Eight weeks of supplementation with a multi-ingredient weight loss product enhances body composition, reduces hip and waist girth, and increases energy levels in overweight men and women

Abstract

BackgroundNumerous natural products are marketed and sold claiming to decrease body weight and fat, but few undergo finished product-specific research demonstrating their safety and efficacy.ObjectiveTo determine the safety and efficacy of a multi-ingredient supplement containing primarily raspberry ketone, caffeine, capsaicin, garlic, ginger and Citrus aurantium (Prograde Metabolism™ [METABO]) as an adjunct to an eight-week weight loss program.MethodsUsing a randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blind design, 70 obese but otherwise healthy subjects were randomly assigned to METABO or a placebo and underwent 8 weeks of daily supplementation, a calorie restricted diet, and exercise training. Subjects were tested for changes in body composition, serum adipocytokines (adiponectin, resistin, leptin, TNF-α, IL-6) and markers of health including heart rate and blood pressure.ResultsOf the 45 subjects who completed the study, significant differences were observed in: body weight (METABO -2.0% vs. placebo -0.5%, P < 0.01), fat mass (METABO -7.8 vs. placebo -2.8%, P < 0.001), lean mass (METABO +3.4% vs. placebo +0.8%, P < 0.03), waist girth (METABO -2.0% vs. placebo -0.2%, P < 0.0007), hip girth (METABO -1.7% vs. placebo -0.4%, P < 0.003), and energy levels per anchored visual analogue scale (VAS) (METABO +29.3% vs. placebo +5.1%, P < 0.04). During the first 4 weeks, effects/trends for maintaining elevated serum leptin (P < 0.03) and decreased serum resistin (P < 0.08) in the METABO group vs. placebo were also observed. No changes in systemic hemodynamics, clinical blood chemistries, adverse events, or dietary intake were noted between groups.ConclusionsMETABO administration is a safe and effective adjunct to an eight-week diet and exercise weight loss program by augmenting improvements in body composition, waist and hip girth. Adherence to the eight-week weight loss program also led to beneficial changes in body fat in placebo. Ongoing studies to confirm these results and clarify the mechanisms (i.e., biochemical and neuroendocrine mediators) by which METABO exerts the observed salutary effects are being conducted.

The Effect of Dietary Supplements Containing Green Tea, Capsaicin and Ginger Extracts on Weight Loss and Metabolic Profiles in Overweight Women: A Randomized Double-Blind Placebo-Controlled Clinical Trial

“…Mentioned results showed that the supplement increased thermogenesis and accentuated body fat loss by 0.9 kg over 8 weeks. Furthermore, this is also in line with a recent study by Lopez et al [24] who demonstrated that a supplement containing caffeine and capsaicin for 8 weeks accentuated body weight and fat loss during a weight loss program. A significant decrease in BMI was also seen following the supplementation with 2 g/day of ginger powder among obese women for 12 weeks [10].…”

Raspberry ketone, a naturally occurring phenolic compound, inhibits adipogenic and lipogenic gene expression in 3T3-L1 adipocytes

“…But, since the natural abundance of RK is very low, it is prepared industrially by a variety of methods from chemical intermediates (Tateiwa et al, 1994). The present study demonstrated that RK suppressed adipogenesis and decreased lipid accumulation by inhibiting the expression of genes involved in adipogenesis and lipogenesis in 3T3-L1 adipocytes (Figures 1 and 2), which is consistent with the previous reports that RK has an anti-obese function in animal and human studies (Lopez et al, 2013;Meng et al, 2008;Morimoto et al, 2005). When given to male mice in high doses, RK has been shown to prevent the high-fat-dietinduced elevations in body weight and increase lipolysis in white adipocytes (Morimoto et al, 2005).…”

“…It was also shown that RK could reduce the weight of fat-diet-induced obese rat, suggesting that RK exerts anti-obesity functions by mediating lipid disorders, improving insulin resistance, and reversing leptin resistance (Meng et al, 2008). Moreover, a recent report showed that 8 weeks of supplementation with a multi-ingredient containing primarily RK reduced body weight and fat mass (Lopez et al, 2013). In addition, RK also exhibited preventive and therapeutic effects on nonalcoholic fatty hepatitis in rats fed high-fat diets (Wang et al, 2012).…”

“…RK exerts its anti-obesity effects via an increase of norepinephrine-induced lipolysis in white adipocytes and an enhancement of thermogenesis in brown adipose tissue (Morimoto et al, 2005). In recent years, a variety of bio-activities of RK were reported: anti-androgenic activity (Ogawa et al, 2010), anti-inflammatory activity by blocking the nuclear transcription factor-kB (NF-kB) activation (Jeong & Jeong, 2010), depigmenting activity (Lin et al, 2011), and anti-obese activity (Lopez et al, 2013;Park, 2010). Despite the reports on the effects of RK on lipid metabolism, the underlying molecular mechanism of RK action at gene expression levels has not been thoroughly understood.…”

Effect of a Multi-Nutrient Over-the-Counter Supplement on Changes in Metabolic Rate and Markers of Lipolysis

“…Other common ingredients include green tea extract, capsaicin and most recently raspberry ketones. Research is especially sparse with raspberry ketones with most data available coming from animal or cell culture models (Park, 2010;Morimoto et al, 2005), but recent work by Lopez (Lopez et al, 2013) and Kedia (Kedia et al, 2014) have shown positive impacts of differing multi-ingredient thermogenic supplement formulations in humans that included raspberry ketones along with other ingredients. Similar to caffeine, studies are available that have examined the sole impact of green tea extract or various catechins found in green tea on stimulating increased rates of fat oxidation and metabolic rate (Dulloo et al, 2000;Dulloo et al, 1999).…”