About
Trojan Horse is a stimulant-free weight-loss product made by Blackstone Labs. It is designed to help you reduce stubborn fat without stimulant effects or energy crashes.
The fat burner contains four ingredients: Chromium picolinate, calcium pyruvate, garcinia cambogia extract and L-carnitine-L-tartrate.
According to the Blackstone Labs website, chromium picolinate “supports a healthy metabolism” by supporting the “distribution of carbs, fats and proteins”. Calcium pyruvate is said to help deliver carbohydrates and protein to the muscle cells.
The manufacturer also says that garcinia cambogia could lower “your body’s ability to burn fat” and reduce the appetite.
bctuthill –
This was the worst! I can’t recommend it to anyone…
—-Introduction—-
Hi everyone-I’d like to thank blackstone labs for their participation in the TROOPers program. I’m not someone who frequently takes weightloss supplements, but I’ve had good experience with carnitine in the past and found that it affects me only as much as I’d like it to. Prior weight loss supps I’ve tried that are more intense or stim-based tend to leave me looking more emaciated than lean. But with carnitine as a main ingredient in this, and no stimulants, I thought it be worth a shot. Unfortunately, the sides were terribly uncomfortable and the taste was even worse. I had to cut it off early. I know this is taboo, but as I understand it, the rationale behind whether to continue taking a supplement that’s causing side effects is to consider it through the lens of “what would you do if you’d paid for it?” Since I would’ve paid to be able to stop easy decision.
—-Ingredient Profile—-
Fully disclosed label here that has the usual 500mg dose of carnitine tartrate, plus garcinia cambogia extract, calcium pyruvate, and chromium picolinate.
Garcinia Cambogia is supposed to work by inhibiting the citric acid lysase enzyme from being able to synthesize fatty acids, but it’s been shown to have little to no effect in humans.
Calcium pyruvate is produced in cells from glucose over the course of creating ATP. It has poor absorption ability and can cause stomach distress in high doses (about 4x the standard dosage in Trojan Horse). According to what I’ve read, its effects for weight loss are minimal.
chromium picolinate has been studied with results showing little to no effect on weight loss and possible DNA damage and carcinogenic activity at high doses in male rats (but not females). -and in doses much higher than in this supplement.
Carinitine Tartrate helps your body transport triglycerides to your cells to be converted to energy in the form of ATP. I believe this is the most active compound in the supplement, alluding to its ability to induce ketosis (body burning fat for energy instead of carbs).
So what happens to your carbs in artificial ketosis? See side effects
—-Taste/Mixability/Dosing—-
This is hands down, no question, the worst tasting thing I’ve ever tried. I’d rather stick a battery on my tongue for an hour. I tried it dry too, hoping I could just swallow it whole and not taste anything by chasing it with some water have you ever had a spoonful of cinnamon? It just stuck to my teeth and gums and anywhere else it could fall into and totally backfired. When mixing with water it was so sweet it made me feel sick. I had the black currant- maybe the lemon lime flavor is better.
Mixing was ok, but there was a fair amount of settling at the bottom of the cup each time.
I averaged about 1 scoop every 3-4 days that’s how long it took the sides to settle down. Probably compromised its effectiveness.
—-Effectiveness—-
I noticed no change in weight. I had to wait a few days between doses because of the side effects, so that is probably why.
—-Value—-
The best price I found was $39.95 on ebay for 60 servings. I can’t say it’s a good or bad value because as I stated in the opener, I would’ve paid to stop taking it.
—-Side Effects—-
Besides being unbearably sweet and feeling sick after drinking this, I had to wait days between doses for the sides to wear off. Trojan Horse is a perfect name for this stuff because it comes at you all sweet then once it’s in your stomach it wages war on your entire digestive system.
The premise of this supplement is that it induces ketosis, thus forcing your body to burn fat reserves for energy. The problem with this is that if you’re still eating carbs, they still need to go somewhere. So, they go out. Rapidly, thoroughly, and seem to multiply on their way through.
—-Conclusion—-
I can’t recommend this to anyone and will never use this again. The experience was miserable from the first sip to the last wipe. I hate to give Blackstone a bad review because I think they’re a good company that tries to push the envelope on the supplement world, but this just failed for me entirely. I hope others will have different experiences. Admittedly, my stomach can be a bit of a snowflake.
Cray –
Unique and different but aggressive side effects ruined this product for me.
—-Introduction—-
As I’ve said in other recent reviews, with the birth of my second kid it’s become more and more difficult for me to stay on top of my fitness game. As such, I’d been keeping my eyes open for a non-stim, alternative fat loss supplement and Trojan Horse fit the bill perfectly. Thanks to Blackstone Labs for letting me run it and apologies for the delay in the review being posted.
—-Ingredient Profile—-
Four primary ingredients but the main player is L-Carnitine-Tartrate which facilitates fat burning by helping oxidize fatty acids in the body and supporting insulin resistance (http://www.livestrong.com/article/374418-what-is-carnitine-tartrate/). Research shows that the other ingredients have little to no effect on weight loss in humans.
—-Taste/Mixability/Dosing—-
I requested and received the Black Currant flavor. Blackcurrant itself is a small, tart berry – think concentrated, non-sweet grapes or blackberries. I was actually looking forward to this flavor and expected it to be a departure from the hyper-sweetened supplements that plague today’s shelves.
And of course this stuff tastes like over-flavored cherry cough syrup. Horrendous. Very sweet and artificial. I don’t know what the hell they were trying to pull off with this flavoring but it failed.
Mixability is mediocre. There’s minimal foaming or clumping but a fair amount of residue would settle at the bottom of my shaker bottle every dose. I usually would give it a shake before each sip, otherwise I’d end up not drinking the full scoop.
I dosed one scoop a day for about four weeks straight. Usually I drank this in the AM, after my morning shake, before lunch.
—-Effectiveness—-
In short does this work? Yes. Is it worth it? Not for me.
I lost around four pounds in the four weeks I was on Trojan Horse. A decent weight loss pace considering I was being more diligent with my diet and getting into the gym more consistently. The problem? I had aggressive diarrhea that entire time. We’re talking four+ movements a day. Some days were really bad and I’d be on the throne three times inside of an hour blasting out sprays of liquid. Realllllly unpleasant.
I honestly didn’t put two and two together until I read bctuthill’s review of this product. I’d been having stomach issues for a while and thought they had just worsened on their own. Sure enough, I stopped taking Trojan Horse as soon as I read his review and within a few days my movements returned to near normal.
I tried resuming the product a few times, but ultimately the side effects were too unpleasant. It wasn’t worth it to me.
—-Value—-
At $40 for a two month supply, I’d say Trojan Horse is well priced. Your standard stim-based fat burners will run you ~$1.00 per day/dose, but are obviously generating fat loss through more tried and true ingredients.
—-Side Effects—-
Aggressive diarrhea and upset stomach.
—-Conclusion—-
I have a really hard time recommending and rating this product given the harsh negative side effects. If that’s something you’re willing to put up with to lose weight well you do you. Personally I’m not going to purchase a product that has that effect on my body. I’ve given it an overall low score and would not recommend it due to the side effects and my personal experience, but have rated its effectiveness and value independently.
I’d be much higher on this product if not for that fact. It’s unique and simple and worked relatively well, plus the price point won’t break the bank. To someone seriously considering this supplement – see if you can score a few free samples to determine how this will affect your bodily functions. If you don’t have the same issues that I and bctuthill had, then go for it.
shae2311 –
Like Achilles this will sneak up and attack you from the insides
ntroduction—
I have been looking for some kind of fat burner I could take at bedtime to keep burning calories while not being out. That’s what this product really claimed ut did, but usually when it sounds too good to be true it is….
—-Ingredient Profile—-
Fully disclosed label with minimal ingredients, but the ones I’m familiar with are carnitine which I’ve used a good bit in the past with varying results for fat loss. And Garcina Cambogia another one of those ingredients pushed by the Dr oz’ S out there as the 2nd coming of fat burning ingredients, but I’ve found myself to be a nonresponder to it.
—-Taste/Mixability/Dosing—-
I received lemon lime and while it wasn’t great tasting I can’t say the taste was as bad as the alternate flavor that the other two reviewers have mentioned.
I doses this later in the evening, and when you’re mixing this it isn’t bad, but you are going to have to give it an extra few shakes before finishing.
—-Effectiveness—-
I had about the same experience as the other two reviewers. You’re going to lose a little bit of weight but it’s not going to be enjoyable. You won’t be kept awake at night by stimulants but you most likely will be awoken by stomach cramps on a regular basis. I think Blackstone could probably add a couple ingredients and turn this into a rather successful cleanse product more so than a non stim thermo.
—-Value—-
$40 for something with only 4 ingredients that I dont think are overly expensive to put together on your own, is just way to steep. Add that in with the sides that everyone so far has experienced and you’re left with a price point about 99% too high.
—-Side Effects—-
Intense stomach cramps, frequent bathroom trips.
—-Conclusion—-
Thanks to Blackstone for sending this out, I grabbed a few of the products they put up for review, but this one just left a bad taste in my mouth…