Meratol

Containing the ever popular hottest ingredient (literally!) at the moment Capsicum Extract (found in red hot chilli’s), Meratol contains a total of 4 weight loss ingredients, they claim are clinically proven to help you eat less and burn more calories. Let’s find out if Meratol stands up to scrutiny!

Meratol Review

Meratol is developed by Advanced Health who produces a number of very popular and successful weight loss supplements in the UK. Like most of their products they have a strikingly well designed and well written website that certainly impresses.

There is also a “Customer Support” page that gives both the UK and International customer service numbers, along with email address and web form. They claim they also provide 24 hour customer support with queries replied within 24 hours!

So far, it’s looking good.

We contacted Meratol and requested a sample and as we have come to expect with Advanced Health they were all too happy to send one to us.

We did our usual searches for scams and rip offs and found no consumer reports of scams. We did find an upheld complaint made by the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) in the UK. The ASA challenged previous claims on the Meratol website that suggested ingredients in the product could reduce the absorption of carbohydrates.

The ASA found:

[we] had not seen sufficient evidence to substantiate the claim that the product could aid weight loss by reducing the absorption of carbohydrates we concluded that the claim was misleading.

As a consequence the claims on the website had to be removed.

What Does Meratol Claim To Do?

Previously Meratol claimed it worked to block the absorption of up to 82% of carbohydrates consumed. With the ASA adjudication the claims have changed so that now Meratol claims it is the only supplement you need to:

• Help increase metabolism
• Help increase alertness and attention
• Help boost energy levels
• Help reduce fatigue

Meratol is a supplement that aims to keep you focused whilst dieting and…

…may also reduce calorie intake, block carbohydrate intake, burn calories and reduce food cravings.

So What Is Meratol and What Are The Ingredients For Meratol?

Initially marketed as mostly an effective carbohydrate blocker the ASA adjudication means these claims have been removed. This means that references to reducing carbohydrate intake have been downplayed.

Even still, Meratol aims to address both sides of the dieting equation, increasing the number of calories burnt and reducing the amount of calories consumed. Such an approach has shown to be the most successful way to lose weight and recommended by health professionals.

So let’s take a look at in the ingredients, each Meratol capsule contains 885mg of the following:

• Capsicum Extract (Capsimax plus blend, 90mg): Found in red hot chilli peppers and the reason why they are red. Used in a number of fat burners to boost metabolism as evidence has shown the rate at which calories burnt to increase by up to 12 times.
• Cactus Extract (Cacti Nea powder, 66mg): A wild cactus extract that has been used for centuries as an effective natural appetite suppressant. A recent study has shows it may help to reduce weight gain by managing water loss according to study published in Phytotheraphy Research.
  (http://www.nutraingredients.com/Research/Cactus-extract-may-help-manage-weight-water-loss)
• Brown Seaweed Extract (Ascophyllum nodosum, 316mg): Found in the sea and contains potent phytochemicals that are claimed to have numerous health benefits. Of most interest is the powerful iodine boost that brown seaweed extract can provide. Essential for proper weight control and thyroid function, decreased iodine levels may cause a low metabolic rate.
• Prickly Pear Extract (Nopal, 200mg): The main ingredient in many fat binding diet pills as it’s a soluble fiber that works to make fat molecules too large to be digested. Evidence has shown that prickly pear can significantly reduce calories consumed from fats in the diet.
• Caffeine (25mg): A common ingredient in diet pills, shown to increase mental alertness and neurologically provides the surge you need to maximize your training and fight workout fatigue. Only a small amount is present in this supplement.

So What Does All This Mean?

It would seem that Meratol contains a number of good ingredients that have some scientific data to suggest weight loss is possible.

The effectiveness of such ingredients will depend on the amounts used and without a full ingredient profile this is impossible to tell.

It’s worth highlighting that the studies referenced were conducted using one of the ingredients in isolation. We are not aware of any research that has combined these 4 ingredients (and caffeine) together to prove positive weight loss results.

Does Meratol Have Any Side Effects?

The ingredients in Meratol are 100% natural and should not cause any negative side effects.

Consumers who have experienced positive and negative results whilst taking Meratol have not reported any side effects.

Any Meratol Reviews From Customers?

Meratol consumers reviews have been somewhat mixed with reports of “minimal difference” and “bit of a disappointment for me” to “This product really does work you just take the tablets and then carry on as normal”.

Apart from the official website, which will of course only show the positive reviews, there tend to be more negative reports than positive ones!

So Does Meratol Work?

There are references to 3 clinical studies to back up the weight loss claims made, these look to show the effectiveness of some of the ingredients in Meratol.

Whilst the studies do show positive results, no clinical studies have been undertaken using Meratol. The effectiveness of Meratol is therefore based solely on these few studies.

With this in mind, we would suggest that consumers may lose weight whilst taking Meratol but without any clinical data it is difficult to confirm one way or another!

Celebrity Lauren Goodger’s Endorsement of Meratol

Lauren Goodger, actress in UK reality show “The Only Way is Essex” (TOWIE) featured heavily in the UK media endorsing Meratol after she lost 1 stone in 4 weeks.

In an interview first featured in New! magazine (followed up by features in Daily Mail), Lauren revealed she had used Meratol with a diet and exercise programme to lose the weight.

I started at 11st 4lbs and now I’m 10st 4lbs, so I’ve lost a stone in four weeks. I was a size 10-12 and now I’m a healthy 10. Ideally, though, I would want to get down to an 8-10.

Lauren Goodger quoted in the Daily Mail

It’s worth keeping in mind that during this time Lauren had a personal trainer who kept her on a fairly intensive exercise and diet regime! This without doubt contributed a lot of the changes seen in many of the before and after pictures (see right).

Recent pictures of Lauren do appear as if she has put some weight back on again!

Where Can I Buy Meratol?

Meratol is available directly from the official website and costs from £34.95 ($56) for 60 capsules. Better value for money can be had by purchasing the “Buy 4 get 1 Free” package, which reduces the cost to under £20 ($32) per bottle.

Prices on the website are displayed in pounds sterling, Euros and USD and a 24 hour order line is clearly displayed. There is also worldwide delivery.

Watchdog Verdict

Meratol has a slick looking website and has captured the media limelight in the UK thanks mostly to the upcoming celebrity status of Lauren Goodger, actress in the UK reality show “The Only Way is Essex”.

With the significant change in the claims for Meratol, the number of negative consumer reviews and uncertainly over ingredient amounts means that we unable to approve Meratol diet pills.

Advanced Health are behind some of the most popular and successful diet pills on the market; even still we believe Meratol falls short of our criteria and have no choice but to reject it!