Disclaimer: None of the information in this article constitutes medical advice, and is just the opinion of the writer(s). We recommend that patients follow their doctor’s guidance in regard to weight loss.
Green Tea Fat Burner is a weight loss supplement sold by a brand called Applied Nutrition. The product is sold at many large retailers such as CVS and Rite Aid, and the brand claims their supplement can increase the body's calorie-burning ability.
But does Green Tea Fat Burner contain research-backed ingredients at effective doses for weight loss, or are these just marketing claims? Does the product contain any questionable additive ingredients? Is green tea extract dangerous? And how do real users rate and describe the effects of Green Tea Fat Burner?
In this article we’ll answer all of these questions and more, as we analyze the ingredients in Green Tea Fat Burner based on medical studies to give our take on whether the supplement is likely to be effective, or if it's a waste of money.
We'll share an exposé documenting potential health dangers of green tea extract supplementation, feature unsponsored customer reviews of Green Tea Fat Burner, and document which retailer sells the supplement for the best price.
We'll also explain why the manufacturer of a different Green Tea Fat Burner supplement was sued due to contaminant levels in some of its products.
Ingredient Analysis
The two main active ingredients in Green Tea Fat Burner are shown above: green tea extract and caffeine.
Green tea extract may be an effective weight loss ingredient, but its efficacy is less important than toxicity concerns in our opinion. A medical review published in the Journal of Nutrition reported that in all animal studies examined, high-dose green tea extract was toxic and could even cause death.
We do not believe the dose in Green Tea Fat Burner is high enough to cause any significant side effects, but its safety is unclear if used over long periods of time.
As the researchers in the linked study state, there isn’t enough human research to definitively say what a safe dose of this ingredient is: “These findings suggest that caution should be exercised in the use of green tea-based dietary supplements and that further studies are needed to determine the upper limit of safety for bolus dosing with tea polyphenols as well as the underlying mechanisms of toxicity.”
Caffeine is an effective weight loss ingredient.
A 2019 meta-study examined clinical trials on the anti-obesity effects of caffeine, and found that its intake is associated with weight loss in a dose-dependent manner. This means that the more caffeine consumed (within reason), the greater the weight loss: “For every doubling in caffeine intake, the mean reduction in weight, BMI, and fat mass increased 2 Beta-fold.”
We consider the 160 milligram (mg) caffeine dose in Green Tea Fat Burner likely to be effective, and should be safe for most healthy adults, however patients with anxiety or high blood pressure should speak with their doctor before using caffeine at this dose (which is equivalent to around 1.5 cups of coffee).
Green Tea Fat Burner has two separate proprietary (“prop”) blends called “Antioxidant Blend” and “Vitality Boost," shown below:
Antioxidant Blend has a total dose of 100 mg, and contains exotic botanical ingredients like bilberry powder and pomegranate powder.
While we have no issues with any of the ingredients in this blend, we do not believe this blend is likely to have any weight loss effect and we want to highlight a comparative example to show how small of a total dose 100 mg is.
According to the USDA, one single blueberry has a dose of 1,360 mg. This means that one single blueberry contains a dose more than 10x higher than the total ingredient dose in this Antioxidant blend.
The “Vitality Boost” blend is even lower-dosed. It has a total dose of 86 mg, which equates to an average dose of 17.2 mg per ingredient, or 80x less than the dose of one single blueberry.
We haven't come across any clinical evidence that any of the ingredients in these two blends are effective for weight loss at their respective doses, nor does the manufacturer cite any on the product page.
The inactive ingredients in Green Tea Fat Burner are shown below:
Titanium dioxide is an inactive ingredient that was banned in the EU for use as a food additive over toxicity concerns. The EU has superior consumer protections in our opinion than the US.
At the time of initially publishing this article, Applied Nutrition failed to publish the inactive ingredient list on their product page, but since we called this out, the brand has since added this information to their product page which we appreciate, and which is important for consumer safety.
Overall, we consider Green Tea Fat Burner potentially effective for weight loss given the effective doses of green tea extract and caffeine. We don't currently recommend this supplement due to our concerns over the toxicity of green tea extract and titanium dioxide.
But was the manufacturer sued over contaminant levels? We'll discuss that in the next section of this article.
Was the Manufacturer Sued?
In 2011, the manufacturer of a different supplement called Green Tea Fat Burner settled a lawsuit for over $2 million. This manufacturer was named Irwin Naturals.
The company faced a civil lawsuit due to its failure to publish Prop 65 warnings on its product label, which were required given that the dose of lead found in the product was higher than Prop 65 limits, according to Nutraceuticals World.
The above link documents that Irwin Naturals' Green Tea Fat Burner contained more than 0.5 micrograms (mcg) of lead per serving, while two different Irwin Naturals products (System Six and Green Tea Fat Meltdown) contained more than 10x the Prop 65 limit for lead.
We find these results to be concerning even though they were uncovered more than a decade ago.
What's confusing to us is whether Applied Nutrition is using the same formulation as Irwin Naturals, or if this product was sold to Applied Nutrition since the lawsuit, because Irwin Naturals does not currently sell a supplement called "Green Tea Fat Burner," and Applied Nutrition's supplement contains EGCG as well.
But how do real users rate and describe the effects of Green Tea Fat Burner? We'll feature some unsponsored customer reviews in the next section of this article.
Real People Try Green Tea Fat Burner
A YouTube creator named Danny Ivan Beardz reviewed Green Tea Fat Burner and included before-and-after images, in what appears to be an unsponsored video:
A YouTube creator named Jaida Thomson reviewed the Triple Fat Burner version of the supplement:
Is Green Tea Extract Dangerous?
One of the most popular YouTube videos on green tea extract and weight loss is published by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) and has over 400,000 views at the time of writing this article.
The video shares some concerning information about green tea extract supplementation:
Where to Get the Best Price
Green Tea Fat Burner is sold at a variety of online retailers. Here's a price breakdown at the time of publishing this article:
CVS: $9.99 (link)
Brand website: $9.98 (free shipping, link)
Target: $9.89 (plus shipping, link)
Amazon: $8.99 (free shipping, link)
Green Tea Fat Burner is currently around 50% cheaper on Amazon and the brand's website than Target and CVS when factoring in shipping fees.
The Amazon listing is from a third-party seller, so it may be worthwhile to purchase directly from the brand's website to ensure product quality.
Our Clean Weight Loss Picks
Ceylon cinnamon was described as "an effective anti-obesity agent" in a 2022 meta-analysis. The study authors concluded that effects were greater at doses at or over 3 grams daily.
Illuminate Labs Ceylon Cinnamon Extract is our standardized Ceylon cinnamon supplement which is third-party tested to ensure purity and potency.
Dietary fiber was shown in a medical review published in The Journal of Nutrition to cause 16 pounds of weight loss in 6 months when combined with moderate caloric restriction (750 calories per day below baseline).
MBG Organic Fiber Potency+ is our top fiber pick because it's certified organic, provides 7 g of fiber per serving and costs under $1.85 per serving at the time of updating this article.
Both of the products mentioned in this section are entirely free of additive ingredients that we consider to be unhealthy.
Pros and Cons of Green Tea Fat Burner
Here are the pros and cons of Green Tea Fat Burner in our opinion:
Pros:
- Should support weight loss
- Highly affordable
Cons:
- Doesn't appear clinically tested
- Contains titanium dioxide
- Contains green tea extract
- Very low individual doses of antioxidants
- Brand fails to publish inactive ingredients on website
