Bitter Orange Reviews

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What Is Bitter Orange?

The numbers of obese people continue to rise in the United States. More than 60% of adults and children are overweight in this country. Out of that number more than 30% are considered to be obese. Due to these facts it is no wonder that the demand and market for any type of weight loss supplement is so marketable now. Herbal weight loss products are extremely desirable now as they can be purchased without a prescription and are available to consumers at affordable prices. Bitter orange is one of these types of supplements.

The Food and Drug Administration banned the use of ephedrine in dietary supplements in 2004 citing safety reasons. Therefore other herbal or natural substances were searched out that could give the same results as ephedrine without the serious side effects that ephedrine caused. Bitter orange is one of those substances. It has been used in herbal weight loss supplements that want to accomplish the same goals as before but can tout they are “ephedrine free.”

How Does Bitter Orange Work?

Bitter orange or Citrus aurantium as it is known botanically contains two ingredients synephrine and octopamine. These two chemicals work in a very similar manner to ephedrine. They constrict the blood vessels of the body and increase the heart rate and blood pressure. Weight loss supplements containing this substance work by increasing the heart rate and metabolism in order to promote weight loss. They also help decrease a person’s appetite.

Bitter orange has been used for thousands of years in Traditional Chinese Medicine to treat various physical ailments such as chest congestion and to stimulate certain digestive functions such as nausea, indigestion and constipation.

Bitter orange is used today in many herbal weight loss supplements. There has been no research that shows the success of using this substance on its own, however there are some indications that show that it may be more effective when combined with caffeine and St. Johns Wort.

Some research has been done in the homeopathic and naturopathic communities concerning using bitter orange as a weight loss supplement. A study was done in 1999 on 23 overweight people using a combination of bitter orange, caffeine, and St. Johns Wort. The results showed that this group significantly lost more weight over a six week period of time than the control group did.

Should I Use Bitter Orange?

As always if you have a serious medical condition, you should talk to your doctor before using any supplement, and there are plenty of retailers out there willing to abuse this. However, if you get the go ahead from your doctor and you find a retailer who actually bothers using the clinically proven amounts of these ingredients, you can see results with bitter orange extract, and it could even be an alternative to ephedrine!

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