Acute effects of a thermogenic nutritional supplement on energy expenditure and cardiovascular function at rest, during low-intensity exercise, and recovery from exercise.

What Was Tested

The paper reports a study, published as a randomized controlled trial.

The purpose of present study was to examine the acute effects of a thermogenic nutritional supplement on energy expenditure (EE) and cardiovascular function at rest, during low-intensity exercise, and recovery from exercise.

Why It Was Studied

Twenty-eight healthy sedentary participants (mean +/- SD; age, 22.3 +/- 1.9 years; body mass index, 24.0 +/- 3.7) volunteered for this randomized, double-blinded, placebo-controlled, crossover study.

Each experimental trial was divided into 4 phases: (a) 30 minutes of initial resting, followed by the placebo or thermogenic nutritional supplementation, (b) 50 minutes of postsupplementation resting, (c) 60 minutes of treadmill walking (3.2-4.8 km x h), and (d) 50 minutes of postexercise recovery.

Who Took Part

The abstract describes 20 men taking part.

The age groups tagged for this paper are young adults, both men and women.

How the Study Was Run

In design terms this was a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled and crossover study.

Because people in this study were split into groups at random, differences between the groups are less likely to reflect who happened to join each one.

Neither the men nor the staff measuring them knew who was on the intervention named in the title, so expectations could not easily colour the readings.

A placebo (an inactive look-alike) gave the intervention group a baseline to be compared against.

In the crossover set-up each of the men took both the intervention named in the title and the comparison in turn, acting as their own control.

What Was Measured

Gas exchange variables measured by indirect calorimetry and heart rate (HR) were recorded during all 4 phases, blood pressure was only measured at rest, and rating of perceived exertion (RPE) was only recorded during exercise.

The subject headings attached to it are Analysis of Variance, Blood Pressure, Calorimetry, Indirect, Capsules, Dietary Supplements, Energy Metabolism and Heart Rate.

What This Means in Plain Language

The paper is a randomized, double-blind and placebo-controlled study in 20 men.

With fewer than 40 people, it is a small study, so it is better read as an early signal for further research than as a settled answer.

The publication is from 2009 (Journal of strength and conditioning research), a journal based in United States.

More context: all human trials.