Is Synephrine Good for Weight Loss – Is It safe?

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Synephrine (p-Synephrine) is an alkaloid that is naturally-occurring in certain animal and plant species. It was first isolated from the leaves of citrus trees during the 1960s.

The majority of present day Synephrine (as used in dietary supplements) is usually sourced from the peel of the fruit of citrus aurantium trees and sometimes appears on supplement labels under the name Bitter Orange or Citrus Aurantium.

History of Synephrine as a Weight Loss Ingredient

Prior to 2004 Ephedra (Ma-huang) was a highly favoured weight loss-providing ingredient and it worked very well. Unfortunately Ephedra also caused unwanted side effects, so the regulatory bodies of many countries around the world deemed it unsuitable and banned its use.

The ban of Ephedra caused some very big waves in the diet supplement industry and manufacturers were forced to seek out a safe alternative to use instead of Ephedrine. It was not long before synephrine became the favoured substitute, as it possesses many of the same attributes as ephedra.

However, the fact that Synephrine is also a lot safer to use than Ephedra, and is known to elicit significantly more impressive results compared with many other popular weight loss ingredients, makes it a very valuable tool in the fight against fat, and indeed obesity.

Arguably, the most popular weight loss medication available from your doctor nowadays is Phentermine. This is only available from your doctor via prescription. It is also not without its issues, complications and side effects. For this reason it is advisable to seek a natural phentermine alternative that may or may not contain Synephrine (aka bitter orange)

Synephrine and Weight Loss

Synephrine assists weight loss in three ways:

  • Boosting the metabolism

  • Breaking down fat cells (lipolysis)

  • Providing appetite suppression

Metabolism Boosters

Metabolism boosters are extremely effective for weight loss. When the metabolism is boosted the body begins to burn calories much faster than normal.

Unfortunately unhealthy modern-day lifestyles and eating patterns can provide the body with more calories than it needs. When this happens the excess calories are stored as energy, often in the form of fat cells – and the body is extremely good at storing calories in this way.

However, whenever the diet fails to provide sufficient calories and/or an increased level of physical activity (exercise) causes the supply of dietary-supplied calories to become depleted, the body makes up for the deficit by burning body fat. By increasing the body’s overall usage of calories, metabolism boosters like synephrine can force the body into fat burning mode sooner than would normally be the case.

Lipolysis

Lipolysis is basically the breaking-down of fat into its constituent fatty acids. In this more basic form, fat is easily transported to sites such as the cells’ mitochondria or the liver for use as fuel to burn, in order to provide energy for activity.

Appetite suppressants

Appetite suppressants like synephrine can be an invaluable source of support for anyone who is trying to lose weight because, by suppressing hunger pangs and removing the desire to snack and/or overeat they prevent the food from being consumed in the first place. For this reason it is one of the most efficient forms of fat loss. Prevention over treatment, as they say.

Some Other Considerations

High doses of Synephrine can cause unwanted effects such as heart rate increase and dizziness etc. The key to avoiding this is simply remembering that reputable manufacturers of good supplements will have considered this in their dosage recommendations.

Any ingredient will cause side effects if taken in higher doses than the body should be exposed to. Even vitamins – vital for life – can be dangerous at certain doses.

The painkiller paracetamol is a good example, a 1000mg dose of paracetamol can do wonders for an aching head, but taking too much of it, too often, can have fatal consequences. In the USA paracetamol overdose is the most common cause of acute liver failure, but does this mean paracetamol should be avoided at all costs?

Not at all. It is not the drug that is the problem, but rather its misuse and the same is true of synephrine.

Health advisors at the Bundesinstitut für Risikobewertung (BfR) in Germany recommend consuming no more than 25.7mg of synephrine per day, but because the synephrine can also be present in some foods the experts state the amount of synephrine provided via supplementation should be restricted to no more than 6.7mg.

The BfR has compiled an in-depth assessment of the various issues regarding synephrine usage and point out “with some sports and weight loss products, caffeine and synephrine are ingested in bolus doses [bolus means that the daily dose is taken all at once instead of being taken in smaller doses throughout the day] which clearly exceed the single doses which are or were used for these substances in single-agent drugs.”

Note 1: When the ingredient Citrus Aurantium or Bitter Orange is stated on the ingredient list, it will likely look much higher than these recommended dosages. That’s because synephrine is usually only a small percentage of these fruit extract inclusions. It is not uncommon to see something like this: Citrus Aurantium 50mg (standardized to 10% p-synephrine).

Note 2: There are other variants of synephrine (m-synephrine and o-synephrine), however the p-synephrine variant mentioned above appears to be safer and more reliable of them. This is the type generally extracted now for supplements and is the one most commonly found in Citrus Aurantium.[/info]

In this example, only 5mg of the inclusion is actually synephrine, and therefore not a subject for concern.

Concluding Thoughts

Synephrine appears to be able to assist weight loss in a number of ways and it is certainly a much safer option than its predecessor, Ephedra.

This being the case, it is important to remember that any stimulant or metabolic enhancer needs to be treated with respect, lest too much is taken and uncomfortable side effects occur.

When used in a sensible manner, Synephrine really can offer safe and efficient weight loss.

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