# Stacker and similar weight loss/energy pills **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 6, 2004, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stacker-and-similar-weight-loss-energy-pills/263387 "2004-09-06T21:25:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Ronnie\_James\_Dio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e79b87/32.png) [@Ronnie\_James\_Dio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ronnie_James_Dio)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2004, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stacker-and-similar-weight-loss-energy-pills/263387/1 "2004-09-06T21:25:01Z")
I’ve been looking at these products at the local GNC, and they all seem to have the same ingredients and claims. Because they can no longer have ephedrine in them, the key active ingredients appear to be caffeine from guarana extract and green tea leaves. Are these really effective and worth the price? I can buy a pack of caffeine pills for less than 5 dollars, while these “metabolism boosters” retail over 20 - a price that was justified when they contained ephedra, but now reeks of ripoff. What benefits do these ingredients have over plain ol caffeine? ---
**Author:** ![ultrafilter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/3d9bf3/32.png) [@ultrafilter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ultrafilter)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2004, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stacker-and-similar-weight-loss-energy-pills/263387/2 "2004-09-06T22:30:22Z")
Green tea is one of the best things you can drink for your health due to its high antioxidant content, but it’s really cheap, and hard to justify buying in an expensive pill. ---
**Author:** ![Burrido](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/3be4f8/32.png) [@Burrido](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Burrido)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2004, 12:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stacker-and-similar-weight-loss-energy-pills/263387/3 "2004-09-07T00:14:08Z")
Personally, I think those pills are worthless. L-Cartinine pills are the biggest ripoff I believe. I tried 500mg a day for two months and experienced zero difference. ---
**Author:** ![Sequent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dbc845/32.png) [@Sequent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sequent)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2005, 2:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stacker-and-similar-weight-loss-energy-pills/263387/4 "2005-09-09T02:56:14Z")
From the [Stacker website](http://www.stacker2.com/products/stacker2_xplc_con.html). > [@](#): > > On the fat cell’s surface are receptors that signal the cell to hold stored fat. A natural antagonist in New Stacker 2 XPLC chemically switches off these receptors. Freed fatty acids can then move out of the cell and into the blood stream. Smack, they’re busting out the science. Or could it be… _pseudo-science_ (gasp)? Ingredients: > [@](#): > > Yohimbine Alkaloids (pausinystalia yohimbe bark), Yerba Mate (leaves), Guarana (seeds), Kola Nut (seeds)(3mg caffeine group alkaloids), Capsaicin (fruit) …so thats caffeine, caffiene, a little caffeine…and pepper? ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2005, 3:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stacker-and-similar-weight-loss-energy-pills/263387/5 "2005-09-09T03:40:15Z")
The chemical interaction they are talking about that ‘releases fat’ is most likely due to yohimbine. There are some studies showing yohimbine is an alpha 2 antagonist (a receptor blocker), and alpha 2 agonism (aka receptor activation) is tied into fat storage. So yohimbine blocks the receptor tied into fat storage. Studies on it are contradictory though, some show alot of fat loss compared with placebo and some show no difference. You can just buy yohimbine, caffiene & green tea very inexpensively and take them in capsule form w/o buying $20 stacker pills. ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2005, 4:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stacker-and-similar-weight-loss-energy-pills/263387/6 "2005-09-09T04:05:54Z")
Incidentally if you’ve seen any of the dairy food commercials about dairy causing weight loss they are somewhat similiar to that mechanism. The hormone calcitriol causes fat cells to store fat, but a diet high in calcium (esp. dairy calcium for some reason) has been shown in some studies to repress calcitrol levels, resulting in more fat mobilization. [http://www.todaysdietitian.com/archives/td\_0205p54.shtml](http://www.todaysdietitian.com/archives/td_0205p54.shtml) Anyway I know someone is going to come in and in one form or another say ‘everything not prescribed/supported by a doctor is bunk’. However the studies are there, they just aren’t very strong for these supplements.