Cut the cheese or the mustard?
Animal Cuts is a fat burner that’s been around for a good number of years now.
In fact, it’s so well known that the only reason we haven’t reviewed it before now is because we could’ve sworn we already did.
But we haven’t, and it’s still selling strong, so better late than never I guess.
The first thing that jumps out about Animal Cuts is just how many ingredients there are in it. We’re not sure exactly how this thing was put together, but it wouldn’t come as a surprise if a Pick ‘N’ Mix scoop was involved.
(You might need that scoop to take this supplement actually but more on the servings later.)
There’s a lot going on here as you’ll see, but Animal Stack has a lot to do. It promises to:
We’d say we’re impressed if not for one thing.
Well, 9 things actually. That’s right there are 9 proprietary blends. No individual ingredient dosages for you paying customer and trusting user. No sir.
With this many components in there, it’s more important than usual to have exact amounts to see what’s pulling its weight and burning yours. But we’ll just have to do our best with the info we’ve got…
For us, the ingredients list here was as close as a supplement review gets to a Where’s Waldo puzzle. What you should be looking for was there – green tea, green coffee bean, cayenne, caffeine etc – but you had to pick them out a pretty confusing crowd.
There are some other useful ingredients dotted about such as Ashwagandha and a few more, but there are questions over dosages, and a lot of this is just filler. Entire blends in fact. Which is another serious issue. Thanks to the serious lack of detail on dosages, we can’t even be sure we’re getting enough of what’s good.
If it was a case of quantity over quality Animal Cuts would be getting top marks. You get a lot for your money. (I’m pretty sure I’ve lost a few pounds just from the effort of writing it all up) but quality is important.
Around the $30 for a burner with this much going on is still good, but if you’re more concerned with body weight rather than wallet weight, we’d recommend going for a more focused burner, that just aims to do one thing well: cut fat.
There’s no testimonial section on the official Animal website, which is a shame not only because these testimonials are more detailed and personal than retail site user feedback, but also because all the attention is really ripped guys who are close to peak physique. It’d be nice to hear from someone who, like a lot of us, are just starting that fitness journey.
For that we do have to go to retail site reviews. On balance they are positive, with people saying they feel they’ve got more energy, but there are a good number of unsatisfied customers too. The size of servings, lack of results and side effects are all complaints you will find.
Animal Cuts is produced in the U.S and as such has to fall in line with GMP regulations, so there are no problems with safety. That’s only half the battle though.
You might think a supplement as busy as this has left nothing out, but it has. By covering up individual dosages they are missing key information about whether it’s the good stuff or just along for the ride stuff that dominates this recipe. That’s arguably the most important fact. If they don’t trust you with it, why should you trust them?
New Jersey based company Universal Nutrition have been on the go in one form or another since 1977. They are very much geared towards the bodybuilding crowd so all their products – the Animal range and a few others – reflect that.
They have an A+ rating from the Better Business Bureau and we couldn’t dig up any dirt. If not for the proprietary blends this might’ve been full marks.
Users take 1 pack twice a day every day 4-6 hours apart. They should do this for 3 weeks, on training and non-training days, before taking a rest for a week.
This is a little misleading. Packs actually mean little bags of 9 capsules, one for each blend. That’s 18 capsules a day in total. (See what I mean about that Pick ‘N’ Mix scoop?)
It wouldn’t be so bad if this guaranteed the best results. But remember it’s not about the number of capsules, what’s key is the number of servings.
Some users have reported nausea and sickness after taking this supplement while others report difficulty sleeping. This is probably down to the amount of stimulants in Animal Cuts, but without exact dosages it’s difficult to say for sure.
One customer also had to stop taking the product after severe heart burn. That would be what we call the wrong kind of burner.
Available from Amazon.com & Amazon.co.uk for $33 and £35 for a month’s supply.
The first burner regular. Caffeine is a great choice for two reasons; firstly it speeds up your metabolism, burning through far more fat, and secondly it provides energy to help you avoid the slumps that normally come with a low calorie diet.
The 'Anhydrous' part refers to the fact that the water is removed to leave a white, crystalline powder with concentrated potency.
This a caffeine-heavy herb so it brings many of the same energy and metabolism boosting qualities. Too much of it can also cause the same side effects though. Sometimes pitched as a slow releast caffeine, extending your energy boost for longer, studies tend to show there's in fact no difference in absorbtion rate. Guarana isn't all caffeine so always check the % to see what you're getting.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/1360532
This nut has been used in traditional chinese medicine for a long time mainly as a cognitive booster of sorts. It has shown promise in naturally slowly reducing anxiety when taken at levels of around 500mg for 2 months.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20677602
Yerba mate is another stimulant very similar to caffeine in many ways. Some claim it has similar effects to premium fat burning ingredient green tea but we can find little to no solid evidence to support this.
A fad ingredient and a total waste. Caused a real stir in the fat burning world for a short time after being featured on Dr Oz’s show as the next big thing, but in reality has only managed results in lab rats at absolutely huge doses. If these amounts were to be scaled up for humans we would need multiple grams.
In fat burners it promotes cyclic adenosine monophosphate (cAMP), and studies have linked higher levels of cAMP to improved fat burning. In certain trials it has also raised testosterone, which is a fat burner in and of itself.
You should be looking for around 250mg as a dosage in supplements - you should also be looking for manufacturers who have used the highly standardized patented Forslean® variant in their formula.
A chemical which warms the body. Because of this sensation some claim it helps to burn fat but this has never been convincingly proved.
Ooolong Tea is a partially oxidized tea which activates enzymes that cut down triglycerides, a type of fat found in the blood. For this reason it has slight fat burning qualities, with one study showing more calories in women drinking oolong compared to water.
White Tea is another partially oxidized tea, which may help promote relaxation. It has the highest levels of the downer neurotransmitter, GABA. Unfortunately GABA is not easily absorbed when taken orally so unless your taking a large amount effects will likeky be limited.
Black Teais fully oxidized tea and has the highest caffeine content with about. This makes it good for fat burning as far as speeding the metabolism, provided it isn't paired with a large amount of other stimulants
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19271168
Key to any fat burner’s effectiveness is it's thermogenic profile and they don’t come much more impressive than this powerful antioxidant. Green Tea’s catechins stimulate a fat burning hormone called norepinephrine, which naturally raises the body temperature, vastly increasing the number of calories burnt.
Green coffee bean, there in a strong enough amount, can be a strong addition to any fat burner. The chlorogenic acid in this ingredient breaks down glucose in the liver before it can be used as energy and starved of a source, the body starts chucking those pesky hard to shift fat stores in the furnace.
No direct fat burning benefits in this case, but it does promote feel good hormones such as dopamine and in studies has shown it is able to improve both cognition and focus.
Potentially helpful for getting your head in the game on those days when you’d rather do anything but workout.
Olive leaf has a few uses. It seems to be good for reducing inflammation and may help naturally control blood pressure. To date though the only fat loss qualities that have been demostrated were in lab rats.
Very few human trials have been carried out and those that have sho no influence on fat loss
One or two small studies have shown that dandelion has a diuretic effect, causing users to urinate more frequently and possibly helping to shift water weight in the short term, but it has no metabolism boosting or thermogenic effects so is a pretty weak inclusion.
There is some evidence that this may slightly help reduce body weight.
This is for two reasons. Firstly it may help reduce the creation of body fat in the first place, although this has only been shown in rats so far. Secondly when taken as a sweetner in tea it could help to reduce sugary cravings, but for now that's pretty anecdotal.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21138267
DMAE is a choline molecule used as a natural way to combat cognitive fatigue or decline. Sadly the one noteable human study on this we found reported no change after 24 weeks of a daily 1.5g dosage given to the elderly. Not much work has been done on other uses or age groups, but it doesn't look all that promising.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22330824Some diuretic qualities, but no effect on weight loss long term.
The active compound in this plant, Huperzine-A, is thought to be cognitive enhancer. It stays in the body for a long time so should really be cycled.
In a fat loss context Bacopa Monnieri has been shown to raise Thyroid Hormone T4 levels in people with an underactive thyroid, causing them to lose weight. Little research has been done on healthy individuals though
This herb is an adaptogen, meaning it help your body better cope with stress, including exercise. In theory this allows you to work out for long and this shift fat the old fashioned way. There has also been small weight loss effects observed but these tend to barely reach statistical signifigance.
This is an adaptogen meaning it helps the body better cope with stress, both that brought about by exercise so you can workout longer and life in general, improving your mood,
However human studies have been a mixed bag as far as positive and negative results, so it's still pretty unreliable.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21793317One small study found that 800mg of Phosphatidylserine was enough to cut levels of stress hormone in the body.
Other evidence exists that it may also help cognition, problem solving and memory etc, although this hasn't been that fully reserched and some argue these improvements are a result of lowered stress levels.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/1325348Used in chinese medicine as an alternative way of treating depression and axiety, these effects have so far only been showcased on lab rats. In high doses it may also have a slight sedative quality and be used as way you relax.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11186252This is a tree native to Brazil the extract of which is sold as an appetite supressant. However there is little to no solid scientific evidence that it works in this way.
What it does have is a reasonably high caffeine content, so provided that particular party isn't too crowded already it should help to boost metabolism at least.
Apple Pectin is a soluble fiber which early studies in rats suggest may have potential to protect against metabolic disease, such as diabetes and heart disease.
It does this - in rodents at least - by helping to regulate both blood sugars and cholesterol.
http://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/jf800260cThe spice we're all familliar with may have some benefits we're not so familliar with. Lab studies have shown it has the potential to naturally help regulate blood sugar levels in diabetics, but in too high doses it may have some toxic effects.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19930003
Cayenne is one of the best natural ways of starting thermogenesis in the body. The capsaicin in this ingredient melts away extra calories by heating the body up, then expends more again as our system tries to cool back down.
No fat burning qualities but is famed for aiding digestion and so can potentially take the edge off an otherwise rough formula and help the body cope with other ingredients.
Just kiddin'
Apart from someone to tap the makers on the shoulder and say ‘Dude, do we really need all of this stuff in here’ Animal Cuts is also missing help with appetite control.
Cravings are inevitable so a good fat burner that can help take the edge of them safely is always going to get a bonus point from us.
Just about everything we like to see is in Animal Cuts, but you’ve really got to work hard to see it. There’s so much filler. Too much.
On balance, we would advise going for an option with a more streamlined, focused formula. One that has less awkward and better servings and has no risk of side effects.
