Oxy Lean Elite is just dying to be your friend. This product is specifically marketed towards women with a lot of “us” words, as if it’s a friendly acquaintance and not a supplement company.
The idea is apparently to “give busy women like you a much-needed edge”. This is a common approach and one that is often employed by indistinct, generic supplements with no measurable benefits to mention.
Today we’re going to discuss what this product is, what it might do for you, and the overall value it can bring to your life. If you’re ready to see the unfiltered truth about this product, read on…
Table of Contents
About Oxy Lean Elite
The marketing material (which is pretty generic) is entirely lacking in the discussion of the product. There’s a lot of info on how amazing it is and how it’s for busy women, but it doesn’t actually discuss what it does or how, other than to describe it as ‘America’s Favorite Premium Weight Loss Fat Burner.’
This could be shoddy marketing talk, or it could speak to the poor ingredient choice and quality seen in the product. We like supplements that are proud of what they contain because they work, rather than leaning on the “we’ve helped x number of women”.
Often, this is a way of getting some credibility without having to hear from the users or the science. The ingredient list itself is also a problem because it is a proprietary blend. We have problems with proprietary blends from a moral and consumer-interest perspective…
Proprietary Blends Aren’t Your Friends
The proprietary blend is basically a way of hiding ingredient doses. It started out being a way to keep your top-secret formulas secret, but it’s a problem when you’re trying to gauge the effectiveness or safety of a supplement.
When saying what is in your supplements, companies aren’t required to say how much. This is a concern because the dosages of a compound are a huge deal to the effects they have in your body and the safety of a product overall.
Let’s take an example: a 2g proprietary blend of caffeine and sugar.
This could be 1.9g of caffeine and 0.1g of sugar, or the opposite.
One of these is going to give you a dangerous dose of caffeine, while the other is a mild, sweet caffeine source.
The dose is one of the most important elements of nutrition, so it’s a huge deal to withhold this information from consumers. You could be getting any balance of ingredients and this just isn’t enough information with which to make an informed choice.
This practice also doesn’t make sense if you’re trying to brag about your supplement: why don’t you want people to know how much good stuff you’re putting in there?
It’s a concerning trend – especially if the production isn’t assured by an FDA or accrediting body certification. The more you know about what’s going into your body, the more control you have over your own diet, body, and results.
The proprietary blend is one of our pet peeves and it needs to disappear from the supplement industry. In the meantime, we’ll have to discuss these ingredients tentatively and discuss what they could do for you.
Just note that a product that is hiding its benefits and its dosages is a little shady – and the supplement industry needs to shake that kind of reputation. Informed consumer choice is where it’s at, and we feel like proprietary blends are a step backwards.
The Ingredients: What’s in Oxy Lean?
As mentioned above, we can’t discuss the dosages of each of these ingredients because it’s a secret, apparently.
However, a serving brings a sum-total 550mg of the proprietary blend and – as a result – we can look at each ingredient and why it’s there/what it might do.
» See the #1 Rated Fat Burner This Year «
Caffeine
This is both likely to be the main compound in this blend and the most time-honored ergogenic compound. It’s a well-studied, relatively well-understood way of combatting fatigue and improving everything from strength to endurance to fat loss.
Caffeine is a reliable, useful compound and this product offers some of it. We don’t know how much but – judging by the number of ingredients – we can presume it’s under the FDA 450mg daily recommendation.
If there’s a decent amount (ideally 100-250mg) in this product, it could offer a variety of benefits. In many ways, this is a classic fat burner compound but a ‘premium fat burner’ should have other active ingredients. It’s a bad idea to lean on stimulants for all the fat-burning effect.
Studies estimate that caffeine users burn around 100 calories a day more than their decaf counterparts. This is a significant amount when added up over time – and even more so for combatting the feelings of low-energy you might experience on a fat-loss diet.
A good product, but it could easily be too high or too low in dosage, and we’ll never know.
Bauhinia Extract
This is an interesting source for the compound L-DOPA, which is a pre-drug for dopamine. It’s a compound that plays into a general mental wellbeing profile, with anti-stress and anti-anxiety effects.
In men, this also has an interesting (if mild) benefit to testosterone and hormonal health. However, the overall benefits aren’t related to fat loss as much as they are in mitigating the stress and fatigue that could be increased during a fat-loss, calorie-restricted diet.
It’s another secondary ingredient and we’re concerned by this only because there are very few primary ingredients! We’re still yet to see significant fat loss compounds.
Theophylline from Bacopa
Bacopa is an interesting product since it combats stress and anxiety, while supporting better mental performance. The overall raw material is pretty good – but the theophylline is a really intriguing and possibly-concerning ingredient.
Theophylline is primarily a bronchodilator, used in asthma and other lung conditions. This isn’t why it’s here, of course, but rather as a secondary aspect of Bacopa extracts.
This is another area where proper dosage control is important seeing as Theophylline has toxicity and interaction implications. It plays badly with some prescription drugs and the dosage is a concern for many people since excessive amounts rapidly show side-effects.
Improper use or dosage may cause arrhythmias and other heart problems, while interactions with medication should be considered. This is not a product for anyone using a medication, especially since we can’t note the dosage and thus the risk!
Niacin
This is a B vitamin and – while we love getting your micronutrients in – it’s not a huge deal. A good diet will cover most of your B vitamins and you can get a B vitamin supplement independently.
We like it when supplements include vitamins and minerals, but in a proprietary blend – and one with such a small dosage overall – it seems like a questionable choice. You need to maximize the effects of the actual fat-burning compounds wherever possible.
With that said, the main benefit is normalizing your energy metabolism. This is primarily useful on a diet because it reduces the feelings of low-energy we discussed earlier in relation to caffeine, so that’s useful.
On balance, however, we’re still waiting for this product to prove its worth as a fat-burner. Without active ingredients, the secondary ingredients like Niacin aren’t tremendously useful or important.
Synephrine from Bitter Orange
This is another low-level stimulant that is often included in fat loss compounds. It’s a weaker compound than caffeine at the usual supplementary dosages and comes from bitter oranges.
This is a very weak version of similar compounds like ephedra/ephedrine. There are roughly two opinions on synephrine out there:
- It’s very dangerous because it’s like ephedrine
- It’s safe and helps you burn tons of fat
Synephrine is a relatively innocuous compound, though we should point out that WebMD classes it as ‘possibly unsafe’ when taken as a supplement.
That said, it is also banned by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and can interact with other medicines.
You should monitor your stimulant load and be careful to watch for side-effects.
However, you’re unlikely to notice huge changes with synephrine in fat-loss.
Magnesium and Mineral Balance
This is one of the most common mineral deficiencies, even in countries with tons of money to spend on food. The content of magnesium in the diet is important because it counteracts the water retention associated with a sodium-rich diet.
In many ways, getting proper magnesium (and potassium) is one of the key changes that can affect short-term water retention and overall cell health. The presence of these minerals needs to be balanced: get your magnesium!
Again, we can’t tell you how much there is so we can’t say how effective it will be as a magnesium supplement, specifically. More magnesium is usually better for most people, but we’re more concerned with this product being under-dosed!
Equally, the presence of magnesium doesn’t actually contribute to fat-burning, but short-term diuretic action. It’s not dangerous like supplementary diuretics, but it does matter that water weight is lost and gained rapidly – and is not the same as fat loss!
Selenium (for Glutathione)
This is an important compound for supporting mental health and performance. It’s one of the earlier drugs that becomes glutathione in the body, and is often associated with the best possible cellular health.
Selenium intake is an interesting one since most people aren’t deficient, but they don’t get enough. It’s like vitamin D in the sense that the RDA is not necessarily the best possible amount for health and performance.
However, this is a particularly dose-dependent compound since a significant part of this product is totally unknown to us. It’s a hard one to figure out, but it is likely to be a small supplementary dose: so we recommend caution.
MexxEndure XV
This is an analogue of capsaicin – the fat burning compound – that seems to also be associated with improvements in low-level endurance exercise. These aren’t proven in humans, but seem promising in preliminary rodent studies.
Obviously, rats and people are pretty different, and the studies that showed it to work were injections, not capsules. There are a few missing steps in the research on this compound and what it might be able to do for you.
The benefits seem to be similar to regular capsaicin and there’s some intimation at endurance bonuses. The normal capsaicin benefits are cool, and we like it for that alone, while the hazy possibility of endurance gains is always a positive one, even if it is only possible.
Rauwolscine: Super-Yohimbine?
This is an interesting compound that seems to help with the balance between burning fat and other tissues/energy sources. The main benefits are reducing inhibition of fat-metabolism, but also shifting energy preference slightly from muscle and the like to stored bodyfat.
We already know that poor dietary/lifestyle choices during a weight-loss diet can result in losing as much muscle as fat. Rauwolscine is one of the ways that you might want to change this to preserve muscle and ensure you’re burning fat as the primary change in your weight!
The difference between losing fat and muscle will show in two key areas. First, it means a better physique at the end of your weight loss because you retained muscle. But, more importantly, muscle is a metabolically active tissue and helps your long-term weight management.
Rauwolscine is good but we’d like to see more focus on this kind of change compared to the less-effective ingredients elsewhere in this product.
» See the #1 Rated Fat Burner This Year «
Critical Cuts Benefits
The benefits of this product are primarily increased metabolism through stimulants, and then increased mental energy. This is in-line with the marketing: burn more fat and feel less fatigued throughout.
In this regard, it’s a pretty standard product and doesn’t compete amazingly with the other premium products at this price point. It’s a good product – just not a great one.
The inclusion of compounds like Theophylline and other unproven compounds just misses the mark. These could’ve been the edge that it needed to be a successful, top of the pile supplement, but they fall short.
The benefits of this product are fat loss and better mental energy, but this alone doesn’t out-perform the benefits of other products. It’s good, it’s just not wowing us.
Who Takes It?
It’s difficult to say: this product doesn’t have a specific niche on the market because the ingredient dosages are totally unknown. We can’t say who it’s for because it could be 90% caffeine, or 90% theophylline and we can’t tell.
It’s a product for those who don’t mind taking a risk, then. You could be getting any dosage and we simply can’t tell you until you try it and see how you respond. This product doesn’t inspire faith, and it is hard to say what we can expect in real terms.
Side Effects
The main side effects from this product are possible for either the caffeine or the Theophylline. Caffeine and its side-effects are pretty well known: a very modest risk of things like headaches and jitters, as well as possible digestive distress.
Fortunately, these are pretty uncommon, and we don’t think that the caffeine dose in this product is significant enough to risk side-effects.
Theophylline is a more toxic compound and the dosage is key, as mentioned above. We’ve not seen huge amounts of recalls or complaints, however, so it’s probably a relatively low dosage.
We recommend discussing these compounds with your doctor, and never use this product while using prescription medications. Interactions are likely with theophylline and synephrine and it’s probably not worth the risk.
» See the #1 Rated Fat Burner This Year «
Oxy Lean Elite Summary
Pros:
- Decent vitamin and mineral profile to support health
- Decent metabolic support, but nothing outstanding
Cons:
- Proprietary blends again
- Theophylline is a very sketchy compound for those with pre-conditions or using prescription medications
- Doesn’t distinguish itself from similar products on the market – at least not positively!
- Contains a substance banned by the NCAA.
Pricing & Buying Info
You can get this product available at roughly $40 (depending on the vendor). The product is a decent price if you can get the effects from a single capsule, whereas two makes it a little more expensive overall, since you’re dropping from 60-days’ supply to 30-days.
This is decidedly not an economy product, but doesn’t have the quality to justify being called premium. The value is pretty standard for the market, but you want great value, so we’d say to know your options well before buying.
Our Verdict on Oxy Lean Elite
This product is pretty middling. It offers some of the benefits that we’d like to see from a fat burner, but the marketing materials and general focus is a little skewed. It’s not a premium fat burner, that’s for sure – but somewhere in the middle of the pack.
Some of the compounds – like theophylline – are questionable when used as part of a proprietary blend. Equally, some compounds just aren’t proven to be particularly effective and don’t have enough supporting literature.
This paints a picture of a product that just isn’t likely to be reliable by the science. It can stand up to other middle-quality products on the market but doesn’t distinguish itself and leaning on proprietary blends only contributes to this problem.
The product might work but it doesn’t perform as well as others on the market while also having a less consumer-friendly, honest approach to its own ingredients.
Closing Remarks
Oxy Lean Elite does a lot of the things that we dislike within the stereotypes of the supplement industry. Proprietary blends don’t really help anyone, while the general design of the product is not as effective as other competitors, but the marketing is still hyperbolic and unclear.
The result is a middle of the road product with some inflated marketing. It’s a pretty good microcosm of the supplement industry, but that doesn’t mean it works. At the same time, without knowing exact dosages we can’t categorically say it doesn’t work either. Presumably the point of the proprietary blend.
This may bring some of the benefits you’re looking for in a fat burner – but it doesn’t excel, it’s not an economy option, and it doesn’t take a particularly new approach to the market. We’d like to see at least one of these before we recommend a product as a first choice!
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