It's the question anyone slimming wants to know - can fat burner pills help me lose weight? The short answer is yes - and no! To understand that better, let's look at fat burner pills in more detail.

There are various fat burner pills on the market, each of which is usually accompanied by a great deal of hype and marketing. But behind all of that you'll find products that aim to either help you reduce the calories you take in, or increase the calories you burn.

Ways of doing this include:

Herbal formulae designed to boost your metabolism (the speed at which your body burns calories)
Products to help the body absorb less fat from food
Nutrients designed to speed up fat burning at a cellular level
Carbohydrate or sugar blockers
Appetite suppressants

This part of the supplement market is flooded with products, so they tend to make outrageous claims in order to get themselves noticed. "Hot" new ingredients come on to the market regularly, each claiming to be better than the last.

There are some things to be aware of. The most popular products over the years have been those that contain Ephedra - usually in combination (stacked) with caffeine and aspirin.

Ephedra has now been banned in the UK and the USA due to the frequent and dangerous side effects. You can still buy it on the internet, however you would have to have a huge disregard for your health to use Ephedra.

The bottom line on the new generation of slimming pills is that some do indeed work, but all of them require that you're also exercising regularly and following a sensible, calorie controlled diet.