Cellucor's D4 Thermal Shock fat burner claims to be able to...
Attack deep fat deposits Skyrocket caloric burn Provide explosive energy Suppress appetite Improve mental focusSince the Cellucor brand has the reputation for selling higher-end, more costly—and allegedly—more effective products, we thought it was high time we took a closer look at one of their offerings, putting the ingredients profile under the microscope.
So, what's in D4 Thermal Shock? Two capsules boast a 1,093 mg blend of the following 10 ingredients...
1) Emblic Myrobalan Extract: Also known as Amla and Indian gooseberry, and incorrectly labeled as "embelic myrobalan extract" on various retailers' web sites, this is one of the ingredients that Cellucor claims to act as a "beta-2 adrenergic agonist" in their formula. This, thanks to one of its active compounds—"phyllemblin."
Unfortunately I was unable to either confirm or deny this claim, despite some fairly serious digging. When conferring with our scientific and technical advisor Elissa about this ingredient, she forwarded me this document, noting...
"This "sort of" confirms this claim, although it's vague about whether any human research has been done. But there are no references in this document, nor are there any relevant abstracts to be found in PubMed. So either this claim is based on unpublished research; research published in very obscure Asian journals; "in-house" stuff prepared by whatever company they sourced the ingredient from; or stuff published prior to - say - 1960 (it's much harder to find older abstracts/papers online)."For the record, Amla is an Ayurvedic treatment for asthma and cough, so it's not impossible that it contains some sort of beta-adrenergic activity.
However, even if we assume that Cellucor is right about phyllemblin being a potent beta-2 adrenergic agonist, we are still faced with a couple of problems...
How much phyllemblin is actually in the so-called emblic myrobalan extract? Is it orally active? Is the emblic myrobalan extract standardized for phyllemblin? Is it provided in an amount sufficient to produce the desired effects?The onus is on Cellucor to address every one of these issues, and to date, they have not done so.
2) Caffeine: This ingredient has a well established record as a mild thermogenic, and does deliver mild weight loss results (see Am J Clin Nutr. 1989 Jan;49(1):44-50, Am J Clin Nutr. 1980 May;33(5):989-97). As such, it's an ingredient common to the majority of fat burners on the market. And of course, caffeine cheaply and effectively addresses the most common complaint of dieters; lack of energy.
However, D4 Thermal Shock contains a TON of caffeine—290 mg per two capsule serving. That's the equivalent to three cups of coffee's worth! As such, this is a product that is going to give you one heck of a boost. If you have a sensitivity to caffeine and/or stimulants you will probably want to start with 1 capsule 2 times per day to assess your tolerance to this product.
3) White willow bark: In the old days, white willow bark was used as the herbal form of salicin, and comprised the third element of the good old ephedra / caffeine / aspirin stack. In ephedra-free fat burners like this one, there is no evidence it offers any benefit, short of the anti-inflammatory effects inherent to salicin.
4) Octopamine HCL: This is the second ingredient touted by Cellucor to act as a beta-2 adrenergic agonist. Just for fun, I'm going to pull the definition for this directly from our glossary...
"A biogenic amine and constituent of Citrus aurantium (bitter orange). Octopamine is promoted as a fat loss agent, although there is only limited animal (and NO human) data to support this. Any effects on fat loss are likely to be weak, as its oral bioavailability is low.
See David Tolson’s article, “Octopamine Science” for more information.
5) Yohimbine: The standardized extract of the bark of the African Yohimbe tree, there is some data showing yohimbine is a somewhat effective weight loss supplement (see Isr J Med Sci. 1991 Oct;27(10):550-6) likely because of its action as an alpha 2-receptor antagonist. Evidence also validates its "lipid-mobilizing action."
6) Evodiamine: A compound derived from the Chinese fruit Evodia Rutaecarpa. It's claimed to burn fat by increasing the body's production of heat, as well as reducing the body's ability to store fat.
Although a preliminary animal study shows promising results, to date there's no evidence showing evodiamine works in people.
7) Sclareolide: Also known as clary sage extract. Theoretically, sclareolide is a cAMP stimulator (as is forskohlin). cAMP is what is called a "cellular regulator." In other words, this compound is required to "spark" many intercellular processes. An increased concentration of cAMP can have such "total-body" effects as raised thyroid hormone levels and increased fat burning. While there is some evidence that forskohlin exhibits modest weight loss effects, no such evidence exists to validate such a claim for sclareolide.
The final 3 ingredients are included to address the "improve mental focus" claim...
8) Vinpocetine: Once again from our glossary...
"An alkaloid derived from periwinkle that affects cerebral blood flow, memory and learning. Vinpocetine is often added to pre-workout, stimulant blends designed to improve focus, concentration and training drive."9) Passion Flower Extract: This herb demonstrates a mild sedative effect.
10) N-Acetyl-L-Tyrosine: An amino acid which happens to be the precursor of several important neurotransmitters (l-dopa, dopamine, norepinephrine, and epinephrine) which are important contributors to mood, cognitive performance, as well as combating stress. And yes, there is evidence that l-tyrosine has a positive effect on mood (see full tyrosine review for accompanying clinical references) and cognitive performance.
Unfortunately, these results were obtained with dosages that vastly exceed what is present in this formula. For example this study (which showed an improvement in cognitive function) was performed with 100 mg/kg tyrosine.
To put that in perspective a 200 lbs. man would need to take about 9 grams, or 9000 mg of tyrosine to obtain this effect.
If D4 Thermal Shock contained nothing but tyrosine, it would take 4 days worth of capsules (at the full 4 caps/day dose) to deliver an effective dose.
Although the "acetyl" version of tyrosine may (or may not) be somewhat more effective, there's certainly no reason to believe this ingredient serves nothing more than label dressing in this formula.
So there you have it—Cellucor's D4 Themal Shock.
As you can see, there are a few problems with this formula. For one, several of these ingredients appear to be included on the basis of mere speculation.
Others have little or only animal based clinical evidence to validate their effectiveness, and others... well, they're simply ordinary ingredients you can readily find in much cheaper products. You might enjoy the "blast" of energy D4 Thermal Shock Delivers, but you really don't need to spend $45 / bottle for it.
In my opinion, when you're paying nearly $72 for a month's worth of product, you have every right to expect Cellucor to "step up" with more than simple generalities and advertising "spiel". Cellucor needs to provide some evidence that highly touted ingredients like "emblic myrobalan extract" actually work as described.
That said, I'd love to hear from any of you who have used this product. What did you think? How did it work for you? Use the link below to leave your comments, and read existing user reviews...
Have you used D4 Thermal Shock? Share your
comments and read D4 Thermal Shock user reviews / testimonials, click here!
window.fbAsyncInit = function() { FB.init({appId: 'your app id', status: true, cookie: true, xfbml: true}); }; (function() { var e = document.createElement('script'); e.async = true; e.src = document.location.protocol + '//connect.facebook.net/en_US/all.js'; document.getElementById('fb-root').appendChild(e); }());What do you want to do?
UltimateFatBurner.com is proud to offer you hundreds of science-based supplement reviews. If you know the name of the product you want to investigate, or you want to browse a list of all the supplements reviewed on this site (includes vitamins, body building supplements, functional foods, fat burners etc), this is the option for you. Click the "Search Supplement Reviews" link directly to the right to be taken to a new page where you can search and/or browse listings. Alternatively, you can use the search box at the top right of this page.If don't you know the name of the product you are looking for, but are instead looking for a product recommendation based on certain preferences or symptoms, slide your mouse over the text to the right and drill down until you find the option that best suits your needs. Click on that option to continue.UltimateFatBurner.com has a growing inventory of informative videos. If you prefer getting your information in video format, this option is for you.Not sure where to begin? Why not start by investigating some of our most popular pages?Because the nutritional supplement industry is very loosely regulated, it is a fertile breeding ground for fraudulent behavior. UltimateFatBurner.com features three "Walls of Shame"; the first highlights companies that have poor ratings with the Better Business Bureau and established track records of poor customer service and deceptive billing tactics. The second highlights a list of companies that have used the threat of lawsuits to attempt to get us to remove or alter our reviews. The third lists companies have violated copyright laws by stealing our content and passing it off as their own.Have you been ripped off by a supplement company? Were you treated poorly, ignored, refused a refund, overbilled or billed on a regular monthly basis without your consent? You're in the right place. Just move your mouse to the right, and in one swift quick click, we'll show you how to complain to the appropriate authorities, as well as provide you with some crucial "need to know" information to prevent anything like this ever happening again.A successful weight loss protocol includes a smart diet and exercise program. We've reviewed many, but this selection contains a few of the better ones worth investigating.Search Supplement ReviewsFat BurnersFunctional FoodsBody BuildingVitaminsSee a list of all reviewsSee Recommendations for...Diet supplements...CravingsBlood sugar imbalancesStimulant free fat burnersStimulant-based fat burners (thermogenics)Appetite suppressantsBodyBuilding Supplements...Preworkout "pump" productsCreatine productsRecovery supplementsProtein powdersBody Building Programs...Jeff Anderson's Optimum AnabolicsHugo Rivera's Body Re-EngineeringWill Brink's BodyBuilding Revealed Craig Ballantyne's Turbulence TrainingCheck all reviewed programs!Watch VideosVisit Most Popular Pages...In Fat Burners...Women's Fat BurnershCG (Human Chorionic Gonadatropin) Review Green Tea ReviewTop Unisex Fat BurnersReview: The Black Market Report On EphedrineHypnosis For Weight Loss?View Our Recommendations!In Body Building...Creatine Monohydrate ReviewUSP Labs Jacked Review Tribulus ReviewMethyl-1D ReviewHMB ReviewNutrex Anabol-5 ReviewGaspari SuperPump 250 ReviewCheck Out Our Walls Of Shame...Biggest Scam RetailersThreats of bogus lawsuitsPlagiarism/Copyright ViolationsReport a RipoffRead Reviews of Top Diets...Tom Venuto's Burn The Fat, Feed The MuscleThe Every Other Day DietThe Idiot Proof DietBill Phillips' Transformation SolutionJoel Marion's Cheat Your Way Thin ProgramAll Popular ProgramsLegend: Place your mouse pointer over each icon for an explanation of each accompanying heading. Place your mouse pointer over each title heading to "drop down" additional options. Click on the one that interests you (not all titles have additional options; in this case click the heading in question).Why we are different...Since 1999, our visitors have been trusting our science-based reviews (why should you care about science?) to provide them with the real skinny on weight loss, dieting, and sport nutrition supplements. Unlike our competitors, our mandate is not the sale of supplements (we are fans of good products though, and will make a recommendation should the circumstances merit), it's the education of our visitor... you!
UltimateFatBurner.com is supported by advertising, not by product sales. This allows us to present a real, unbiased synopsis of each product we review. And check our real visitor comments too. These aren't the manufactured testimonials that you'll see elsewhere on the Net. They are real comments from real, often angry people -- visitors who have used these products, and often, aren't too darn happy about it.
Follow us on:
©1999-2011, All Rights ReservedHOMEAboutTestimonialsArticlesFAQContactDisclaimersResourcesSitemap