Hydroxycut Hardcore Elite Review – Pros and Cons

HydroxyCut Hardcore Elite is one of the most popular fat burners on the market. It is a best seller on Amazon in the USA, Canada, Australia and the UK. Popularity does not always equate to an effective product – especially as far as fat burning supplements are concerned. Read our review.

Hydroxycut Hardcore Elite review
Hydroxycut Hardcore Elite is a best seller worldwide

POSITIVES
Highly Reputable company.
Lots of sales worldwide.
Amazon top selling fat burning product.

NEGATIVES
Contains a large amount of stimulants.
Suitable more towards gym goers than dieters.

SUMMARY
Hydroxycut has been around almost as long as we have. it ha a chequered past with brands being removed from the market for various reasons. On the whole HHE is a good product…if you workout or go to the gym. If you are not an avid gym goer it is not the best product to use.

We have detailed our list of best fat burning supplements for men and women here

OTHERS PREFERRED

What is Hydroxycut Hardcore Elite

Hydroxycut Hardcore Elite is a thermogenic fat burner designed to provide hardcore weight loss. It’s one of several Hydroxycut Hardcore formulations and appears to be an updated version of the original Hydroxycut Hardcore, which is still available to buy.

The other two items in the range are Hydroxycut Hardcore CLA Elite and Hydroxycut Hardcore Elite Sport.

Hydroxycut products have been around for a long time. The brand was established in 1995. It’s a name a lot of people know and trust.

The Hydroxycut brand is owned by Iovate Health Sciences. The company is based in Ontario, Canada. It also has a US branch that operates out of a head office in Wilmington, Delaware.

Iovate Health Sciences also owns several other popular brands including Muscletech and Xenadrine. It’s a big company. It bought the Hydroxycut brand and Muscletech brand, it didn’t create them.

Hydroxycut Hardcore Elite - super thermogenic
Hydroxycut Hardcore Elite – super thermogenic

A lot of supplements you see for sale these days come from fly-by-night companies that hide their location and make it difficult for customers to contact them. Customers who buy Hydroxycut Hardcore Elite have the benefit of knowing where the product came from and who to complain to if problems arise.

Hydroxycut Hardcore Elite Benefits

  • Super thermogenesis
  • Powerful weight loss
  • Enhanced focus
  • Extreme energy

How Does the Formulation Work?

Hydroxycut Hardcore Elite is primarily sold on its value as a thermogenic fat burner. In reality, it will burn fat by boosting metabolism too.

Metabolism is a term that describes all the chemical reactions that sustain life, including the ones that extract energy from food and put it to work. The amount of energy the body gets and expends is measured in calories.

When metabolism accelerates, the body burns calories faster. If the diet does not provide enough calories to support the body’s metabolic needs, it has to start metabolizing its stores of fat.

Thermogenesis is a process that causes the body to lose energy as heat. When thermogenesis increases, the body loses more energy into the atmosphere around it. Any supplement that increases thermogenesis is a thermogenic fat burner.

Stimulants increase metabolism and thermogenesis. Hydroxycut Hardcore Elite contains several. It’s very much a stimulant-driven blend. Stimulants also provide energy so formulations like this often appeal to individuals who are involved in sports or like to train hard.

What’s the Best Way to Use Hydroxycut Hardcore Elite?

The manufacturer provides detailed instructions for using this product. Due to the high caffeine content, the company also advises against using it alongside other sources of caffeine or stimulants.

New users need to begin with just one capsule per day. Presuming side effects don’t become an issue, they can gradually work their way up to the maximum dose of four capsules per day.

The dosing schedule looks like this:

How to Take

Time needed: 2 minutes

How to Take Hydroxycut Hardcore Elite

  1. How to Take Hydroxycut Hardcore Elite?

    On Days 1 + 2: 1 capsule, once per day
    For Days 3 + 4: 2 capsules, once per day
    For Days 5 + 6: 2 capsules with the first meal of the day + 1 capsule with the second meal of the day
    On Day 7 and Beyond: 2 capsules, two times per day, taken with meals.

For best results, it’s important to use Hydroxycut Hardcore Elite in combination with diet and exercise. Iovate states good results will also require a usage period of 60 days. The company then warns against using the product for more than eight weeks.

Sixty days and eight weeks are more ore less the same so you should be planning on using the product for two months, but no more.

Presumably, it will be safe to resume supplementation after a couple of weeks or so. Unfortunately, Iovate doesn’t provide any information on the best cycle to use.

Ingredients in hydroxycut

Ingredient Profile and Evaluation

Each (2 capsule) dose provides seven ingredients:

Caffeine Anhydrous (270 mg)

Caffeine anhydrous is high-potency caffeine powder.  It’s one of the most fast-acting forms of caffeine so the benefits will kick-in fast.

Caffeine boosts metabolism and thermogenesis so its presence in the formulation backs up the promise of thermogenic fat burning. Especially in such a high dose. (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/2333832)

As you are probably aware, caffeine is also a stimulant that provides extra energy and boosts mental focus. The truth is the main claims made for Hydroxycut Hardcore Elite apply to caffeine too. It’s a good fit for the formulation.

C. Caephora Robusta Extract (Bean) (200mg)

This is robusta coffee bean extract. The thing to know is all coffee beans are originally green. They turn brown due to roasting. In their natural state, the beans contain chlorogenic acid. The extract in use here is standardized to 45% chlorogenic acid. That’s how you know it’s a green coffee bean extract. Roasted beans have little or no chlorogenic acid. The roasting process destroys it.

Although some studies suggest green coffee bean extract is a thermogenic fat burner, they have been discredited and removed from many sites. However, the ingredient has better credentials when it comes to regulating insulin and glucose.

Coleus Forskohlii (100 mg)

Coleus Forskohlii (Plectranthus barbatus) is a species of plant. The ingredient you find in supplements comes from its roots.

The active ingredient is a chemical called forskolin. According to the ingredient label, the extract in Hydroxycut Hardcore Elite is standardized for forskolin, but it doesn’t state the percentage so it’s useless information.

Coleus forskohlii is sometimes an ingredient in bodybuilding supplements that aim to support weight loss and encourage muscle growth.

L-Theanine(100 mg)

L-theanine is an amino acid you can get by drinking tea. The form you get in supplements is concentrated to pack more power.

L-theanine is famous for its ability to calm the mind without causing sedation. People also favor it for its ability to reduce the negative effects of caffeine.

They are often paired in supplements because they appear to have a symbiotic relationship. (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18681988)

Theobroma Cacao (100 mg)

This is a cocoa seed extract. It’s apparently standardized for theobromine but, again, its useless information because the percentage is not provided.

Theobromine is a cocoa compound that stimulates the central nervous system. Like other stimulants, it increases metabolism and thermogenesis.

The ingredient also has a good reputation as a mood enhancer and may be responsible for the chocolate cravings some people get when they are feeling down.

Yohimbe bark extract (56.3 mg)

This is a bark extract. It comes from an African species of tree (yohimbine).

Some people take it to increase sexual desire, but it’s used for many other purposes too, including weight loss and increasing athletic performance. (https://www.webmd.com/vitamins/ai/ingredientmono-759/yohimbe)

The extract in use here has been standardized to be 6% yohimbine.

Are There Any Customer Reviews?

Customer reviews are predominantly good, but there’s enough negativity about the product to suggest it doesn’t work for all. Some people bemoan the fact that they experienced no benefit at all. Others complain about side effects.

Hydroxycut Hardcore Feedback from customers
Hydroxycut Hardcore Feedback from customers

Looking through the reviews on various sites, I get the impression Hydroxycut Hardcore Elite may offer the most potential as a pre-workout energy booster.

It’s got such a lot of stimulants in it that I would have been surprised if I hadn’t found so many people saying it works for energy.  Though there are plenty of people making claims of weight loss too.

Is There a Risk of Side Effects?

A lot of customers report experiencing side effects. Headaches, nausea, stomach issues, and feeling “weird” are just a few examples. Several reviewers also say Hydroxycut Hardcore Elite caused their blood pressure to spike.

Increased hunger and weight gain appear to be another potential problems customers may face.

Bearing in mind the various issues customers report, I strongly suggest not using this product without a doctor’s advice.

Things to Know Before You Buy Hydroxycut

Hydroxycut Hardcore Elite is not intended for people who are under 18-years of age. Nor should you use it if you are pregnant or nursing a child.

If you experience unusual symptoms while using the product you must discontinue supplementation and seek medical advice. It’s also necessary to discontinue supplementation two weeks before undergoing any scheduled surgery.

Iovate also points out Hydroxycut Hardcore Elite is unsuitable for people who suffer from anxiety, sleep disorders, or cardiovascular issues. Potential users who have any other medical issues or concerns are advised to consult a doctor before using Hydroxycut Hardcore Elite.

Each serving of Hydroxycut Hardcore Elite contains as much caffeine as three cups of coffee. That makes it a poor option for caffeine-sensitive individuals.

Where to Buy Hydroxycut Hardcore Elite

Hydroxycut is a popular brand so it shouldn’t be hard to find a supplier. You can find Hydroxycut products on the shelves of pharmacies and retail outlets all over the world. It’s available to buy in some gyms as well.

Buying online is also easy, many of the popular supplement sites sell Hydroxycut but Amazon tends to offer the best deals and often significantly undercut the RRP of $42.99.

Even at the full price, Hydroxycut Hardcore Elite is not an expensive product.  However, there are only 50 servings in a bottle. That makes it only good for 25 days. Most competing products are sold in a 30-day supply.

Warning!

While I was doing the research for this review I read a lot of customer reviews on a number of sites, including blogs and internet forums. Some of the comments I read suggest there may be a lot of counterfeit products around; so it’s a case of Buyer Beware!

People who buy Hydroxycut Hardcore Elite from GNC and other respected suppliers should have nothing to worry about. Things get trickier when buying online. Especially with Amazon. The product is often available via several sellers. Sites like eBay can be even worse.

If you are seriously thinking of buying this product, please use due diligence and make sure you are buying the genuine product.  Fake versions will not contain the same ingredients and may have the potential to make you ill.

Guarantee

One of the big letdowns with Hydroxycut products is there is never a money-back guarantee. So, if you buy Hydroxycut Hardcore Elite and it fails to impress your money’s gone up in smoke.

Hit or Miss? (Can You Lose Weight with Hydroxycut Hardcore Elite?)

Stimulants increase metabolism and energy expenditure. The Hydroxycut Hardcore Elite formulation contains several stimulants. The caffeine content alone is sufficient to deliver good results to most people.

However, Hydroxycut products tend to be especially appealing to gym-goers and people who do sports. Athletic individuals of this nature often use a lot of supplements over the years. This causes them to build up a high tolerance to stimulants. When this happens stimulants become less effective for them. This could be why so many people claim the product doesn’t do anything.

At the other end of the scale, the Hydroxycut customers who complain about side effects may be those who live lower octane lives and were only seeking a way to lose weight. For the average person, the amount of stimulants the formulation provides is likely to be way too high. People who only want to lose weight don’t tend to be hardcore supplement users.

Hit and miss success rates and tolerance issues always come into play when products are overly reliant on stimulants. You can never be sure how you will respond until you buy a product like this and give it a go. Of course, if you already know stimulants make you feel wired and ill, Hydroxycut Hardcore Elite definitely won’t be for you.

I do not doubt that Hydroxycut Hardcore Elite has already helped many people to lose weight and will continue to do so in the future. However, if your only goal is weight loss, there are better options that provide a greater level of support.

Recommended Reading: Not all fat burners are effective! Read our article on buying the best fat burning supplement and find out which make the top product list

About Tony Jay

Tony Jay (CEO of AGJ Media, CPD certified in Diet and Nutrition) Tony is a fitness enthusiast, writer, and entrepreneur. He’s been active in the health and wellness industry since 2007 and firmly believes correct nutrition is the key to good health. A workaholic by nature, Tony uses power yoga to keep his mind sharp, maintain physical subtlety, and keep fit. LinkedIn

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