Beldt SKALD Fat Burner Review // Is It #1?

Ben BA(Hons), PGCert

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Beldt SKALD Fat Burner Review First Look:

This afternoon I had a chat or rather a bit of a phone interview with the recruitment officer for the ARMY reserves.

We discussed my reasons for wanting to explore and join the reserves plus what regiment or area off expertise I am interested in.

We then moved on to fitness…

Which then conveniently led on to my BMI.

My BMI (Body Mass Index) is 30.

This means I am overweight and almost considered obese.

Which the recruitment officer confirmed to me on the phone.

I exclaimed that I am not fat, she said that is fine.

However, she did say may be it would be a good chance to stop bulking up with weights, eat a few less carbs to increase my size and start running for endurance.

I explained that I played rugby but she countered that rugby involves a lot of start, stop and explosive running rather than just the endurance over a longer continuous distance.

Her other argument, which wasn’t really an argument just a bit of chat, was that consider the weight already placed on my joints currently then appreciate that more weight such as a Bergen, weaponry, potentially radio, etc will also have to be carried and run with.

If I am honest, I hadn’t really thought about that too much. I, perhaps, unwisely thought that if I am strong I will be fine.

I guess that may not be of all of the use when you are trekking in a jungle laden with kit and your body is working overtime trying to fuel the body which now has doubled in size due to muscle and also has to cope with 60lbs of additional strapped to me.

Not only that, some bastards are trying to kill you.

With all of this in mind, my initial thoughts are that I would prefer to lose a bit more fat.

I can do that from cycling to and from work, which I have recently started to do and will continue with regardless of the weather.

Something that can help me on the way is a fat burner, as long as it works.

And why would a fat burner called SKALD not work?!

Sure it reminds you of the time you threw that hot pan of frying oil over your sibling but still…fat loss, bro.

Ingredients

Elecampane – Some people use this to promote sweating, not that I need that, however, there’s not evidence it can help with weight loss.

http://www.webmd.com/vitamins-supplements/ingredientmono-2-elecampane.aspx?activeingredientid=2&

Verbascum Thapsus (Mullein) – Actually used amongst other things to flavor alcoholic beverages. No evidence to prove it helps with weight loss.

http://www.webmd.com/vitamins-supplements/ingredientmono-572-mullein.aspx?activeingredientid=572&activeingredientname=mullein

White Willow (Salix Alba) – Early research suggests that taking willow bark in combination with ephedra and cola nut might cause slight weight loss in overweight and obese people.

However, it is not wise to use this combination because of safety concerns about ephedra. Ephedra has been banned in the United States due to severe harmful side effects.

http://www.webmd.com/vitamins-supplements/ingredientmono-955-willow%20bark.aspx?activeingredientid=955&activeingredientname=willow%20bark

Green Tea – well known to have many powerful health benefits. Clinical studies suggest that green tea extract may boost metabolism and help burn fat.

One study found that the combination of green tea and caffeine improved weight loss and maintenance in people who were overweight and moderately obese.

Some researchers think that substances in green tea known as catechins are responsible for the herb’s fat-burning effect. Green tea extract is found in many a good fat burning supplement.

http://news.psu.edu/story/310179/2014/04/02/research/research-suggests-green-tea-exercise-boost-weight-loss-health

Bitter Orange (Citrus Aurantium) – At present, Citrus aurantium may be the best thermogenic substitute for ephedra. However, more studies are needed to establish this definitively.

Bitter orange is possibly unsafe when taken as a supplement for a medical purpose such as weight loss.

Bitter orange, particularly when taken with stimulants such as caffeine or caffeine-containing herbs, increases the risk for high blood pressure, fainting, heart attack, stroke, and other severe side effects.

There are reports that bitter orange can trigger headaches, including migraine and cluster headaches, in some people.

Bitter orange can cause sensitivity to the sun. Wear sunblock outside, especially if you are light-skinned.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12939122

http://www.hindawi.com/journals/grp/2011/382852/

BioPerine (Piper nigrum) – The extract of piperine, called BioPerine® in the patented form, has been clinically tested in the United States.

BioPerine® significantly enhances the bioavailability of various supplement nutrients through increased absorption.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9619120

Caffeine (1, 3, 7-trimethylxanthine) – This can assist with endurance, tested athletes saw an edge from caffeine in scientific studies. In some trials, the stimulant boosted athletes’ speed. In others, it helped them last longer before they spent all their energy.

Caffeine also raises the metabolism which means you burn more calories. Some studies show that it can curb soreness after exercise, too. This means you could get back to your training sooner and training means more calories burnt. This is present in all 3 of our Top Fat Burners.

Caffeine Anhydrous is the purest form so always look for that.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16076

Tyrosine – Tyrosine is taken for depression, attention deficit disorder (ADD), attention deficit-hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), the inability to stay awake (narcolepsy), and improving alertness following sleep deprivation.

It is also used for stress, Parkinson’s disease, Alzheimer’s disease, chronic fatigue syndrome(CFS).

Acetyl Tyrosine is a more soluble form of tyrosine.

https://examine.com/supplements/l-tyrosine/

Theobromine – Theobromine can reduce sleepiness and in large quantities produces a jittery sensation.

http://www.rsc.org/chemistryworld/podcast/CIIEcompounds/transcripts/theobromine.asp

Dose:

The advice is to take 2 capsules daily which provides a desperately inadequate and low 682mg.

This is much lower than what other, proven and effective fat burners offer.

They also tend to offer more capsules and the doses spread out evenly through the day to ensure the body gets a trickle of the ingredients.

Considering this costs nearly $60 I would be expecting quite a bit more than what we are provided with here.

Effects & Benefits:

There’s 3 effective ingredients present at best that can help with fat burn.

Caffeine and Green Tea have long been celebrated for the weight loss benefits and are found in the best fat burners available.

Tyrosine and Theobromine can essentially keep you alert and awake which can help you get through a cardio or weights session. Particularly if you hit the gym at night.

Now, Bitter Orange, also an effective ingredient for fat loss is included as a substituent for Ephedra. Not that it is Ephedra.

It does bring with it a number of problems though…

Negatives:

It is important to understand that this is a proprietary blend, this means although we know each daily dose is 682mg, we do not know how much of each included ingredient is provided. There’s no breakdown on the ingredients panel at all.

This means we may only get trace amounts, but a trace is enough to list it as being present. Scandalous.

Bitter Orange is a concern because of the possible and highly likely dangerous side effects.

White Willow works with Ephadra and can promote weight loss, it is just that no Ephedra is actually present.

Then there’s a further 2 ingredients that might work well to flavor beverages but appear to do little else of any benefit.

Another issue is that it omits other, proven and well regarded ingredients that are found in other fat burners.

These ingredients include:

B6
B12
Zinc
Green Coffee
Cayenne

Let’s not forget the low daily dose too.

Beldt SKALD Fat Burner Review Conclusion:

Realistically, we have 2 effective and safe fat burning ingredients which will help with your fat loss goals.

That’s not a lot.

Okay, there’s a 3rd but that is a potentially dangerous addition that I am not keen on risking.

Not when there’s better, more effective products out there on the market for a similar price.

There’s a couple more ingredients that will help with keeping you awake which is nice to have, but I would want my fat burner to help me shed pounds, not keep me awake at night. I can use a pre workout for that!

As a result the alternative fat burners which are available with a solid 9 or 10 ingredients that offers proven ability are a better option, they ware also dosed adequately too.

You can read about them here.