Disclaimer: I don’t recommend you use any of the compounds/drugs that will be mentioned in this post. Some of these drugs have the potential for serious side effects. This post is for informational purposed only.
Weight-loss 101: The most important factor to losing weight
Hopefully, by this point, all of you have heard that to lose weight you need to be in a caloric deficit. It doesn’t matter what crazy diets/drugs/workouts you do if you are not in a caloric deficit you will not lose weight.
All of the drugs I’m going to mention in this list will help you achieve a caloric deficit one way or another. While I think all of these drugs can be dangerous, some of them are less dangerous than others. Make sure to read the full post to get the whole picture.
So let’s get started!
#1: DNP- The Drug that can cook you alive, Literally! (also the most effective)
DNP is a chemical that interferes with your bodies ability to produce ATP (energy) in the mitochondria. What happens as a result is your body has to keep burning “fuel” to produce enough usable energy, the rest is exerted as heat. DNP raised your Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR) in a dose-dependent manner, making it almost impossible to not be in a caloric deficit.
According to this paper, each 100mg of DNP is responsible for an 11% increase in BMR. Some anecdotal reports suggest an even larger increase with numerous reports of people losing over 10 lbs in a week. One of the only studies of DNP on humans found that doses of 2mg/kg and 3mg/kg resulted in an increase of BMR by 25% and 35-42% respectively.
As a result, DNP significantly increased your bodies natural temperature. This is where it becomes deadly. Your natural body temperature is around 36.5-37.5 deg Celcius. On DNP however, it can rise to above 40 putting you in a state of extreme hyperthermia. There have been numerous reported deaths for DNP due to hyperthermia. Additionally, there are some reports of users developing premature Cataracs following DNP use. Due to its effectiveness, DNP was actually given to German Soldiers during the invasion of Russia in WWII to help with managing the freezing temperatures.
It has a half-life of 36 hours so it does build up systemically if taken every 24 hours. There are no medium or large scale human trials conducted on DNP; as far as I know, it has only ever been tested on 3 women. Thus, we really have no idea of all the potential side effects.
In the fitness community, it is used mostly around 200mg every day for a period of 1-2 weeks. However, most of these users were heavy bodybuilders so theoretically the dose for a female should be quite a bit lower if it is used at all.
The anecdotal evidence for the efficacy of DNP for weight-loss is unrivaled. There are many reports of users losing 10 lbs and more within just a week of DNP. However, while it is effective, there is no antidote for DNP if you take a lethal dose of DNP the only thing that can be done in hopes of saving you are ice baths and such. Due to the inconsistency of the black market which sells DNP each capsule may be dose differently and result in an overdose.
So while DNP is very effective, it’s also VERY dangerous. There is no antidote and if you happen to overdose on DNP it can easily be fatal. Please do not take this lightly, this drug is super dangerous and is essentially a poison.
Keep reading to see safer alternatives to weight loss.
#2: Clenbuterol
Clenbuterol or clen is also a very popular weight loss drug in the fitness community. It is a beta receptor agonist with preferential binding towards the beta-2 receptor. Due to the activation of these receptors clenbuterol has been shown to have fat burning properties.
It also is not approved for human use, although it’s much less dangerous than DNP. It does cause an increase in heart rate and can cause slight twitching/shaking of the extremities. Another side effect of major concern is the development of necrotic tissue in the heart muscles.
However, it also has some pretty great success stories and can increase your basal metabolic rate by 8-13% which can cause pretty significant fat loss. Say you are a normal sized female with a BMR of 1500 calories per day. Taking clenbuterol could increase your BMR by around 150 to 1650 calories. This would result in about 0.333 lb of fat loss per week without diet.
Clenbuterol is typically used by cycling it, typically 3 days on, 1-2 day off, to avoid desensitizing the beta receptors.
While it is popular in the fitness community, clenbuterol is actually a veterinary drug mainly given to horses to help alleviate symptoms of asthma.
Overall, it’s not the best choice and there are actually safer beta-agonists and other categories of drugs that can be more helpful for fat loss.
#3: Albuterol
Albuterol is a very similar compound to clenbuterol also selectively binding to the beta-2-receptors. However, unlike clenbuterol, it is FDA approved and has very extensive research on human use. Additionally, it is not known to cause necrosis in the heart. It is actually the drug found in most asthma puffers today and is on the World Health Organization’s list for essential drugs.
It works in a similar way to clenbuterol but has a much shorter half-life of only 4 hours. This makes managing the side effects such as shaking/anxiety/headaches much easier than with clen. Also, it gives you the option to skip an evening dose to be able to get a good nights sleep.
Overall, albuterol works in a very similar way to clenbuterol but is a much safer drug. For whatever reason, it’s not as common in the fitness industry which makes no sense given that its a better drug in almost every way.
Like all beta-receptor agonists, albuterol would have to also be cycled in order to prevent tolerance.
#4: T3 (Triiodothyronine)
T3 is one of your natural thyroid hormones and works by increasing your BMR. It is responsible for numerous body functions but one of the effects of systemically administering T3 is weight loss. It is one of the strongest weight loss drugs 2nd only to DNP.
In high dosages, T3 will cause muscle as well as fat atrophy so if you are looking to keep muscle this drug is probably not the best choice. However, if you are looking for a slim figure it’s hard to think of a drug that can give you better results than T3.
The main risk of using T3 is shutting down/damaging your natural T3 production which may result in extreme weight gain as well as a host of other side effects after stopping T3 use. It is not something that should be used lightly as it can have long-lasting side effects. Should you choose to use this drug I urge you to do extensive research on thyroid function and how to recover it after the use of T3.
#5: Adderal/Amphetamine
Many people don’t know that Adderal is just the brand name for amphetamine also known as “speed” on the streets. It works by increasing your BMR but perhaps a more important function for weight loss is the extreme appetite suppression. Your hunger is almost guaranteed to go away at the right dose of amphetamine.
Withing a 2-3 week period of using Adderall consistently, you can lose up to 7-12 pounds due to simply not eating. And of course, the stimulant effect will help with the lack of energy you would otherwise experience. The risks include high blood pressure, headaches, damage to your cardiovascular system, and developing an addiction/dependence on Adderall to function. Your tolerance will build quickly so it is not a sustainable fix for the long run.
Most people will typically start at 10-15mg and increase until 40-60mg, in some cases up to 3x per day.
Of course like all drugs it can be damaging, especially in long term use.
#6: Ephedrine
Ephedrine is quite similar to clen and albuterol also being a beta receptor agonist. However, it binds with similar affinity to the beta-1 and beta-2 receptors meaning it will cause a larger increase in heart rate and blood pressure than the other two.
It also leads to fat burning as well as appetite suppression. It was part of the famous ECA stack before it became a banned substance in most countries. Many bodybuilders report to having amazing workouts on ephedrine due to the extreme stim feeling it gives. Long term ephedrine use can cause adrenal fatigue so it would be wise to cycle it for 3 days on 2 days off or something similar.
#7: Caffeine
Lastly, this one’s a drug many people don’t think of as a weight loss drug because most people are addicted to it anyways. However, if you don’t already have a tolerance, caffeine is a great drug to use for weight loss.
For one it causes appetite suppression while giving you an energy boost to function throughout the day. On top of this, it typically also causes a slight increase to your BMR. As a result, you can eat less and burn more calories. Sadly, most people already have a tolerance to it and will not be able to successfully use it as a diet aid even after an abstinence period, because once you’ve had a tolerance for a drug it will develop much quicker the second time.
An added benefit is that it is legal and very safe. A common mistake when trying this method is drinking fancy high-caloric caffeine drinks without realizing how hindering this is to your weight loss goals. Make sure to check how many calories your coffee has on apps like MyFitnessPal. If you want to skip this hassle completely, you can opt for caffeine pills which are available at most supplement stores.
Nothing Beats a Bad Diet
In the end, diet is king. Nothing, except for maybe DNP, can overcome a bad diet. Most of these drugs can have serious side effects, some more than others. You have to decide if it is worth it to you and how much risk you are willing to take.
None of these drugs will give you results that can’t be achieved with a good diet but can certainly help with the process and make it faster which… lets be real most of us are inpatient people.
Phentermine is not mentioned?