Lipozene is a weight loss supplement that’s available online and at Walmart. It’s very popular, having sold over 35 million bottles since the company's launch (according to the manufacturer). The product is manufactured by a company called Obesity Research Institute LLC.
In this article we’ll review the ingredients in Lipozene, as well as its sister supplement MetaboUp Plus, to give our take on whether the supplements are likely to be effective for weight loss. We’ll also share some marketing strategies the brand is engaging in that we consider ethically questionable.
Does Lipozene Work?
Lipozene only has one active ingredient: 1,500 milligrams (mg) of amorphophallus konjac, a fibrous plant native to Asia that's alternatively referred to as glucomannan.
We know from medical research that fiber supplementation generally aids in weight loss efforts, but the effectiveness is dependent on dosage. There's a big difference between adding 1 gram (g) of fiber daily and adding 20 g of fiber daily.
A clinical trial published in the Journal of Obesity found that konjac glucomannan did not promote weight loss in overweight individuals. The study participants were taking 3.99 g daily, which is more than 200% of the amount contained in Lipozene.
A more recent medical review analyzed whether glucomannan supplementation is effective for weight loss. The researchers examined results from nine different medical trials on this topic, and concluded that “The evidence from available randomized controlled trials does not show that glucomannan intake generates statistically significant weight loss.”
We don’t believe that Lipozene is likely to be effective for weight loss based on the available research.
This supplement also contains several additive ingredients we consider questionable from a health perspective.
The first is artificial color, which has documented toxicity concerns based on medical research.
Lipozene also contains the additive ingredient titanium dioxide which is banned in the European Union (E.U.) for use as a food additive due to toxicity concerns. We recommend avoiding this ingredient, and we consider the E.U.'s consumer protections to be superior to that of the U.S.
We do not recommend purchasing Lipozene because we cannot locate any medical data suggesting that its single active ingredient is effective for weight loss.
Questionable Marketing Practices
Lipozene’s website has an image of a seal of approval from a group called the “Obesity Research Institute.”
At first glance, a consumer may assume that the Obesity Research Institute is an independent trade group that certifies high-quality weight loss products. That's what we assumed when first noticing the seal.
However, the company that manufactures Lipozene is called the Obesity Research Institute LLC, and you can find that information in the footer of their site.
We find this marketing practice to be extremely questionable from an ethical perspective, because many consumers may believe that the Obesity Research Institute and Lipozene are separate entities.
If marketing material is designed to look like a third-party certification, we believe the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) should investigate.
Lipozene also claims on their site that “Lipozene is clinically proven to help you lose weight." We cannot locate any clinical trials on Lipozene accessible on PubMed, which is one of the largest free resources for clinical trials in the U.S.
We consider it to be a huge red flag when supplement companies make claims of clinical efficacy without any clearly-accessible medical research backing those claims. We recommend that consumers avoid supplement brands making bold health claims without medical citations.
Our Weight Loss Supplement Recommendations
Rather than taking glucomannan for supplemental dietary fiber, we believe that taking regular supplemental fiber is an effective weight loss strategy.
An extensive medical review published in The Journal of Nutrition found that fiber intake directly predicts weight loss when consumed at a high enough dose. It's zero-calorie plant matter that makes you feel full faster, and consume fewer calories overall.
The fiber supplement we recommend is SuperGut Fiber Mix. It contains a clean and effective formulation: a blend of three different types of unflavored dietary fiber and zero additive ingredients. It can be mixed into liquids or foods. Interested consumers can buy SuperGut fiber at this link.
We recommend using two fiber mixes per day, which provides 16 g of fiber. This is within the effective fiber dosing range associated with the greatest weight loss outcomes in the above-linked study (8-29 additional grams per day). This is 10.67x the fiber dose in Lipozene.
Medium-chain triglyceride (MCT) oil is another dietary supplement which has been shown in clinical trials to cause weight loss.
MCT oil is quickly absorbed by the body and increases metabolic rate, which causes fat loss. A meta-study on MCT oil documented average weight loss of 0.51 kilograms (kg), which equates to 1.12 pounds (lbs). The trials lasted 10 weeks on average. This equates to a potential annualized weight loss of 5.84 pounds with MCT oil supplementation.
We recommend Bulletproof MCT Oil as our top MCT oil product, because it has a clean and effective formulation. The only ingredient is MCT oil derived from coconuts, and the product has no questionable additives. Interested consumers can buy Bulletproof MCT Oil at this link.
The effective dose range of MCT oil for weight loss (based on the medical review) is 1.7 g to 10 g per day. Bulletproof's MCT oil provides 14 g in one tablespoon, so around two-thirds of one tablespoon should be a maximally-effective dosage.
Lipozene Side Effects
Since the active ingredient in Lipozene is a type of dietary fiber, we don't consider it likely to cause any side effects, especially given the relatively low dose.
One of the research articles on glucomannan that we linked to above stated that glucomannan has a favorable safety profile, but also noted that there wasn’t enough long-term research to definitively say it’s safe for long-term use.
We believe that this is a relatively low-risk ingredient, but hope to see more long-term research emerge definitively proving its safety.
Consumers who eat a diet high in processed foods, which is low in fiber, may experience some digestive discomfort when they begin taking a fiber supplement, but that’s not unique to Lipozene. That experience can occur when increasing intake of any type of fiber, which is why we recommend that fiber is increased gradually in the diet.
Does MetaboUp Plus Work?
The other supplement sold on Lipozene’s site is called MetaboUp Plus.
This supplement contains two vitamins: Vitamin B6 and Vitamin B12. We have not come across any medical studies suggesting that these two B-vitamins are effective for weight loss, or that any added vitamins are effective for weight loss. We'll consider both ingredients ineffective.
Caffeine is an effective weight loss ingredient, but as we discussed in our recent Green Tea Fat Burner reviews article, it's more effective at higher doses than the 120 mg in MetaboUp Plus. This is barely more than the caffeine dose from one cup of coffee. We'll consider this ingredient likely effective for weight loss, but we don't expect caffeine at this dosage to make any significant difference.
The product contains a proprietary (prop) blend of which green tea extract is the first ingredient. As this medical review summarized, while green tea extract may be effective for weight loss short-term, it may be a risky supplement because of the potential hepatotoxicity (liver-damaging) effects of high doses of polyphenols from green tea.
We recommend avoiding all supplements containing green tea extract until more safety data emerges on this compound, establishing safe dosing ranges for humans.
The second ingredient in the prop blend called guarana seed extract may be effective for weight loss based on a medical review, but we cannot say so definitively because Obesity Research Institute does not publish the individual dose of this ingredient. We'll consider this ingredient potentially effective for weight loss.
This supplement contains several ingredients which may be effective for weight loss, and it's free of questionable inactive ingredients. For this reason we consider the formulation of MetaboUp Plus to be superior to the formulation of Lipozene.
We do not recommend this supplement overall because we don't believe there is convincing medical data suggesting it will be effective for weight loss, and because we recommend that consumers avoid green tea extract entirely.
Lipozene Real User Reviews
Lipozene has been reviewed over 1,000 times on Amazon at the time of updating this article. It has an average rating of 3.6/5 which is relatively low.
The top positive review from a verified purchaser is from an anonymous user who claims Lipozene caused weight loss and helped them manage a medical condition:
"Lipozene really helps with exercise to keep weight down and that area intact."
The top negative review from a verified purchaser is from a user named "Rene" who claims the product caused no weight loss for them:
"I have notice no change in weight since I started use this product"
