Obesity and Herbs

There are plants that can provide useful polysaccharides not equivalent to moderate appetite: the Konjac (Amorphophallus konjac), guar (Cyamopsis tetragonolobus), plantains (psyllium, Ispaghula). All these non-assimilated carbohydrates may accelerate intestinal transit and may cause cramping or diarrhea in people with very reactive intestinal. The acceleration of intestinal transit or standardization among overweight ,usually constipated, people facilitates weight loss: food just spend less time in the digestive tract, bacteria in the colon have less time to degrade into assimilable molecules, food normally indigestible and non assimilable.

Medicinal Plants to Increase Thermogenesis (Fat-Burning)

It is easy to increase the consumption of energy by exercise, but much more difficult to induce this effect with miracle chemical drugs. How to increase thermogenesis? It is known as hyperthyroidism (increased activity of the thyroid gland), weight loss is accompanied by increase in the basic metabolism, it is possible to lose weight by increasing artificially the thyroid. Many women have thyroid extracts used as an adjunct to a diet (especially in USA), sometimes with catastrophic results often due to exaggerated titrations in thyroid hormones, this trail is now more or less abandoned, but we can try to stimulate "natural" thyroid.

Caffeine is a tonic for central nervous system and heart, it is a stimulant which causes an increase in physical activity and which, it seems, increases lipolysis. Ephedrine which is an extract of several ephedra (ma huang) is very similar to amphetamine and is a "sympathomimetic” stimulant, which, inter alia, facilitates weight loss, but it is discouraged to consume it because its side effects are not negligible.

Fucus

Fucus (vesiculosus, serratus) are mainly used as additives in the diets (effect of fucans + iodine), especially when obesity is accompanied by hypothyroidism (soft, pale and chilly obese). There are herbal drugs that are made of thallus of Fucus powder (containing 20 to 120 micrograms of iodine per gram), alcoholic extract of fucus (110 micrograms of iodine per 10 ml) and a homeopathic mother tincture. An average dose is 0.5 to 1 g of powdered thallus per day or 100 to 150 drops of mother tincture. Be careful not to exceed 120 micrograms of iodine per day.

Caffeine Plants

Coffee is paradoxically not "slimming", on the contrary, green tea and mate seem to be interesting adjuvant to dieting. The infusion of these leaves contain caffeine and flavonoids. Green tea is quite bland whereas mate, Ilex paraguariensis, is quite bitter.

Green tea is not very exciting, it is a pleasant and beneficial drink for several reasons (vascular protection, may be protective against cancerous degeneration). Mate is "very" stimulating, pay attention to insomnia when you drink mate at the end of the day. Don’t forget that caffeine is also an exciting and slightly cardiac diuretic.

Garcinia

Extracts from the bark of fruit of Garcinia cambogia and Garcinia indica, in vitro, prevent the accumulation of fat, seem to decrease appetite and increase at the same time the consumption of glucose (thermogenesis) in animals. In humans, it is less obvious.

It is estimated that extracts of Garcinia cambogia hydroxycitric concentrated in acid or salt calcium can help to lose weight:

• When food is too rich in carbohydrates (sugars, sweets, bread, pasta, rice, potatoes etc.) Garcinia extract does not act when food is too rich in fats.

• When absorbing Garcinia extracts rich in acid hydroxycitric just before eating (1 / 2 hour to an hour before meals)

• When the daily dose is quite high: at least the equivalent of 1500 mg hydroxycitric acid per day in divided doses depending on the meal, in some studies the daily dose is approaching 3 g per day, and even 4.5 g / day.

• Avoiding a diet rich in insoluble fiber (like malt) that prevents, it seems, the intestinal absorption of hydroxycitric acid or its salts.

On the market, pure extracts of Garcinia, or dietary supplements are often in combination with other substances or plant extracts referred to slimming. One should favor pure Garcinia extracts as slimming supplements do not usually contain enough Garcinia extracts to be effective. In addition, some substances associated with extracts of Garcinia may have harmful side effects (chromium, caffeine, ephedrine).

There are so many plants that can help to fight over-weight but they must be used wisely, that is why it is highly advised to use herbal products conceived by herbal experts.