LCR Health claim Active PK can help fight fatigue, burn abdominal fat, help reduce cravings and increase natural energy. It does all this by activating your AMPK – or the metabolic master switch in your body. This sounds very technical. Read our Active-PK review all will be explained.
Active PK Summary: a capsule based dietary supplement aimed at converting nutrients into usable energy. This is done by activating your body’s AMPK (AMP-activated protein kinase).
The byproduct of this is a reduction in abdominal fat, increase in natural energy, clearer thinking and an al round stronger slimmer feeling body.
This is the theory anyway according the marketing material.
The manufacturers advertise their product as more than a weight loss product. Sometimes products that offer this can be guilty diluting each benefit.
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Table of Contents
What is Active PK?
Active PK is an AMPK activator. You’ll be forgiven for not totally understanding what that is. This review will explain how this supplement can combat abdominal fat and fight fatigue. Does it actually work though?
Active-PK is a diet pill made in the USA and distributed online. It’s sold on the back of the promise it will reduce fatigue while helping you to burn extra abdominal fat.
The formulation only has three active ingredients. However, none of the ingredients in Active-PK are particularly popular with diet pill manufacturers.
This break from the norm could be seen as making Active-PK a little bit special but there’s a reason why weight loss ingredients like green tea and cayenne pepper are such popular diet supplement ingredients.
These staples of the weight loss industry have abilities that are backed by science. There’s plenty of evidence that shows what they can do.
That’s not to say you can’t buy other weight loss products that contain one or more of the ingredients used in Active-PK. You absolutely can but they’re generally used alongside power ingredients, like green tea.
Nevertheless, there is a limited amount of evidence that suggests all three of the ingredients used in Active-PK may offer some level of weight loss support.
I review a lot of weight loss products so I’m familiar with all the usual big claims and manufacturer hype. I also know what different diet pill ingredients can do and the areas where they excel.
When I read the Active-PK sales pitch, I can’t help but feel the manufacturer may be trying to blind people with science.
The Active PK sounds very sophisticated, but the claims about how it works make things more complicated than they need to be.
Alleged Active-PK Benefits
- Helps fight abdominal fat
- Boosts natural energy
- Helps minimize cravings
- Encourages clearer thinking
- Supports a stronger, slimmer-feeling body
Who Makes Active-PK?
Active-PK is one of several health and wellness supplements marketed by LCR Health. It’s an American company with its own certified, pharmaceutical-grade lab in Los Angeles, California.
LCR Health
8383 Wilshire Blvd
Suite 800
Beverly Hills, CA 90211
It’s unclear who owns the company but its chief medical officer is Dr Rand McClain.
McClain is a respected member of the medical community. He owns several clinics and is considered an early pioneer of AMPK activation.
LCR Health is accredited with the Better Business Bureau (BBB). At the time of this review, the company’s page at the BBB website was showing 20 customer complaints.
Most of the complaints were to do with billing issues and problems obtaining a refund via the money-back guarantee.
All the complaints were marked as “resolved” or “answered” and the company still retains a BBB rating of A+. When it comes to BBB business ratings, it doesn’t get any better than that.
How Active-PK Is Meant to Work?
This is where things get complicated. Most diet pills contain ingredients that provide standard benefits such as appetite suppression and thermogenic fat burning.
Active-PK provides these benefits as well but apparently does so by activating an enzyme called AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK).
AMPK is sometimes called the “metabolic master switch”. It’s a phylogenetically conserved fuel-sensing enzyme that common to all mammals. It’s present in every cell of the body.
When it’s activated, AMPK sets off energy-generating processes such as glucose uptake.
It also stimulates the oxidation of fatty acids and decreases energy-consuming processes such as the synthesis of lipids and protein.
Does any of this interest you? I’m guessing it doesn’t. Unless biological science is a pet subject, you don’t really need to know about AMPK.
When you are looking for good diet pills all you need to know is how they can help you to lose weight.
When you forget all the tech talk, what Active-PK is going to do for you is take the edge off your appetite, boost energy, and encourage your body to start burning fat for energy.
However, as with any other diet pill, Active-PK won’t do a lot for you unless you use it alongside a low-calorie diet.
Diet first, pills second. It’s the only way to lose weight and, if you are up to it, exercise always helps.
In fact, exercise is one of the most powerful physiological activators of AMPK. Is that relevant? Not really.
All you need to know is getting more exercise can help you to lose weight. Partly by doing what these pills aim to do.
Active-PK Ingredient Profile
As I already mentioned earlier in this review, Active-PK only has three ingredients. All of them are plant extracts.
Each two-capsule serving provides:
- Gynostemma Pentaphyllum Leaf Extract (450 mg)
- Quercetin Dihydrate (100 mg)
- Berberine HCI (100 mg)
Now we know what we are dealing with, the next thing is to take a look at their individual capabilities.
Active-PK In Detail (What the Ingredients Do)
Gynostemma Pentaphyllum Leaf Extract
Gynostemma pentaphyllum is also known as Southern ginseng, five-leaf ginseng, and poor man’s ginseng. Among its many other names, it boasts the title miracle grass as well.
A name like miracle grass is likely to bring forth high expectations. Especially given the ginseng associations. Most people are aware of ginseng’s reputation for boosting good health.
Sorry to bring you back down to earth but, despite the name, Gynostemma pentaphyllum is not a member of the ginseng family.
However, like true ginseng, the plant is abundant in Southern China. It’s also popular with Chinese herbalists, who sometimes use its extracts in a similar way to ginseng.
More often than not, herbalists distribute Gynostemma pentaphyllum as a herbal tea. Typical uses include lowering cholesterol and managing diabetes.
The bad news is, there is a lack of evidence this “miracle grass” offers any medicinal value at all. Now for the good news.
The results of a study conducted in Korea suggest one of the compounds Gynostemma pentaphyllum provides (actiponin) may be a potent “anti-obesity reagent” that may assist weight loss without the risk of significant side effects.
This is interesting. It suggests this ginseng impostor may have some credibility as an inclusion in a weight loss formula such as this. However, let’s not forget it’s just one study.
The main thing the results do is highlight a need for further and deeper investigation.
Quercetin Dihydrate
If you’ve never heard of this ingredient, don’t worry. Most people will be in the same boat. It’s not a popular diet pill ingredient.
The actual ingredient is quercetin. Dihydrate is just the form of being used in this particular diet pill formulation.
Quercetin is a flavonol that’s present in a lot of different plants including capers, kale, cranberries, and red onions.
Dihydrate ingredients are similar to anhydrous ingredients. The big difference is the amount of water molecules the two forms contain. Anhydrous ingredients don’t have any of them. Dihydrate ingredients have two.
Quercetin is an antioxidant. As you will no doubt be aware, antioxidants are good for purging the body of free radical toxins. This is good because it prevents a damaging condition known as oxidative stress.
The chances are you will already be getting quercetin from your normal diet.
The body has problems processing it, but experts still maintain the best way to get the compound is to eat foods that provide it.
LCR Health includes it in the Active-PK formulation to provide energy, support weight loss, and improve brain function.
There is research that supports the use of quercetin in all these roles. Nevertheless, there are other natural ingredients that pack a bigger punch in all the aforementioned areas.
Berberine HCI
Berberine is a bioactive compound that occurs naturally in a lot of plant species. You can get it from goldenseal, tree turmeric, barberries, and many other natural sources.
So, what about the “HCI” in berberine HCI? It stands for hydrochloride. Salts of this kind are often used in medications.
Reducing ingredients to a salt form makes them quicker and easier to absorb. However, it could be argued that, after being combined with hydrochloric acid, a natural ingredient like berberine is no longer natural at all.
Berberine extracts have a long history of use in traditional Chinese medicine. More importantly, research proves the ingredient’s potential in many areas.
It’s a particularly worthy inclusion for a formulation such as this because one of the main things berberine does is activate AMPK.
A couple of studies suggest a link between berberine and weight loss. Again, this makes it a good fit for Active-PK.
Unfortunately, there’s a rather big fly in the ointment because the formulation may not contain enough berberine to furnish satisfactory results.
The participants in one of the aforementioned studies were getting 900 mg of berberine per day. The participants in the other study got 1,500 mg per day.
In both cases, supplementing with berberine was effective for weight loss. Active-PK only provides 100 mg of berberine per day. Compared to the doses the study participants got, that’s a mere splash in the pan.
Active-PK Dosage and Usage Guidelines
The dose is two Active-PK capsules per day. Food is optional, but you need to always be sure to take them with water.
The guidelines on the bottle are a little unclear about this, but I did some checks and its two capsules, taken once per day. Not one capsule two times per day.
Active-PK Customer Reviews
Needless to say, all the reviews on the manufacturer’s website are incredibly good. I don’t trust anything published at such a biased source so I went looking elsewhere.
Fortunately, I was able to find several sources of reliable feedback and many users love the product. The flip-side is, I found a similar number of customers who do not.
A Positive Customer Review
A Negative Customer Review
Active-PK Side Effects
Although the Active-PK website has quite a good FAQ section, it doesn’t provide any information about the possibility of side effects. That’s a pity. It’s a question many potential customers may want answering.
However, there are doubts about Gynostemma pentaphyllum’s suitability for long-term use.
It’s also worth bearing in mind, none of the ingredients in Active-PK are suitable for use during pregnancy or while nursing a child.
If you are taking any medication, you will need to check with your doctor before using the supplement. This is something the site’s FAQ section makes very clear.
Due to the doubts regarding Gynostemma pentaphyllum, it would be a good idea to seek medical advice before using his product.
Weight loss can be a long game. You need a product that can stay with you for the long haul.
Does Active-PK Work?
If you buy Active-PK you probably won’t be backing a loser but the product is a little like a donkey masquerading as a racehorse.
It might be able to carry you the distance but it’s unlikely to get you where you want to be very fast.
The product’s power to suppress the appetite is likely to be particularly poor.
Although there are some very good appetite suppressing plant extracts available for manufacturers to use, Active-PK does not contain any of the power ingredients.
Fighting hunger is one of the hardest things about trying to lose weight. Most dieters need help. If you do too, this may not be the best product to use.
Despite all the talk about AMPK, when it comes to fat burning, I’d still put more faith in green tea, capsicum, or any of the other popular fat burners.
If you use Active-PK alongside a diet that’s suitably low in calories, it may offer value, but there are alternatives that will probably help you more.
It’s also worth remembering this is an expensive product that doesn’t appear to work for all.
Active-PK Buying Options and Considerations
You can only buy Active-PK from the manufacturer’s site. Each bottle contains 60 capsules. That’s a 30-day supply. Now get ready for the kicker, the cost per single bottle is a massive USD 89.95.
Shipping is free but this is a seriously over-priced product. Bulk-buy discounts are available but grabbing them entails a pretty large investment.
The best deal goes to customers who buy six bottles for USD 455.70.
Do the math and you’ll find that’s USD 75.95 per bottle. That’s still more than you’d pay for any of the leading diet pills.
Active-PK After-Sales Service and Guarantee
You can contact customer services via telephone or email. Sending a letter is also an option but it’s not an efficient way to go.
Active-PK has a 90-day money-back guarantee. That’s nice and long. It’s a good job too. The guarantee period begins on the day the pills leave the fulfillment center. Postal delays would eat into the guarantee period.
I found several customer complaints stating the company was failing to honor its guarantee.
That’s a little worrying. However, if you decide to buy Active-PK and subsequently have problems getting a refund, I suggest you lodge a complaint with the BBB.
Looking at the complaints already placed there, it appears to be a good way of forcing the company into action.
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