Effect of a Dietary Herbal Supplement Containing Caffeine and Ephedra on Weight, Metabolic Rate, and Body Composition*

Abstract

GREENWAY, FRANK L., LILIAN DE JONGE, DAMIAN BLANCHARD, MADLYN FRISARD, AND STEVEN R. SMITH. Effect of a dietary herbal supplement containing caffeine and ephedra on weight, metabolic rate, and body composition. Obes Res. 2004;12:1152-1157. Objective: To evaluate the effect of a dietary supplement containing herbal caffeine (70 mg/dose) and ephedra (24 mg/dose; C&E) on metabolic rate, weight loss, body composition, and safety parameters. Research Methods and Procedures:In phase I, 12 healthy subjects with a BMI of 25 to 35 kg/m 2 had resting metabolic rate (RMR) measured for 2 hours after ingesting C&E or a placebo on two occasions 1 week apart, followed by a 1-week washout before phase II. In phase II, these 12 and 28 additional subjects were randomized to a 12-week, doubleblind trial comparing C&E (3 times/day) to placebo. In phase III, the C&E group was given open-label C&E for 3 months, and the placebo group was given C&E for 6 months. Results: In phase I, C&E gave an average 8 Ϯ 0.1% (SE) rise in RMR over 2 hours compared with placebo (p Ͻ 0.01). In phase II, weight loss at 12 weeks was 3.5 Ϯ 0.6 kg with C&E compared with 0.8 Ϯ 0.5 kg with placebo (p Ͻ 0.02). The percentage fat lost, shown by DXA, was 7.9 Ϯ 2.9% with C&E and 1.9 Ϯ 1.1% with placebo (p Ͻ 0.05). Pulse decreased more in the placebo group that in the C&E group (p Ͻ 0.03). There were no differences in lipid levels or blood pressure. In phase III, there was a 6-month loss of 7.3% and 7.8% of initial body weight for the groups on placebo and C&E during phase II, respectively. There were no serious adverse events. Discussion: C&E increased RMR significantly by 8% compared with placebo, promoted more weight and fat loss than placebo, and was well tolerated.

Licorice Flavonoid Oil Effects Body Weight Loss by Reduction of Body Fat Mass in Overweight Subjects

“…In fact, the DXA method has been frequently used in development of functional foods or drugs. [24][25][26] Our previous data indicated that the sum of body fat mass, lean body mass, and bone mineral density measured by DXA was highly correlated with the body weight measured on a scale suggesting that the DXA method is applicable to measure these three components of the body. We therefore used DXA to investigate which of these three components contributed to the reduction of body weight.…”

Evidence Analysis Library Review of Best Practices for Performing Indirect Calorimetry in Healthy and Non–Critically Ill Individuals

“…39,41 Products with multiple stimulants increased RMR for at least 4 hours. 38,40,41 Based on the evidence reviewed, RMR remains elevated for at least 4 hours; however, the length of time RMR remains elevated after ingestion of caffeine or other stimulants beyond this time remains unknown.…”

Influence of integral and decaffeinated coffee brews on metabolic parameters of rats fed with hiperlipidemic diets

“…According to a study conducted with the rodents, which received caffeine and hyperlipidemic diet (Kobaiashi-Hattori et al 2005), caffeine led to increased serum levels of catecholamines (epinephrine, norepinephrine and dopamine). In addition, caffeine intake can increase the free fatty acids mobilization (Acheson et al 2004;Greenway et al 2004), not using muscle glycogen (Hespel et al 2002), which possibly results in less weight gain. The histology of the retroperitoneal adipose tissue (Table 2 and Fig 1) showed that the rats, which received integral coffee brew (P <0.05) had higher density and smaller diameter of adipocytes when compared with the rats which received the decaffeinated brew.…”