K3 Spark Mineral is a weight loss supplement sold on Amazon. It’s manufactured by a brand called Zelso Nutrition, and the brand claims that this supplement “promotes ketosis” and can cause the body to “utilize fat for fuel.”
Butdoes ketosis really cause weight loss? Are the ingredients in K3 Spark Mineralshown inclinical studies tobe effective for weight loss? Doesthe supplement contain anyquestionable additive ingredients? And how do real customers rate and describe the effects of K3 Spark Mineral?
In this article we’ll answer all of these questions and more, as weanalyze the ingredients in K3 Spark Mineral based on clinical studies to give our take on whether or not the supplement is likely to be effective for weight loss.
We'll also discuss side effects, feature unsponsored customer reviews and share our thoughts about whether or not promoting ketosis is a logical approach to weight loss.
IngredientAnalysis
The ingredients in K3 Spark Mineral are shown above.
We cannot identify any ingredients in this formulation that we consider likely to support weight loss, and there are several ingredients that may be questionable from a health perspective.
Sennais a laxative ingredient that we recommend avoiding for health reasons.
Amedical reviewpublished in theLiverToxjournal documented that senna can cause liver injury when used in high doses for too long of a period of time. What’s considered a high dose was left undefined.
Cascara sagradabarkhas also been clinically shown to cause liver injury as we documented in our review ofZuPOO, another supplement which contains this ingredient.
Food ingredients like pumpkin seed, oat bran powder, cayenne pepper and licorice root may be nutritious but we cannot identify any medical studies suggesting they’re effective for weight loss, nor does the brand cite any on the Amazon product listing.
The average ingredient dose in this blend is only 45 milligrams (mg).
To give a sense of how small a dose of 45 mg of oat bran is, according to the USDA, one single cup of oat branequals 95,000 mg of oat bran. The oat bran dose in K3 Spark Mineral is 2,100 times less than one cup of oat bran.
When we initially published this article, there was a different ingredient list on the Amazon listing than what one customer reported in the reviews section, which was a major concern, but it appears that the manufacturer has fixed this after our review highlightingthe issue.
A YouTube creator named Brian Yeung who's a naturopathic doctor reviews the ingredients in this supplement in an engaging and animated video and comes to many of the same conclusions we do:
Does Ketosis Cause Weight Loss?
As shown above, K3 Spark Mineral is branded as a keto weight loss supplement.
Ketosis is the state where the body burns fat for fuel instead of glucose.
We have not come across any convincing medical research suggesting that ketosis is necessary, or optimal, for weight loss.
The manufacturer of this supplement doesn't cite any research on their Amazon product page showing that any ingredient in K3 Spark Mineral induces ketosis at the included dose, nor that such an effect would cause weight loss.
Weight loss is a simple thermodynamic process. Calories ingested versus calories burned. Whether or not an individual is burning glucose or fat for energy, if they consume fewer calories than they ingest they will lose weight (outside of extremely rare medical conditions).
It's also worth noting that nearly any dietary supplement in pill form could be considered "ketogenic," because most supplements have very few carbs due to their low total dose.
We recommend that consumers be wary of supplement brands suggesting that the keto nature or keto-diet-compliance of their supplements has beneficial health effectswithout providing research backing those claims.
Does K3 Spark Mineral Cause Side Effects?
K3 Spark Mineral does not appear to have been tested in any clinical trials, so it's challenging to say for certain whether or not it causes side effects. However, we can make an educated guess based on its ingredients.
We consider K3 Spark Mineral somewhat likely to cause side effects.
Senna is a laxative ingredient, so this supplement may cause users to experience an uncomfortable urge to use the bathroom, and they may experience diarrhea.
There may be a rare but serious risk of liver injury given the data we cited in the previous section on senna and Cascara's hepatotoxic (liver-damaging) effects.
We would certainly recommend that consumers intent on purchasing this supplement share its ingredients label with their doctor prior to taking it.
Real Customers Review K3 Spark Mineral
K3 Spark Mineral has been reviewed over 1,900 times on Amazon at the time ofupdatingthis article, with an average review rating of 3.2 out of 5 stars.
The top positive review from a verified purchaser is written by a user named “Marcelo Cordoba” who gives the product a 5/5 star rating, and claimsit's effective for weight loss:
“I took them for a month, 1 in the morning 1 at night and i lost 22 pounds…They worked great i had tons of energy…I definitely recommend this product”
The top negative review from a verified purchaser comes from a user named “Kim Adkins” who gives the product a 2/5 star rating, and who highlighted the ingredient discrepancy that was discussed above:
“Ingredients shown in the picture are not the ingredients that came in my bottle. Bogus product…Not the ingredients shown on Amazon”
Our Clean Weight Loss Picks
Thereare food-basednutrients which have been shown in medical studies to be effective for weight loss.
Dietary fiberwas shown in amedical reviewpublished inThe Journal of Nutritionto cause16 pounds of weight loss in 6 monthswhen combined with moderate caloric restriction (750 calories per day below baseline).
MBG Organic Fiber Potency+is our top fiber pick because it's certified organic,provides 7 g of fiber per serving and costsunder $1.85 per servingat the time of updating this article.
MCT oilwas shown in ameta-studyto cause more than one pound of weight loss over 10 weeks.This equates to potential annualized weight loss of 6 pounds per year with less than one tablespoon's worth of MCT oil per day.
Performance Lab MCT Oilis our top MCT oil pick because it's certified organic.
Gingerintake"significantly decreased body weight"according to a 2019meta-studyon ginger and weight loss that analyzed data from 14 clinical trials.
Pique La Gingeris our top ginger product, because it's an organic tea in convenient crystallized form, and all that's needed is to pour the powderinto a glass and add hot water.
All three of the products mentioned in this section are entirely free of additive ingredients that we consider to be unhealthy.
Where to Buy K3 Spark Mineral
Unlike most supplements we've reviewed on Illuminate Health, K3 Spark Mineral only appears to be sold at one retailer.
At the time ofupdating this article, the only place that consumers appear to be able to purchase K3 Spark Mineral is Amazon.
The manufacturer’s website (Zelso Nutrition) is currently down, and the supplement does not appear to be available for sale on Walmart.
Here's a link to the official Amazon listing for this product.
As we've stated throughout this article, we do not recommend this supplement, but we wanted to provide a link to the official listing as a resource for consumers who are intent on purchasing it.
Pros and Cons of K3 Spark Mineral
Here are the pros and cons of K3 Spark Mineral in our opinion:
Pros:
- Affordable
- Safe inactive ingredients
Cons:
- Two active ingredients clinically shown to harm liver at high doses
- Doesn't appear clinically tested
- Brand fails to provide backing for keto healthclaims
- Very small doses of whole food ingredients like oat bran
- Manufacturer website has been down for nearly 12 months
- Unimpressive Amazon reviews
Conclusion
K3 Spark Mineral is one of the least impressive weight loss supplements that we've reviewed to date on Illuminate Health.
This supplement contains two active ingredients that may be harmful to the liver, based on research cited in this article, and the brand fails to even publish the individual dose of either ingredient.
We are unable to identify any ingredients in K3 Spark Mineral that we consider likely to be effective for weight loss based on a review of clinical studies, and the brand doesn't cite any on their Amazon product page.
This leads us to believe that this supplement is a waste of money.
K3 Spark Mineral is branded as a "keto" weight loss supplement, although that distinction is entirely meaningless in our opinion. Whether or not a supplement fits in a keto diet, or promotes ketosis, does not have anything to do with whether or not it causes weight loss.
Customer reviews of this supplement are unimpressive.
For consumers intent on purchasing K3 Spark Mineral, Amazon is currently the only retailer that appears to sell it.
