Citrus Aurantium: Benefits, Side Effects 

Citrus aurantium is the name of a very popular plant called zhi shi in traditional Chinese medicine. You may have heard this plant as green orange, sour orange and bitter orange as well. 

The active compound of the fruits of this plant is called synephrine. Synephrine is a part of many cold/allergy medications. Most weight loss and energy supplements, which contain Ma Huang, also contain the active compound of Citrus aurantium.  

Why is this nutrient used in fat burners? Actually, many scientists who are interested in losing weight claim that this herb has several very useful abilities such as the ability to increase the metabolic rate, to increase caloric expenditure, to increase energy levels, to promote weight loss, and of course fat burning abilities.

In order to obtain satisfactory results everyone who takes supplements, which contain Citrus aurantium fruit, should be aware of the right dosage. However, the active compound synephrine is only a small part of the content of Citrus aurantium.

That is why to obtain any results standardized extract is recommended. To be more specific, specialists recommend 4 to 20 mg of the active compound (synephrine) each day. Such a dose could be found in a require amount of standardized extract of citrus aurantium (200 to 400 mg).

As most fat burning ingredients, synephrine is also a stimulant. Just like caffeine and ephedrine which are common fat-burning ingredients, synephrine is able to boosts your energy, to suppress your appetite, and to increase your metabolic rate and caloric expenditure.

The effects of combinations of synephrine and other ingredients have also been tested. For example, the combination of the active compound of aurantium and some caffeine-based ingredients such as kola nut and guarana and the combination with salicylates such as white willow have proven to have the effect of mild stimulant.

Synephrine is just one of all the useful compounds found in Citrus aurantium fruits. However, the extract of citrus also contains tyramine and octopamine. Actually, octopamine has been used to stop bugs from eating the citrus fruit.

That is why octopamine is believed to have appetite-suppressing properties. Probably, this is the ideal weight loss supplement for you if you are a bug, but when it comes to humans, the effectiveness of this compound has not yet been proven.

Side Effects

People who take fat burners should know that supplements, which contain synephrine, ephedrine or octopamine, might elevate blood pressure. The truth is that so far studies, which prove this side effect, have been performed only on animals. That is why people with cardiovascular concerns such as hypertension should avoid taking citrus aurantium until more clinical studies are made.

The effectiveness of these related compounds as weight loss agents has been proven once again by a study performed on dogs, which claims that synephrine and octopamine increase metabolic rate in a specific type of fat tissue known as brown adipose tissue (BAT).

Unfortunately, this is not of such a great importance just because adult humans do not have brown adipose tissue! That is why citrus aurantium extract is one of the most popular and discussed ingredients but not the most effective. In short, the effectiveness of citrus aurantium has been overestimated.

In fact, this supplement could have the ability to increase the metabolic rate but still we are not quite sure. No solid clinical data proves the effectiveness of citrus aurantium extract. All that we know now is just suggestions and assumptions. So far, no one is able to offer us valid scientific evidence of effectiveness in humans.

Bottom line:

As a whole, citrus aurantium supplements can help you lose weight because of the amphetamine-like effects of the alkaloids. Although, citrus aurantium extract is less effective than products that contain ephedra such as Ma Huang, it is able to suppress your appetite and to boost your energy (just like caffeine does) which will inevitably lead to weight loss.

 Sources:Supplementwatch.com - Fda.gov