InterHealth validates products with new research
store of evidence indicating the efficacy of two of its ingredients
for weight loss and cardiovascular health with studies presented at
Experimental Biology in San Diego this month.
The first indicated that InterHealth's weight loss ingredient Super CitriMax reduces levels of neuropeptide Y (NPY) in the hypothalamic tissue of animals.
"This study provides powerful new evidence on Super CitriMax's ability to influence brain chemicals and neuropeptides involved in appetite control and eating behavior," said Professor Suny Ohia, dean of pharmacology at the University of Houston, where the study took place.
Extracted from a South Asian fruit, Super CitriMax is marketed as an alternative to stimulants such as ephedra and caffeine, which can cause changes in heart rate and blood pressure or interfere with sleep.
According to the company, previous studies in both animals and humans have pointed to Super CitriMax's potential to counter the appetite-increasing effect of NPY in animals, reduce body weight and increase levels of the neurotransmitter serotonin, which regulates appetite, sleep and mood.
A study published in Gene Expression last year (11:251-62, 2004) showed that the weight loss reducing effect of Super CitriMax may be attributed to its activity-inducing effect on more than 90 genes involved with fat and carbohydrate metabolism, and others involved in the signaling activity of serotonin.
The second study involved InterHealth's Protykin standardized 200:1 Polygomun cupisidatum extract. It was funded by the National Institutes of Health and carried out at the University of Connecticut School of Medicine.
According to the company, it shows that oral supplementation with Protykin provides "significant cardio protection" through ischemic preconditioning, a process whereby the myocardial tissue is subjected to short bursts of vascular occlusion to make it resistant to the effects of ischemia.
