Pyruvate is a compound the body makes when it breaks down glucose, sold as a supplement (often calcium pyruvate) for weight loss and exercise. A meta-analysis found it does not convincingly reduce body weight; the average effect was about 0.7 kg.
Also known as: calcium pyruvate.
Trials used 5 to 30 g a day for 3 to 6 weeks (ODS, Onakpoya 2014). These are study protocols, not a recommendation.
It is sold in the US as a dietary supplement. Under the 1994 dietary supplement law (DSHEA), FDA does not approve dietary supplements before they are marketed, and the maker, not FDA, is responsible for safety and labeling.
What studies show: a meta-analysis of 6 trials (203 people) found 0.72 kg more weight loss than placebo, a small effect of uncertain clinical relevance; all trials had methodological weaknesses, and the authors concluded the evidence does not convincingly show pyruvate reduces body weight (Onakpoya 2014). In a 30-day trial in 23 women with overweight doing exercise, 5 g a day of calcium pyruvate did not change body weight or body fat compared with placebo (Koh-Banerjee 2005).
Safety: ODS says pyruvate's safety has not been rigorously studied. It causes gas, bloating, diarrhea and rumbling in the gut, with no serious side effects at up to 30 g a day for up to 6 weeks, and it might raise LDL and lower HDL cholesterol. FDA warns that many products sold for weight loss, including supplements and teas, are likely to contain dangerous hidden drug ingredients, and that its public list of such products covers only a small fraction of them.
We could not find a single published half-life or time to peak for pyruvate that applies to a supplement dose, so we do not list one.
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