Hydroxycut SX-7 Black Onyx
$27.99
Pros
- Contains some good ingredients
- Side effects unlikely
Cons
- Staple ingredients under-dosed
- Some ingredients contribute nothing to fat loss
- Usefulness of some ingredients questionable
Full Hydroxycut SX-7 Black Onyx Review
Product Overview
Hydroxycut SX-7 Black Onyx is part of Muscletech’s SX-7 range. The SX-7 products are billed as “the most advanced super extreme formulas available”.
Muscletech are very explicit about what you can expect from using Hydroxycut SX-7 Black Onyx. According to the website, benefits include extreme energy and mental focus.
We also see that Muscletech guarantee that using this product will give you a “sensory overload”, the likes of which you cannot get from any other product on the market today.
Sensory overload sounds a little worrying as far as we’re concerned, but we assume that Muscletech aren’t selling a fat burner that acts like acid. Instead, it’s likely that they’re talking about the enhanced mental focus and energy mentioned elsewhere.
Many of you will be familiar with the hyper-focused, tingly sensation that sometimes accompanies pre-workouts and occasionally some fat burners. This is probably what Muscletech mean by “sensory overload”. While we don’t really look for that in a fat burner (since we will invariably be taking it in work or at home where we don’t want a “sensory overload”), it isn’t a fundamental problem with a fat burner.
So Hydroxycut SX-7 Black Onyx not only delivers fat burning benefits, but it apparently also gives you more energy for your workouts and heightened mental performance. That’s quite a lot for a single product to deliver!
So the question is, does it really work?
Can this fat burner deliver enhanced fat loss, enhanced focus, and more physical energy?
Most important of all, is there anything better out there in terms of value for money or safety?
There’s only one way to find out. Below you’ll find our full Hydroxycut SX-7 Black Onyx review. We start off at the most important place; the ingredients.
Hydroxycut SX-7 Black Onyx Formula Review
The most important thing to look at when deciding which fat burner to use is the formula itself.
Without looking at the ingredients, you don’t know anything about the product, regardless of how good the manufacturer’s marketing team tell you it is!
So, here’s what the Hydroxycut SX-7 Black Onyx label looks like:
What Do We Make Of It? – Ingredients Review
This looks to be a very interesting formula.
It contains some really good fat burning ingredients; exactly those ingredients we look for in every fat burner. You might call these “standard ingredients”, but in reality they’re common-place in high quality fat burners because they are well above standard in what they deliver.
For example, we have a fairly reasonable helping of caffeine anhydrous. This is a more potent form of caffeine as it has had all of its water molecules removed – hence anhydrous.
While a serious fat burner could probably use a little more caffeine than 135mg (even if it is anhydrous), we think it’s good that the more concentrated form has been used here. The 135mg in Hydroxycut SX-7 Black Onyx should be sufficient to give you a slight boost during your workouts and to keep you awake throughout the day while on a relatively empty stomach.
However, we also have robusta coffee bean extract, 200mg of the stuff to be exact.
This will likely provide some of the extra caffeine needed to really give this fat burner a punch. While it is still perhaps a little short on caffeine, this is better than some supplements which contain a paltry 100mg.
A much more important substance we derive from the robusta coffee bean extract is chlorogenic acid.
This stuff is an incredible natural fat burner, which is why you will now find it in all of the most advanced, effective fat strippers on the market. It has been found in numerous clinical trials to be able to reduce body fat by a significant amount.
The prevailing wisdom at the minute is that chlorogenic acid brings about such dramatic weight loss is because it prevents the absorption of simple carbohydrates.
However, we think the evidence actually points to it inhibiting the early insulin response of simple sugar consumption. This study found that “Chlorogenic acid…reduced early glucose and insulin responses during an OGTT”.
However it works, it is a must in a serious fat burner.
Finally, we come to theanine.
Theanine doesn’t seem to have any fat burning effects of its own, but it does work in a synergistic manner with caffeine, enhancing its beneficial effects while diminishing the side effects.
It’s usually always welcome, but because Hydroxycut SX-7 Black Onyx contains so little caffeine compared to other fat burners, we don’t think it’s really necessary here.
-HIIT vs. Steady State Cardio: A Balanced Appraisal-
More Unusual Ingredients
We decided to split our Hydroxycut SX-7 Black Onyx review into these two sections because it does contain some ingredients that you may not have seen in a fat burner before.
On closer inspection though, it seems that the manufacturers have been quite liberal with their descriptions of these substances to make them seem more mysterious. Take their depiction of Citrus Unshui for instance:
Describing a satsuma as an “ancient Japanese citrus fruit” is, in our opinion, a bit of a stretch. Satsumas are now common, every-day fruits available in grocery stores all over the world, practically year-round (thanks to awesome agricultural practices that overcome seasonal limitations).
We have some in the office fruit-bowl right now.
According to Muscletech, the satsuma pulp extract in Hydroxycut SX-7 Black Onyx delivers the very mysterious-sounding carotenoid Beta-cryptoxanthin.
What does this magical stuff do?
Basically, it is a Vitamin A pro-drug. That it, it gets converted into Vitamin A in the body.
That’s it.
Next we have Salvia Root Extract.
There are lots of different Salvias in the world. While they are both in the sage family, the Salvia militorrhiza found in Hydroxycut SX-7 Black Onyx is not the same as the Salvia divinorum that you might see 17 year olds smoking to “trip balls” (spoiler alert, doesn’t really work).
Salvia militorrhiza is also known as Danshen, and it has been used in traditional Chinese medicine for promoting heart and circulatory health for a very, very long time. To this day, it is one of the best selling traditional Chinese medicines on the market.
Far from new age nonsense, this stuff really does seem to be effective at promoting good circulatory health. A literature review published in the Journal of Biomedical Science in 2011 looked at a number of mechanisms which seem to explain its effectiveness as a protector of the cardiovascular system.
This is all well and good, but we can’t see any reason to include this in a fat burner.
If individuals are worried about their cardiovascular health, then they should not seek to address that concern by using fat stripping supplements. If you are genuinely concerned for your cardiovascular health then you need to speak to a doctor. If they feel that substances like Salvia Root Extract can help, they’ll tell you.
Finally, we come to Elderberry Extract.
Of the more unusual ingredients in Hydroxycut SX-7 Black Onyx, this one seems to have the most promise as far as fat reduction goes.
Dark berries such as Elderberry all share an array of amazing properties, from cognition enhancement to long-term health protection to combating inflammatory diseases and obesity.
They almost all contain large concentrations of anti-oxidants which contribute to overall good health and longevity.
There is also some evidence that Elderberries in particular have some fat burning properties. However, we remain quietly skeptical.
Lots of the claims regarding Elderberry’s potency as a fat burner use this study as justification. In it, researchers found that, for subjects treated with a mix of Sambucus nigra (Elderberry) and Asparagus officinalis daily, “the mean weight, blood pressure, physical and emotional well-being and the quality of life had significantly improved (ITT analysis)”.
However, what most people overlook is the fact that these subjects were on a very particular, strict diet during the trial.
What is also often (intentionally) omitted from discussions of this subject is the researchers’ closing line: “It remains to be established if any particular compounds contribute to the efficacy of the diet.”
-What Ingredients Should You Look For In A Fat Burner?-
Hydroxycut SX-7 Black Onyx Side Effects
Side effects are unlikely while using this fat burner, unless of course you have a serious caffeine sensitivity or a pre-existing health condition which makes such products dangerous.
One of the big drawbacks of Hydroxycut SX-7 Black Onyx is the fact that it doesn’t contain a great deal of caffeine. So while the effectiveness is lower than other products on the market, it means that you are less likely to experience any side effects.
The presence of theanine in this formula makes side effects from caffeine even less likely.
The only things to keep a close eye on are the more unusual extracts in Hydroxycut SX-7 Black Onyx, and here we are mainly referring to Salvia Root Extract.
While the only reliable data we can find on this extract tells us it helps with cardiovascular health, Muscletech seem convinced that it will give you a “sensory overload”.
We still aren’t sure that that means, but it sounds pretty intense. If you experience any side effects while taking this product, discontinue use immediately and talk to your doctor.
Hydroxycut SX-7 Black Onyx Review Conclusion
As much as this product is billed as the most extreme fat burner available, in reality we don’t think it stands out from the crowd.
It contains some pretty standard ingredients such as green coffee bean extract and caffeine anhydrous, but the dosages are not particularly impressive.
The other ingredients are more unusual, but they do not seem to be able to deliver any kind of fat burning or workout-fueling benefits.
The marketing which surrounds Muscletech’s Hydroxycut SX-7 Black Onyx makes repeated reference to “sensory overload”. Nothing in the formula makes us believe that it will deliver such a thing. So if “sensory overload” does refer to the ‘tingle’ you sometimes get from pre-workouts, and that’s what you’re looking for, then look elsewhere.
All-in-all, a very mediocre product. Much more effective fat burners are available. Granted, some are more expensive, but in this market you get what you pay for.
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