Certain herbal preparations have shown beneficial weight loss effects, although these effects are often small and difficult to measure in short term studies. However, the consistent and slow ‘fat’ loss caused by many herbs is preferable to the larger ‘weight’ loss caused by low energy diets and physical exercise regimens because it is more sustainable in the long term. In addition, many herbs also address the main problem with fat loss, that of increased appetite. Combinations of herbs and other weight loss nutrients may be even more effective than single preparations, and there is good evidence that herbs can have synergistic effects at causing weight loss. Synergism is particularly apparent in herbs that have different modes of action, each producing an effect in a different area of physiology, with the combined effect being larger than the sum of the individual effects. Such combination therapy combined with a high quality diet and moderate daily physical activity, but without energy restriction, is perhaps the most effective weight loss strategy.
The assessment of combination of weight loss nutrients in not common in the nutritional literature, largely because nutrition has become infested with the materialistic viewpoint of modern science, particularly pharmacology. However, a number of studies have been performed on combination therapy using herbs and nutrients. For example, in one study1, researchers in India gave obese subjects in India one of two weight loss treatments. One group received 4667 mg per day of hydroxycitric acid (HCA), a compound derived from the dried fruit of the Garcinia cambogia herb. Another group received the same hydroxycitric acid, but in addition they were also given 400 μg of chromium in the form of niacin-bound chromium, as well as 400 mg of the herb Gymnema sylvestre containing 100 mg gymnemic acid. Another group received a placebo tablet. At the end of 8 weeks the two groups receiving the HCA alone and in combination had lost significantly more body weight than the control group.
The weight loss in the HCA groups caused the body mass indices of the groups to fall by 5 to 6 %, which is a reasonable amount of weight loss for such a short trial. The subjects were also given 2000 kcal diets along with their supplements, and so their was minimal, if any, energy restriction amongst the subjects. The weight loss in the HCA combination supplement group was slightly greater than in the HCA only group, suggesting that some synergist did exist between the three components. The weight loss in both HCA groups was accompanied by a reduction in leptin levels, and also reductions in total cholesterol, low density lipoprotein cholesterol and fasting triglycerides. High density lipoprotein and urinary fat excretion was increased in both HCA groups. No significant changes to lipid levels or leptin levels were seen in the placebo group. These results suggest that HCA is an effective weight loss supplement and that its effectiveness can be increased with the addition of chromium and Gymnema sylvestre.
RdB
