Core Nutritionals CORE SHRED Thermogenic Review


  • L-Carnitine can reduce muscle fatigue & damage
  • Grains of Paradise might be an effective thermogenic
  • CapsiAtra contains high amounts of Capsinoids


  • L-Carnitine isn't a very effective or reliable 'fat burner' ingredient
  • Olive Leaf Extract isn't proven to promote fat loss
  • Missing key thermogenic nutrients such as Green Tea Extract
  • Coleus Forskohlii is very unreliable and unproven (more studies are needed to prove it's effectiveness)
  • Not good value for money, in our honest opinion

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About The Product

Core SHRED is marketed as a non-stimulant thermogenic fat burner supplement; in case you're completely new to supplements, this means that Core SHRED is missing the usual Caffeine or other nutrients that are capable of boosting your energy levels, fast.

It costs $43.99 on Core Nutritionals' website, but it mentions that its RRP (real retail price) is $60.99. So if you're thinking of buying this fat burner, then you'll want to buy it from the Core Nutritionals site...but you might want to hold fire before you finish this review first.

Non-Stimulant Fat Burner: Good or Bad?

While this isn't necessarily a bad thing, we personally prefer fat burners that contain Caffeine (as long as it's not overdosed). A dosage of under 100mg per serving is enough to keep your energy levels high while you potentially cut carbs and definitely calories from your diet.

So our main issue with non-stimulant fat burners such as Core SHRED is that you'll stay pretty tired all day if you're cutting calories significantly. Of course, to get around this though, you can have regular cups of coffee. But we find it much easier to pop a pill instead of trying to find a coffee shop or boil the kettle.

Core SHRED comes in powder form instead of pills

Now, we mentioned pills, because this is the form that normal fat burners usually come in. However, Core SHRED only comes in a 1 serving per day powder; this makes it similar to a pre-workout, so we're not really sure if this is aimed more towards being a pre-workout or fat burner supplement.

Due to the packing labeling the main benefit of Core SHRED being 'thermogenic' though, we've decided that it sways more towards being a fat burner. So this is what we'll review this product as being.

1 serving instead of 3-4 

Another main feature that you'll notice about Core SHRED is that it only offers 1 serving per day; this means that you're getting the whole dosages of nutrients in Core SHRED at once.

Now, this might be beneficial for those that don't enjoy taking numerous servings throughout the day. But the bad news is that studies suggest that 3-4 servings spread out is more beneficial at keeping your body topped-up with nutrients - leading to better results.

As a result, we would have preferred Core SHRED to have offered 3-4 servings instead of just 1.

Anyway, to see how safe and effective Core SHRED is, we'll analyze this thermogenic fat burner's nutrient profile (supplement facts) for you in the next section. First though, we'll tell you more about the company behind it.

Who Is Core Nutritionals? 

Core Nutritionals are building something special. We're big fans of the fact that the company was founded by 2 bodybuilders/fitness models, Stephanie and Doug Miller; it's always better to know that the people creating a supplement know what they're doing.

We also really respect that Core Nutritionals never hide any ingredients in proprietary blends, as the sooner these blends vanish from the industry, the better! Why? Because it's always wise to know exactly what you're putting into your body at all times.

After reading Core Nutritionals' 'about us' section, we have another box ticked too; all of their products are created in cGMP facilities, which is much better than the average Joe putting together some powders in his basement next to the beef jerky...

Anyway, we can make jokes all day, but you came here to learn more about Core SHRED and whether it's worth buying. So let's see which ingredients have been added in the section below.

Core SHRED Ingredients Explained

Core Nutritionals has kept things very simple when formulating their thermogenic fat burner, Core SHRED. This product only contains 5 ingredients overall, which gets the thumbs up from us; we see too many products containing over 10 nutrients but being hugely under-dosed.

However, for the price of Core SHRED ($43.99), we would have expected bigger dosages of nutrients inside. But in fairness, there's also arguments to say that you don't need a bigger dosage of a nutrient such as Grains of Paradise than the one in Core SHRED. So ultimately, this leaves us questioning why this fat burner can't be sold for a bit cheaper.

Anyway, we're not here to give this product a negative review because of its price-tag. Instead, we'll take you through each ingredient in Core SHRED; by the end of this expert review, you'll have a good idea of how safe and effective this thermogenic fat burner really is.


Here's Everything You Need To Know:


In case you're wondering, Acetyl-L-Carnitine is a form of L-Carnitine (with the other popular form being L-Carnitine Tartrate).

Core Nutritionals has made a good decision by adding the 'Acetyl-L-Carnitine' form in Core SHRED, because it's believed that this is the most beneficial form to promote fat loss.

But the bad news is that no form of L-Carnitine is going to play a key role in helping you to get shredded. This is because L-Carnitine's main benefit isn't fat loss; instead L-Carnitine is better at helping to reduce muscle fatigue and damage - which still makes it very useful.

Ultimately, we believe that L-Carnitine is much more beneficial when added to a pre-workout supplement; it'll help reduce muscle fatigue and damage, so it'll keep you fresher for your next session.

When it comes to fat burning though, we would have preferred more proven thermogenic nutrients such as Green Tea Extract (our honest opinion).

Olive Leaf Extract 

The reason why Olive Extract is added to some supplements is due to it containing high amounts of a compound called 'Oleuropein'; this is widely believed to boost your immune system, reduce blood pressure, and just generally improve your health.

However, while Olive Leaf Extract has shown positive fat loss results in rats, it's not the same story with human trials. In fact, one study concluded that Olive Leaf Extract had no effects on body composition (meaning it wasn't capable of promoting fat loss, although it did help insulin sensitivity). If you don't believe us, you can see this study here:

For this reason, we consider Olive Leaf Extract to be an unreliable addition to any fat burner, or supplement claiming to promote fat loss.


Coleus Forskohlii 

Coleus Forskohlii is a very interesting ingredient, because no-one really knows whether it actually works. It's believed to promote fat loss while raising your testosterone levels; so if this proven to work in the future, then it'll be one of the best single nutrients available.

However, we'll never be convinced until we see evidence through further clinical studies. This is because you'll find that almost every study concludes that 'future research is needed to further explore its capabilities' meaning the scientists aren't even sure yet.

For this reason, while Coleus Forskohlii might become one of the best nutrients available, it's not been proven to be this good yet. We respect Core Nutritionals for taking the risk anc committing to it by adding Coleus Forskohlii in Core SHRED though - who knows, this risk might make Core SHRED much better in the future.


If you're scratching your head wondering what this is, then don't worry. It's basically a patented form of dihydrocapsiate; this is the capsinoid found in chili peppers, but unlike capsaicin, it's not responsible for the 'spice' of chili peppers.

Ultimately, we personally prefer capsaicin because you can prove it works just by eating a chili pepper; if you eat enough, then your mouth will be on fire, and your body temperature will be raised - therefore, inducing thermogenesis and fat loss.

Now, there are studies out there that say CapsAtra works too. But call us old-fashioned - we prefer sticking to what we know, and that's Cayenne Pepper Extract (aka. Capsaicin).

Grains of Paradise 

Also known as Aframomum Melegueta, this is part of the ginger family and is considered to be a spice; it's mostly used in African cooking to help season foods.

Now, there's not a lot of studies out there on Grains of Paradise. So it's hard to say that it's a reliable fat burning nutrient. But in fairness, we have seen a few that back-up it's use in fat burner supplements.

For this reason, we can't argue that it doesn't work. But we would like to see more studies on Grains of Paradise, to make it more reliable in our honest opinion. Ultimately, we would also take Cayenne Pepper Extract (Capsaicin) over this too.


See Your Best Options In Our
» Top 3 Fat Burners Page «

Core SHRED Side Effects

On the whole, Core SHRED seems to be pretty safe. In fact, there aren't any ingredients in this fat burner that suggest it might cause any negative side effects.

So this is definitely one of the best things about Core SHRED: it's not likely to cause any side effects at all.

Core SHRED Review Conclusion

You can see that Core SHRED is clearly a respectable fat burner on the market. It's not likely to cause side effects, which is important to think about when choosing a supplement.

However, personally, we're not convinced that Core SHRED is worth the its $43.99 price-tag; it only contains 5 ingredients, which isn't a problem, but the highest dosage of 1 nutrient is 1,000mg - which isn't that much.

Ultimately, we would rather pay slightly more for a fat burner that packs more punch with more tried-and-tested thermogenic nutrients. But on a good note, if Core SHRED is ever on sale for around $25, then it won't be a bad option at all.

Core SHRED Review

Bottom Line

While Core SHRED contains some great nutrients such as L-Carnitine, which is proven to reduce muscle fatigue and damage, it’s missing key fat burning nutrients such as Green Tea Extract.

For this reason, we don’t believe that it can compete with the highest rated fat burners available right now, in our honest opinion.


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