Ripped Fuel 5X is manufactured by TwinLabs and is a dietary supplement that is marketed as a “metabolic accelerator.” It is supposed to make you leaner in just a matter of weeks and is designed for “those who work out and never see results.”

Ripped Fuel sells for approximately $28/bottle of 40 tablets, with the recommended dosage being one tablet two times a day before a meal.

Product Claims

TwinLabs claims that Ripped Fuel 5X gives you “ripped abs” in only four weeks, and that research has shown that the ingredients in Ripped Fuel 5X stimulate fat loss. Taken from TwinLab’s website: “Ripped Fuel 5X is a professional strength formula that uses five distinct nutritional mechanisms to energize your diet with less than 100 mg of caffeine per serving.* As part of a healthy diet and exercise program, Ripped Fuel 5X can help you achieve your weight-loss goals by helping to reduce body fat and maintain lean muscle*

1X Burns Calories faster*
2X Helps preserve lean muscle*
3X Enhances nutrient absorption
4X Helps reduce body fat*
5X Fuels increased energy levels.”

These asterisks mean that TwinLabs wants you to know, for legal reasons, that these “statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration, nor is this product intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.”

Ingredients and How it Works

Ripped Fuel uses a “Potentiator Blend” and a “Proprietary Blend” of active ingredients in each capsule. They include:

• Baical skullcap root: antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, diuretic
• Black catechu bark: slows down carbohydrate digestion; stabilizes blood sugar
• Black pepper fruit extract: promotes nutrient absorption
• Cayenne fruit: a stimulant and antioxidant
• Rhodiola rosea root extract: a stimulant; increases metabolism
• Cinnamon bark extract: stabilizes blood sugar
• Ginger root extract: an anti-inflammatory
• Calcium: may help to lower body fat
• B vitamins: converts food into energy; increases metabolism and energy
• Chromium Picolinate: stabilizes blood sugar and decreases cholesterol
• Caffeine: a stimulant; increases metabolism

Scientific Evidence

There is no scientific evidence that supports this claim made by TwinLabs regarding Ripped Fuel 5X: “…a super-concentrated professional-strength formula that uses five distinct nutritional mechanisms to fuel your weight-loss program: Burning calories faster, preserving lean muscle, enhancing nutrient absorption, helping to reduce body fat, and fueling increased energy levels.”

Consumer Feedback

“I’m thin but tried everything to define from the hips down and nothing worked, BUT THIS DOES, within a week of doing squats and taking this product, I now have definition. BEST PRODUCT EVER!”

--T. on September 25, 2007

“I have never had an effect from any thermogenic drug on the market so I really am not surprised that this did nothing either.”

--Psycho on March 16, 2007

Sources

http://www.gnc.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2446664&cp=2167100.2171552.2173984&page=3&doVSearch=no&doVSearch=no&pageBucket=0&parentPage=family

http://www.musclesurf.com/rippedfuel5x.html

http://www.twinlab.com/dae-product.cfm?Product_ID=1123&Subcategory_ID=RPFL

http://www.puresupplements.com/ProductDetails.asp?ProductCode=TWIN194

http://www.smart-drugs.net/Rhodiola-rosea.htm

http://www.rockymountainherbals.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Product_Code=1033

http://www.purplesage.org.uk/profiles/blackcatechu.htm

http://www.globalherbalsupplies.com/herb_information/baical_skullcap.htm