Abdominal Cuts Does It Work? A Critical Review

The name Abdominal Cuts makes me think that this weight loss supplement will give people a 6 pack –or at least give the ads a more “cut” appearance.  But will Abdominal Cuts work?  The name grabbed my attention as I'm sure it did yours so let me now review Abdominal Cuts so that I can save you time and energy searching for answers.

 

Who Makes Abdominal Cuts?

Abdominal Cuts is made by a company called Revolution Life Style.  Another name for Revolution is Corr-Jensen Labs.  The address is 6341 S. Troy Circle, Suite E, Centennial, CO 80016.  Their phone number is (303) 468-4215.  According to the Better Business Bureau the company was started in 2005.  The Better Business Bureau gives the company a rating of “A” and has no complaints when I wrote this review. Do see the BBB file for updates and additional information.

 

When I Google “Corr-Jensen Labs” I couldn’t find a website for this company. Everything I saw had to do with Revolution  Life Style and Abdomial Cuts.  Even the Better Business Bureau lists “revolutionlifestyle.com”  – an the Ab Cuts website  – as the website for Corr-Jensen Labs.  To me, this says that Corr Jensen labs may just be a fancy, science-sounding name for a supplement company.

Notice in the address of Corr Jensen Labs it says “Suite E.”  That tells me that that Corr Jensen Labs may be located an office building.

Abdominal Cuts Research

I am unable to find any peer reviewed research on Ab Cuts itself. If that's the case then the only way to know if it works or not is to look at its ingredients.

Abdominal Cuts Ingredients

• CLA (conjugated linoleic acid)  500 mg (from Safflower oil)
• GLA (gamma linolenic acid) 75 mg (from Borage oil)
• ALA (alpha-linolenic acid)  50 mg (from flaxseed oil)
• EPA and DHA   150 mg
• Sesamin  25 mg (from sesame seed oil)

 

Ab Cuts also has 6.7 mg of vitamin E which is likely used as an antioxidant.  All of the ingredients in Abdominal Cuts are fats and the vitamin E is likely used to prevent them from spoiling. 

 

The first thing you need to know is that there is no published scientific evidence that the combination of these ingredients causes weight loss.  The other thing to remember is that there is no published scientific evidence that Abdominal Cuts causes weight loss either.  That’s a little ironic for a company with a scientific sounding name like “Corr-Jensen Labs.”

So, let’s look at each ingredient in Ab Cuts and see if any of these has any evidence.

 

Conjugated Linoleic Acid (CLA).

Several studies have noted that CLA may help weight loss in some overweight people.  More specifically, CLA seems to alter the fat to muscle ratio rather than cause weight loss.  How does CLA work? Well, some think CLA causes the death of fat cells.

 

The weight loss benefits of CLA usually start showing up when people use at least 1.8 grams per day.  That’s a lot more CLA than is in Abdomial Cuts.  

 

People who have diabetes or metabolic syndrome or who are at risk for them –overweight people –should be cautious about CLA.  There is evidence that CLA seems to increase levels of pro-insulin – the unrefined, not fully processed, version of insulin.

Pro-insulin does not work as well as fully formed insulin.

 

This means that people who take CLA supplements may not be able to process sugar (glucose) as well.  This might raise blood sugar levels and increase the risk of type II diabetes.  The technical name for this condition is “ Hyper-pro-insulin-emia”.

 

There are different types of CLA.  Unfortunately the form of CLA that seems to help with fat loss also seems to be the same that increase blood sugar levels.  Most supplements are a mixture of CLA types.  Therefore it’s hard to tell if CLA supplements increase type II diabetes risk or not.  Still, it may be wise for people at risk for type II diabetes to have their sugar levels checked regularly if they use CLA supplements.

 

Gamma Linolenic Acid (GLA)

This is a fatty acid.  On other supplements you may see GLA listed as Evening Primrose Oil.  I can’t find much GLA-weight loss research.  In one 12 week study of GLA and weight loss in 100 overweight women, GLA did not work.  I had to go back to 1983 to find this study.

I can’t find any other research on GLA and weight loss.

 

 GLA is also found in Japanese Hokkaido weight loss pills so check out that review for more info. 

 

Alpha-linolenic Acid (ALA)

This is derived from flaxseed oil.  The Ab Cuts website says that ALA can help with “physique improvement”.

 

Notice the use of the vague phrase “physique improvement.”  Supplement websites often use vague – yet smart-sounding terms and phrases – to sound like they know what they are talking about.  For example, check out all the big $3 words used to describe Jillian Michaels weight loss supplement.  This product used some of the most bizarre words I've ever seen!

 

One study seemed to show that ALA helped obese mice lose weight.  Another study, published in 2010 found that ALA increased calorie burning in mice too.

 

But, where are the people studies? Where are the studies that prove ALA helps people lose weight? Ironically, here is a study that showed ALA caused people to gain weight!

 

Fatty acids are basically just fat. Each gram of fat has 9 calories. That’s a lot. Therefore it kind of makes sense that people who eat a lot of fat – or fatty acids – might gain weight.

 

Here is a study where ALA from Chia Seeds did not help weight loss in either men or women.

 

Given what I can find on this issue, for now, I'm unimpressed with the weight loss evidence for ALA.

 

EPA and DHA

Most of us know these as the “fish oils.” If you take a fish oil supplement you are already getting EPA and DHA.  There are many studies on the benefits of fish oils but for here, let’s just focus on the weight loss proof.

 

There is some research that eating fish can help weight loss. This may have something to do with the hormone leptin which is secreted from fat cells.  As for fish oil supplements, there is not as much proof that the supplements help weight loss.

For more info, see my review of Krill oil supplements.

Sesamin (sesame seed oil)

When I searched the National Library of Medicine for “sesamin and weight loss” nothing showed up.  I can’t find any studies that prove Sessamin helps weight loss in humans.

Here is a study where the combination of sesamin and fish oil increased fat oxidation (fat burning) in the livers or rats.  But did those rats lose any weight? Remember, fat burning and weight loss do not always mean the same thing.

Update. After I published this review I was made aware of a study published in 2008 titled:
Effect of a conjugated linoleic acid and omega-3 fatty acid mixture on body composition and adiponectin. In this study, younger and older skinny and obese men were randomly given a combination of CLA and omega 3 fatty acids. This study noted that this combination prevented fat mass gain in the abdominal area in younger men.

This could lend some evidence in favor of Ab Cuts but the study did not specifically use Ab Cuts so its hard to know for sure. Another issue is that the people in the study used more CLA (3 to 6 grams) and more EPA /DHA (3 g/day) than is recommended for Ab Cuts. Still, this is an interesting study and appears to be very well done.

How Much Does Ab Cuts Cost?

On the Abdominal Cuts website – revolutionlifestyle.com –  they say Ab Cuts costs $47.99. That is a lot of money for a product that doesn't seem to have any scientific proof that it works. Here is Abdominal Cuts on Amazon for those who want to compare prices and read the comments from others.

 

Ingredients in Abdominal Cuts That Are Fat

• CLA
• GLA
• ALA
• EPA and DHA
• Sesamie seed oil

 

All of the ingredients in Abdominal Cuts are fats (fatty acids).  I am pointing this out because, you see, when you eat fat, you burn more fat.  I know that sounds weird, but it is true.   The problem is that you burn more fat from what you eat, than your own body fat.

 

This logic of “eat fat, burn fat” was the same reasoning behind the supplement called Slim Shots that I reviewed previously. Read my Slim Shots review for more info on that product.

 

This also technically means that you burn more fat when you eat pizza and other fatty foods too.  It’s true.  So why don’t you lose weight if you eat a whole pizza?  Well, pizza has a lot of calories and many of those calories are stored as extra fat.

 

Calories are what weight loss is all about.  The people behind Ab Cuts knows this too.  I know they do because on the Abdominal Cuts website they say “nutritional supplements must be used in correlation to a healthy diet.”

 

That’s their fancy way of saying Abdominal Cuts probably won’t work if you don’t watch what you eat.

 

Is there any proof that people eating a healthy, low calorie diet + using the Ab Cuts supplement, lose more weight than people who just eat healthy?  No.

 

Kendra Wilkinson and Abdomial Cuts

I honestly have no idea who Kendra Wilkinson is but I hear she’s saying she lost weight using Abdominal Cuts.  Maybe she did – but was that all she did to lose weight?  My guess is that she is most likely being paid to be a spokesperson for Ab Cuts. 

Testimonials can be the jumping-off point for good research, but unfortunately they are often used as a smokescreen to keep you from knowing the real facts.

For example, check out the “update” on my post about Jennifer Nicole Lee, the spokesperson behind the Ab Circle Pro after she was interviewed on 20/20.

 

Abdominal Cuts Side Effects

Abdominal Cuts probably won’t hurt anyone who is healthy, but people who have health issues should run this product past a doctor before using. Theoretically, some of the ingredients may cause problems that you should be aware of.

For example, both fish oil and GLA might interact with blood thinner medications.   As I mentioned above, CLA may raise the risk of type II diabetes. Alpha linoleic acid may increase prostate cancer risk.

ALA may also raise triglyceride levels – which is a risk factor for heart disease.  I doubt if the level of the level of ingredients in Abdominal Cuts will do any of these things (the blood thinner side effect is what I’m most concerned about) but I thought it would be good to mention this since Abdominal Cuts is being touted to millions of people.

At least one woman in the US developed liver problems after taking CLA. This woman also had the sickle-cell anemia trait. The rate of liver problems appears to be rare. To be safe, do see to your doctor if you have liver problems, the sickle cell trait or develop any abdominal pain after using CLA supplements.

Does Ab Cuts Work?

Hard to say. In theory, eating fat might slow digestion and hence, make people less likely to get hungry and over eat. This might be one way that Ab Cuts might work. That said, because Ab Cuts has no direct published proof, its hard to say. For those who want to compare prices and read the comments of others who tried this product, here is Abdominal Cuts on Amazon.

What do you think?