THERMOGENESIS WITHOUT EPHEDRA---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Losing weight results in more than just a slimmer body! The use of thermogenic agents, popularly known as “thermogenics,” has become a popular strategy for managing body weight. Thermogenics is the metabolic production of heat through burning of calories consumed in food. |
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Introduction Obesity, defined as Body Mass Index (BMI) greather than 30 kg/m2 , is a widespread problem in the U.S. and a major public health concern. One-third of Americans, up from 25 percent as recently as 1980, are obese, according to statistics gathered by the National Institute of Health. This dramatic rise in such as short time paints in alarming picture of the rapidly mounting threat obesity poses to our national health.1 Obesity increases the risk of severe chronic illnesses, most notably heart disease, cancer and diabetes, and is associated with reduced longevity. Over 300,000 people die in the U.S. each year because of obesity.2 Nearly six percent of all the total health care costs in this country—about 52 billion dollars—is attributable to obesity.3 Effective solutions to obesity and overweight (BMI:25-30 kg/m2) are urgently needed. Commercial diet programs, accounting for more than a billion dollars spent annually by Americans at weight-loss centers, have a poor track record. It is estimated that 80 million Americans begin dieting each year, only gain back 95 percent of lost weight within five years.4 Fed up with the vicious circle of crash dieting, consumers are turning to natural approaches which can help manage weight by supporting, normal metabolic functions that burn fat and build lean muscle. In addition, normalizing blood glucose levels is a key element of healthy, long-term weight management program. The use of thermogenic agents, popularly known as “thermogenics,” has become a popular strategy for managing body weight. Thermogenics is the metabolic production of heat through burning of calories consumed in food. Thermogenics stimulate metabolism to increase coloric burning. This contrasts with calorie-cutting diet plans, which can cause the body to compensate by slowing metabolism, with the end result of gaining back lost weight once a normal diet is resumed. Supporting thermogenises is now seen as a far more effective strategy for long-term weight loss. Herbal thermogenics such as ephedra, while effecticve, contain alkaloids that can have undesirable side effects on the nervous and cardiovascular systems.5 Alternatives are available such as Citrus aurantium that can increase thermogenises with less unwanted side effects. Citrus aurantium Citrus aurantium, the unripe fruit of the Bitter Orange tree, is used in traditional Chinese medicine for relief of indigestion, abdominal pain, gas, constipation and chest congestion.6 the immature peel of citrus aurantium contains alkaloids including synephrine, tyramine and octopamine. Citrus aurantium extracts have demonstrated antiobesity effects in rat, reportedly mediated by primarily synephrine.7 Every cell in the body has cell receptors that are acted upon by various compounds to trigger cellular responses. Two types of receptors in particular, “alpha” and “beta” receptors are involved in thermogenesis. Activation of these receptors also stimulates various cardiovascular respondes, including blood pressure changes due to constriction and dilation of blood vessels in the hear and skeletal muscle. This is why stimulant herbs, notably Ephedra, have the aforementioned side-effects. One receptor type, called “beta-3” increases thermogenesis (production of heat through burning of calories) and lipolysis (breakdown of fat) without the cardiovascular effects. The ideal weight loss agent would stimulate only the beta-3 receptors, with little or no effect on alpha receptors. Questions about the safety of ephedra has led to the search for milder alternatives with fewer side-effects. Data from recent studies suggests that Citrus aurantium is one such alternative. Pure synephrine and octopamine have been shown to stimulate alpha receptors in the test tube, but their effect is fairly weak.8 In a preliminary study at McGill University, seven lean healthy subjects consumed a mixture of alkaloids from Citru aurantium. Results showed increased thermogenesis, with no measurable cardiovascular side-effects.9 A patent-pending Citrus aurantium extract containing a unique mixture of total amines is reported to stimulate thermogenesis and lipolysis as effectively as ephedra alkaloids, with little or no cardiovascular effect. Called Advantra Z™, this extract is believed to act primarily on the advantageous beta-3 receptors while leaving the alpha receptors for the most part alone.10 Corosolic acid Corosolic acid is a triterpene carboxylic acid cound in leaves of the Banaba tree (Lagerstroemia speciosa), a tree native to India, the Philippoines, Southeast Asia and Australia. Banaba leaves aer used a remedy for diabetes, with published reports of its effectiveness going back over 60 years.11 Corosolic acid has been shown to promote transport of glucose in the cells, thus helping to maintain blood sugar balance.12 Banaba leaf extract lowers elevated blood sugar and insulin levels in genetically diabetic mice.13 Banaba leaf extract decreased body weight gain and adipose (fat) tissue weight in female mice of the same strain.14 In a multi-center placebo-controlled trial, 12 mildy diabetic subjects took 125 of Lagerstroemia speciosa extract 3 times daily for four weeks. Blood sugar levels decreased, with no adverse effects from the extract.15 Human trials have been recently been conducted on Glucosol™, a patent-pending extract of Lagerstroemia speciosa standardized to contain 1% corosolic acid. In a pilot tril, 12 midly diabetic subjects took 48mg of Glucosol™ daily for 30 days and achieved statistically significant reductions in fasting blood glucose levels. 16 Chromium Chromium is an essential trace mineral in human nutrition for its role in regulating glucose metabolism. Following the discovery of chromium’s essentiality in animals, chromium was postulated as the inorganic element that the body converts into “glucose tolerance factor.” A number of studies have shown that chromium supplementation improves glucose tolerance in people with diabetes. Chromium given to individuals with normal glucose tolerance is regarded as having little or no effect.17 Chromium deficiency is related to “Syndrome X,” a risk factor for heart disease that involves insulin resistance and impaired glucose metabolism.18 Chromium is said to increase lean body mass (LBM) when used as part of an exercise program that includes weight lifting. As lean body mass increases, the resting metabolic rate and caloric consumption also increases. Building lean body mass is also important to prevent weight gain after a diet plan is discontinued. Body compositions studies on the effects of supplemental chromium have yielded mixed results. Two studies tested statistically significant gains in LBM. Three studies using subjects who followed resistance training regimen showed no effect. In one trial using 35 male and 22 female college students who participated in a 12-week weight-training program, the females recorded gains in LBM, whereas the male did not. A comprehensive review of these trials concluded that “studies of chromium supplementation and LBM should be longer than 12 weeks and involve 400 mcg or more of supplemental chromium/day.”19 ChromeMate contains chromium nicotinate, which consists of elemental chromium complexed with the B vitamin niacin. Chromium nicotinate (also called chromium polynicotinate or “niacin-bound chromium”) is thought to be the most potent form of the mineral for potentiating insulin. In a study comparing the effects of chromium nicotinate and chromium picolinate in obese women, a daily dose of 400 mcg of chromium picolinate combined with exercise resulted in statistically significant weight loss. Chromium picolinate at this dosage without exercise, however, produced weight gains in obese women.20 In a recent small double-blind crossover trail, twenty overweight women participating in a diet and exercise program took 600 mcg of chromium incotinate or a placebo daily dose periods of two months. The women were divided into two groups of ten. Group 1 started by taking the placebo, while Group 2 took the chromium nicotinate. Then, for the next two months, Group 1 lost about the same amount of weight while taking chromium was with the placebo, but they lost more fat and less LBM with the chromium. Interestingly, the women who took chromium during the first test period (Group 2) lost more weight while they were taking placebo than the Group 1 women did when they took placebo during the first test period. The researchers concluded this to be evidence of a positive carry-over effect that lasted after chromium supplementation was discontinued. 21 The need for chromium supplements may be widespread. Studies suggest that the average adult consumes less than 50 mcg of chromium per day.22 Vanadyl sulfate Vanadyl sulfate is the sulfate of vanadium, a trace mineral present at very low concentrations in mammalian cells. Vanadium is generally regarded as essential trace mineral that should be supplied by the diet in minute amounts. While the physiologic role in vanadium has yet to be determined, it is known to exert an insulin-like action. Several studies have shown that vanadium lowers blood glucose levels increases insulin-mediated glucose uptake into muscles of diabetic rats.23 The therapeutic potential of vanadium for diabetes in humans has been investigated. Vanadyl sulfate, at dosages of 150 mg and 300 mg daily, improved glucose metabolism and lowered fasting glucose levels in subjects with non-insulin diabetes.24 A small comparative study found that vanadyl sulfate, at dose of 100 mg per day, improved insulin sensitivity in moderately obese diabetic subjects, while it no effect on non-diabetic obese subjects.25 These dosages are many times higher than the amounts found in foods and supplements. The long-term safety of oral vanadium consumption at the level needed for therapeutic effect has not been established. References 1. Kuczmarski, RJ, et al. Weight gain on the rise in the United States. JAMA 1994;272(3):205-11. |