the adrenals to produce high levels of the hormone cortisol. The adrenals can produce high levels of cortisol for much longer than they can produce high amounts of adrenaline. Cortisol promotes the deposition of fat around the abdomen and stimulates weight gain. In the early stages of using stimulants, the effects of the high adrenaline production will win out over the elevated cortisol levels and rapid weight loss will typically occur. But as the adrenaline levels fall, and the cortisol levels stay high, weight gain is the result.

If you were to discontinue using stimulants while high adrenaline levels were still being produced, the effects of cortisol would quickly take over and so fast weight gain is common after suddenly discontinuing stimulants. In any case, when using stimulants to facillitate weight loss, eventually the cortisol effects will predominate and weight gain will occur.

It might be tempting to purchase a natural weight loss aid that contains stimulants due to the promises of quick weight loss, but in the long run all of these products are counterproductive and may endanger your health. Regardless of whether a product is natural or not, the use of stimulants for weight loss is best to be avoided.