Stimulating Ingredients aren’t Necessarily Stimulants

Whenever I hear the word “stimulant” referencing weight management, it’s in a negative context. People assume a stimulant will raise your blood pressure or affect the central nervous system, making you jittery and nervous. But the truth is, to deliver results, a weight management supplement needs to include an ingredient that stimulates physiological activities that lead to weight loss.

Now, do you want ingredients that cause negative cardiovascular and central nervous system side effects? Of course not. But something’s got to happen if you’re going to help people lose weight. And that requires stimulation (plus diet and exercise, of course). If an ingredient can stimulate thermogenesis and increase metabolism without negative side effects—and there’s clinical research to back it up—that’s my kind of “stimulant.”

Years ago, when the safety of old-school weight management ingredients started to be called into question, I went in search of a new raw material that could stimulate thermogenesis without negative side effects. Now, almost two decades later, that ingredient—Advantra Z®, Nutratech’s patented bitter orange extract—is still on the market and experiencing annual double-digit growth. That’s because it works. It works safely. And there are more than 30 research studies, most of them clinical studies, to support it.

Even highly regarded government and scientific organizations are recognizing the existence of safe “stimulants” and making their recommendations accordingly. In 2011, Health Canada, counterpart to the U.S. FDA, relaxed and redefined its guidelines for the use of p synephrine, the dominant amine in Advantra Z. The agency’s report stated that up to 50 mg of p-synephrine per day for healthy adults—or 40 mg of p-synephrine in combination with up to 320 mg of caffeine—is not likely to cause any adverse health consequences. Health Canada previously limited daily intake of p synephrine to 30 mg.

Just last month, Intertek Cantox—a respected provider of quality and safety services, known for its cautious and conservative approach to ingredient usage—supported p-synephrine dosages up to 60 mg, or 70 mg if taken as divided doses over the course of the day. Comparable findings have been published in International Journal of Medical Sciences (September 2012), Health Canada Natural Health Products Directorate (May 2011), Phytotherapy Research (April 2011), American Botanical Council’s HerbalGram (February 2011), and Journal of Functional Foods (November 2010).

Still, there are those who insist on classifying bitter orange (the source of Advantra Z) along with those ingredients that cause negative cardiovascular and central nervous system side effects, just because it achieves results that facilitate weight loss. To these people I say, “Do your due diligence! Read the fine print! Put the research into context!” Here’s a great example.

Recently, FDA published a study that stated bitter orange may raise blood pressure and heart rate in rats. At Nutratech, we check out every study involving bitter orange. So we had an independent scientist evaluate the research. And you know what? These lab rats were given very large amounts of bitter orange: 13 to 43 times the typical human dosage used in dietary supplements on a weight-to-weight basis! And the heart rate and blood pressure increased only 4-percent to 11.5-percent. That may be a lot for a rat, but for humans, it’s clinically insignificant. As the scientist explained, your heart rate and blood pressure can increase 10-percent to 20-percent simply walking up a flight of stairs or doing household choirs. Turns out, this was an extremely positive study of bitter orange’s so-called stimulant effects.

So all ingredients that stimulate physiological activities leading to weight loss aren’t “bad.” Like most things in this world, it’s not that simple. Because there are stimulants and then there are stimulating ingredients like Advantra Z that have stood the test of time. That don’t cross the blood-brain barrier to cause negative central nervous system side effects. That make minimal contact with alpha 1, 2 and beta 1, 2 (excitatory) receptors, which are responsible for increasing heart rate and blood pressure. That research has shown to work safely and effectively.

So, am I pro-stimulant for weight management supplements? Not in the traditional sense. But I’ll stand behind stimulating ingredients with proven safety and efficacy records any day of the week.