Evaluation of the appetite suppression efficacy of well-known supplements for weight loss

In this study, American and South Korean researchers evaluated the appetite suppression efficacy of well-known natural ingredients in the weight-loss market. They reported their findings in an article published in the Journal of Dietary Supplements.

• A change in the balance between food intake and energy expenditure is believed to be a hallmark of obesity.
• Today, many plant-based weight management products can be found in the market, but no study has compared the efficacy of these supplements.
• To address this, the researchers decided to conduct an in vivo acute feed intake study using rats.
• They tested pure caffeine, potato skin extract, Cissus quadrangularis (veld grape) extract, Garcinia cambogia (brindleberry) extract, Crocus sativus (saffron crocus) extract, raspberry ketone isolated from Rubus idaeus (red raspberry), one commercial product (Appetrex) and one novel composition (UP601).
• The researchers reported that rats treated with potato skin extract, C. sativus bulb extract and C. quadrangularis extract showed a significant reduction in food consumption (44.9, 34.1 and 44.3 percent, respectively) only at the 2-hour timepoint after food provision at an equivalent human dosage of 2 grams (g), 10 g and 10 g, respectively.
• Meanwhile, those treated with G. cambogia fruit extract and raspberry ketone from R. idaeus showed significant reduction in food consumption (33.7 and 79.4 percent, respectively) only at the one-hour timepoint after food provision at an equivalent human dosage of 8 g and 5 g, respectively.
• When the researchers compared UP601 and Appetrex (230 mg/kg), they found that rats treated with the former showed 88.5, 73.8 and 63.1 percent reductions in food intake one hour, two hours and four hours after food provision, while those treated with Appetrex showed 64.2, 27.5 and 34.7 percent reductions, respectively.

All in all, the researchers said that UP601, a standardized blend of extracts from Morus alba (white mulberry), Ilex paraguariensis (Yerba mate) and Magnolia officinalis (magnolia), had the highest appetite suppression efficacy out of all the weight loss supplements they tested.

Journal Reference:

Yimam M, Jiao P, Hong M, Brownell L, Lee YC, Hyun EJ, Kim HJ, Kim TW, Nam JB, Kim MR, et al. EVALUATION OF NATURAL PRODUCT COMPOSITIONS FOR APPETITE SUPPRESSION. Journal of Dietary Supplements. 14 February 2018;16(1):86–104. DOI: 10.1080/19390211.2018.1429518