Effects of Black Ginger for Weight Loss & Visceral Fat Reduction
Among the many benefits of consuming black ginger extract, its potential to increase energy levels and vitality have some amazing additional impacts on your body. Black ginger can help you lose weight, tone up, and increase muscle mass. And, thanks to better blood flow and stronger muscles, you’ll also see a reduction in visceral fat (the fat around your organs).
How does black ginger work to help men lose weight, get leaner and fitter, and reduce visceral fat? This article will tell you all you need to know about:
- Black ginger and weight loss;
- Visceral fat and the effects black ginger can have on it;
- How to use black ginger extract to lose weight and body fat.
Is Black Ginger Good for Weight Loss?
Kaempferia parviflora, or black ginger, is a root plant common in Asian countries and a relative of the regular ginger you’re used to seeing in Western cooking. In Thai and Malaysian herbal medicine, black ginger has been used for centuries for its many beneficial properties. More recently, increased attention to the benefits of black ginger - especially for men’s health - has led to a number of clinical studies that have investigated its impact.
Black ginger acts as a stimulant of good blood circulation. It’s a natural PDE 5 inhibitor, which means it can dilate blood vessels, helping your cardiovascular system work more efficiently. This leads to better blood flow, which means an increase in metabolic rate and more energy and vitality.
Research has also found that black ginger extract activates the body’s brown adipose tissue. This is responsible for transferring energy from the food we eat into heat, generating more energy for our bodies and increasing our metabolic function. So, consuming black ginger extract helps you feel energized, while also giving you the zest to work out, burn fat, and develop muscle mass.
Finally, black ginger extract is also rich in selenium, an essential mineral that is instrumental in supporting our thyroid function, our digestive system, and our immune system. This further shows how it can help balance our weight and contribute to good digestion and weight loss.
What is Visceral Fat?
One of the benefits of black ginger extract (or Kaempheria parviflora extract, also known as KPE) is that it stimulates the activity of the AMP-activated protein kinase. This is a key contributor to cell metabolism and has been linked to increased fat burning (as well as better muscle endurance and physical performance, according to this study).
The fat burning benefits are even more exciting when looking at one of the worst type of fat we can store: visceral fat. This refers to the fat around organs deep inside the body. It is much harder to be aware of, since it is not visible, with the exception of some increased abdominal fat (but not in all cases). In fact, many “skinny” looking people can have high visceral fat without knowing it.
Visceral fat is likely to increase your risk of various diseases, including: heart disease, type 2 diabetes, high cholesterol, stroke or Alzheimer’s disease. It is usually caused by our diets, as well as unhealthy lifestyles and habits (such as drinking too much alcohol, not exercising enough, etc.). You can find out if you have high visceral fat through a whole body scan, which many sophisticated scales now offer. You can also check with your doctor if you feel concerned about a trend in your waistline or how fit you’re feeling.
Effects of Black Ginger for Weight Loss and Visceral Fat Reduction
By increasing healthy blood flow and giving you energy and vitality, black ginger can contribute to your weight loss efforts and help reduce visceral fat. KPE supplementation alongside a healthy diet and regular exercise will work wonders not just for your looks, but for your overall health. Here are the effects that black ginger extract has been found to have on the body.
Increased Metabolic Rate
Studies on mice have shown that taking black ginger extract increases energy expenditure and activates brown adipose tissue, helping them generate more heat and burn more calories. While more human research is needed on this point, this study showed that black ginger increased the metabolic rate and reduced inflammation.
It’s a great starting point, especially when coupled with exercise and healthy eating.
Reduced Inflammation
The above-mentioned study from 2016 looked at the impact of KPE on physical performance, finding that it also has anti-inflammatory effects on the body. This is not surprising, given that black ginger extract helps dilate blood vessels and promote better circulation. The more blood with oxygen and nutrients is delivered throughout the body, the better the body can repair itself - for example, muscles need oxygen to recover after exercise, which essentially causes small tears in the muscle. By creating inflammation and stress on your muscles, then letting them recover adequately, you build stronger muscles and increase lean muscle mass. Black ginger contributes to all that thanks to improvements in blood flow.
Regulation of Adipose Tissue
Black ginger can help inhibit fat accumulation for obese and diabetic patients, as shown in this recent study. It’s been found to activate thermogenesis (the transformation of food into energy, by releasing heat) - impacting on the brown adipose tissue, as we mentioned earlier.
This helps regulate your metabolic levels and support a healthy, low-fat, high-energy lifestyle.
Increased Insulin Sensitivity and Appetite Suppression
Through its effect on cell production and energy levels, KPE has also been found to act on insulin sensitivity. Insulin plays a crucial role in regulating our bodies’ energy levels, balancing our micronutrient levels. It does this by transporting intracellular glucose to key organs that depend on insulin, such as the liver, and to muscles and tissues. Black ginger extract improves the response in your body to insulin delivery, further helping regulate weight and appetite.
Improved Gut Health
The ginger family of plants has long been used in herbal medicine for digestive benefits. Black ginger extract has had various utilizations, including in the treatment of allergies and diarrhea. As it’s rich in antioxidants, KPE helps reduce oxidative stress linked to diabetes. It’s also been shown to protect the stomach lining.
How to Use Black Ginger for Weight Loss
When taken in parallel to a healthy, active lifestyle and while eating a balanced diet, black ginger can make a huge difference in your efforts to lose body weight and fat. You can consume it as black ginger tea or find it on the market as black ginger powder, but we recommend extract as the most efficient and convenient way to take it.
Black ginger extract capsules contain a high quantity of the plant extract and are easy and convenient to add to your routine. We recommend taking 2 capsules daily. If you have trouble falling asleep, make sure you take these earlier in the day, as they will increase your energy levels.
How Long Does it Take to See Results with Black Ginger for Weight Loss?
To get the most out of black ginger extract supplements, you should take them daily for a few weeks before seeing results. However, some users report feeling more alert and energetic after just a few days. When it comes to weight loss, your increased metabolism and activity levels will take some time to make their effects visible - probably 6 to 8 weeks.
Is it Safe to Take Black Ginger for Weight Loss?
Since black ginger extract is entirely natural, there are no safety concerns when taking it as a supplement to regular physical activity and healthy eating. You should always check with your doctor if you have any medical concerns. Otherwise, black ginger isn’t known to cause any side effects that could impede you on your weight loss journey.