Will Bitter Orange Help You Burn More Fat?

When it comes to weight loss and exercise, we’re always looking for an edge such as burning more fat at rest or during exercise. Bitter orange is an herb that contains p-synephrine, a reputed booster of fat metabolism while you’re at rest. A small study tested p-synephrine, caffeine, and both together to see the effects during exercise when compared with a placebo; the researchers wanted to find which was more effective in increasing fat metabolism during exercise.

The researchers used 13 young, healthy volunteers for the experiment. They tested each of the subjects on four separate days with three to five days between tests. In random order, subjects were tested taking a placebo, three mg/kg body weight caffeine, three mg/kg body weight p-synephrine, and three mg/kg body weight of a combination caffeine and p-synephrine.

They found that caffeine raised systolic BP by eight mm Hg and diastolic mm Hg at rest; statistically different but nothing extraordinary. During the exercise phase, subjects began at 40% of max capacity and increased effort by 10% every three minutes until they reached 90% of capacity Caffeine raised fat use during exercise more than p-synephrine or the combination of caffeine and p-synephrine. Overall energy use and carbohydrate metabolism did not change.

What does that mean for us? It could mean that a strong cup of coffee or an energy drink would help us burn more fat during exercise better than some exotic plant. Why waste money buying an herbal product with long-standing safety concerns?

What we don’t know is whether that effect would remain after the body adapted to the caffeine intake. Here’s what does work: training your body to use fat as a fuel at rest and during exercise. That’s what the Optimal Performance program is all about. Check it out.

What are you prepared to do today?

        Dr. Chet

Reference: MSSE 2018. 50(9):1899-1906.