You can add many herbs to your diet as supplements, teas, and foods that will help you sustain your weight loss program. They can act as mild stimulants, and suppress the appetite. Other herbs can trick the brain into thinking the stomach is full. Also there are several herbs which contain sympathomimetics and xanthine compounds that work in a synergistic way to increase the body’s basal metabolic rate – thereby increasing the burning of calories and fat.
Herbs for weight loss can be classified as:
- Stimulants: these encourage the body to burn more calories.
- Diuretics: these cause the body to excrete water through excess urine.
- Cathartics: these cause evacuation of the bowels, reduce calorie consumption by impeding full digestion.
- Appetite suppressants: these reduce hunger by expanding in the stomach, altering mood, or satisfying taste.
Alfalfa
Alfalfa aids in digestion and also acts as a diuretic. One of the active components in alfalfa is saponin content. Scientific studies indicate that saponins assist in making fats more soluble. These studies also indicate that they may play a role in maintaining healthy blood vessels. The alfalfa leaves contain flavones, isoflavones and sterols..
Bladder Wrack Kelp
Kelp is a type of seaweed. It can be found in pill form, or tinctures, or dried. It is quite tasty and can be used a salt substitute, or even eaten as a snack. It works by strengthening the thyroid , which can then increase the metabolism. Another way it helps with dieting is by giving your body easily absorbed nutrients which feed the body on a cellular level. This itself reduces cravings. It is also useful as a bulk laxative.
Chickweed
Studies have shown that Chickweed has the ability to break down fat molecules. It is usually recommend that you take in in combination with burdock root to balance the oils and fats in the body. The chickweed breaks down the fat and the burdock helps flush it out of the body. As a tea, it is an effective way to curb cravings, assist with your digestion, and help lose weight.
Burdock
Burdock improves the metabolism of fat and also acts as a diuretic. Active ingredients include inulin, polyphenolic acids, and non-hydroxy acids. Burdock is a great herbal blood purifier that detoxifies the blood and lymphatic systems. It is high in iron, and can help create blood cells during times when the hemoglobin is low. It is also considered to have a mild laxative effect. Burdock also aids in the elimination of uric acid.
Burdock root can assist in weight loss by reducing cravings and hunger. To use burdock root for weight loss – Bring water to a boil, pour in about one ounce of dried burdock root, and gently simmer for ten to twenty minutes, then allow the tea to cool. Drink it between meals.
Cardamom
Cardomom is a thermogenic herb. One of Cardamom’s main uses is as a digestive aid. It has soothing and antispasmodic qualities. Studies have shown it may help with various digestive conditions.
Cayenne
Cayenne improves the circulation and digestion system. It has thermogenic effects. One study showed that cayenne increased the body’s core temperature, which in turn increased the metabolism and caused participants to lose more weight then the group not taking cayenne.
Cinnamon
Cinnamon also causes a thermogenic burn that boosts the metabolism. It also reduces cholesterol levels – in particular, it lowers bad cholesterol while leaving good cholesterol alone. It is cinnamon’s effect on blood sugar that makes it a potential help in the war against obesity, insulin resistance , sometimes known as “prediabetes,” and the “Metabolic Syndrome.” Cinnamon can be used in its powdered or stick form, adding it to drinks and foods, or as a supplement.
Dandelion Root
This herb aids in fat metabolism by affecting the liver. It acts to remove poisons from the body, and is a tonic and stimulant as well.
Nettles
Nettles is high in nutritional value. It is rich in vitamins C and E and minerals such as calcium , magnesium , iron , silica, and potassium. It helps clears toxins and also has a effect on weight loss that isn’t as of now, clearly understood. But it is believed that it helps with weight loss by feeding the cells on a deeper level which reduces cravings. Nettle tea is used to curb appetite and cravings and assist in weight loss.
Fennel
A diuretic that reduces hunger and improves energy. Fennel (Foeniculum vulgare) seed and nettle (Urtica dioica) leaves make a useful tea for weight loss. Use one teaspoon fennel seed and two teaspoons nettle leaves to three cups water. Do not exceed the recommended dose. Fennel is potentially toxic.
Prepare fennel seed tea: 4 tsp. of seeds in 2 pints of boiling water and simmer for 5 minutes. Remove from heat, keep the container covered, and allow to stand for 15 minutes, then strain. 1 cup 3 or 4 times per day, cool or heated.
Gymnema Sylvestre
This herb helps decrease sugar cravings. It works on the pancreas by enabling it to maintain a steady and even blood sugar, which helps decrease cravings and hypoglycemia.
Flax Seed
Flax seed is a bulk laxative that helps curb hunger. It is loaded with vitamins and phytonutrients, and it is an excellent source of protein and fiber. Flaxseed is nature’s gift to health! Besides stabilizing the body sugar levels, flax expands five times in bulk when ingested. Flax taken half an hour before meals will help you eat less, so you will lose weight while simultaneously strengthening your immune system.
Garcinia Cantbogia
Aids fat metabolism and reduces hunger. This herb is currently used in the United States as a component of weight loss formulas. Various species of South Asian plants of the genus Garcinia (particularly Garcinia cantbogia) have high contents of hydroxycitrate (HCA), which is the active ingredient in this and many other currently marketed weight loss products. However, it has not yet been shown, in controlled studies published in the scientific literature, to be effective in weight loss in humans.
Preliminary research suggests that garcinia inhibits the accumulation of lipid droplets in fat cells and thereby reduces lipid levels and decreases lipid accumulation in the liver. The hydroxycitrate acid (HCA) found in garcinia is also theorized to improve exercise endurance by increasing lipid oxidation and decreasing carbohydrate utilization . A dosage of, an extract containing 50% hydroxycitric acid, 1000 mg three times daily has been used for weight loss.
Green Tea
Aids fat metabolism and increases energy. Clinical studies conducted by Dr. Abdul Dulloo, of the University of Geneva in Switzerlands brought the conclusion that green tea weight loss programs raises metabolic rates and speeds up fat oxidation.
As part of their study, the investigators measured the 24-hour energy expenditure of 10 healthy men receiving three doses of caffeine (50 mg), green tea extract (containing 50 mg caffeine and 90 mg epigallocatechin), or a ‘dummy’ placebo per day. The study authors report that, compared with placebo, subject taking green tea extract had a “significant increase” (+4%) in daily energy expenditure.
Green tea extract may also help dieters shed fat. This effect is due to increase in energy expenditure.
Guar Gum
Helps to reduce hunger and has a laxative effect. As a weight loss product, it has been used to promote normal gastrointestinal health. It has been noted to decrease the appetite by providing a “feeling of fullness.”
Precautions: Guar gum and guar gum preparations have been implicated in esophageal obstruction. The water-retaining capacity of the gum permits it to swell to 10 to 20 fold and has led to gastrointestinal obstructions. Guar gum has also been known to cause significant fluctuations in blood glucose (sugar) levels, so diabetic patients should not use it.
Hawthorn
Reduces blood fat and improves circulation. Hawthorn berry helps with stagnant, undigested food accumulated in the stomach, they also stimulate the adrenal glands and improve thyroid function.
Kola Nut
A stimulant that decreases appetite and aids in the metabolism of fat. Kola nuts are stimulants like caffeine. Kola nut is used extensively by natives of western and central Africa, and also in Brazil.
Parsley
A diuretic and nutritional aid. Juicing recipes with carrot or parsley juice help curb the appetite & reduce hunger cravings. Besides, Carrot or parsley juices can also help maintain proper blood sugar levels, reducing the blood sugar swing that you can experience when on a weight loss program It is one of the highest sources of life-giving chlorophyll which acts like iron to oxidize the blood. Look for healthy, dark green leaves.
Phyllium
Helps to curb hunger and allows the elimination of wastes from the body. Herbalists say that the weight-loss effect of plantain and psyllium is related to the spongy fiber (mucilage) in the seeds and to specific chemicals (polyphenols) in the leaves.
In one Italian study, scientists gave women who were seriously obese (over 60 percent over their recommended weight) three grams of plantain in water 30 minutes before meals. The plantain group lost more weight than a similar group of women who simply cut back on their diet. Recommended Dose: Take a teaspoonful of psyllium mixed well with a glass of juice or water. Take it before each meal.
Senna
An all natural laxative. It stimulates the colon, leading to the increased metabolism of fat.
Red pepper ( Capsicum ), Hit Mustard, and other hot spices
Scientists have found that people who took hot spicy foods (adding a teaspoon of red-pepper sauce and a teaspoon of mustard to meal) raised their metabolic rates by as much as 25 percent. The hot spice also stimulates thirst, so you drink more liquids that also helps in gaining less weight.
Citrus Aurantium
Citrus Aurantium is a commonly used Chinese herb that helps to improve the function of the stomach and gastrointestinal system. Research has shown it to be as usefull as ephedra in increasing thermogenesis levels in the body but it does not have the side effects that ephedra often has. Increasing the thermogenic process in the body may increase weight loss. Citrus aurantium, or Zhi Shi, contains a combination of adrenergic amines. These are synephrine, N-methyltyramine, hordenine, octopamine, and tyramine. All of these substances have been shown to have powerful thermogenic properties. When this herb is used along with moderate exercise and a healthy diet , it may assist with weight loss.
Instead of just taking capsules made of dried herbal products, think about including these herbs in your lifestyle. Eat them everyday, and as fresh as possible. Instead of swallowing a capsule, eat a handful of fresh parsley. Experiment with tasting each of your favorite culinary herbs made up as “diet” tea. Collect dandelion leaves, plantain, mints, lettuce, whatever, and whip it up in your blender as special diet “green drink.” There are almost no calories in most herbs. Eating and living with herbs can bring you a lifestyle which may be more conducive to weight loss and result in satisfying flavors to enhance your food.
Herbs are a friendly help to weight loss process. They may not be enough on their own, but when used in combination with dietary changes and increased exercise herbs can help out most weight loss success stories.