To lose weight, your body needs to burn more calories than it consumes. You can think of this as a scale (see picture on right). If you put more calories in, you need to burn more calories. You can increase “calories out” by increasing physical activity to burn more calories immediately and also by increasing your metabolic rate so that you burn more calories throughout the day.

There have been multiple products that were claimed to increased one’s metabolism and help with weight loss. In this “Supplements to turbocharge your metabolism” series, first we will review Xanthigen

Xanthigen is a compound derived from brown marine algae fucoxanthin and pomegranate seed oil (PSO).  Both of these ingredients are used worldwide in variety of ways.

Brown seaweed is used as soup stock, in salads, boiled as a vegetable, dried as a snack food, or soaked in soy sauce and served as a seasoning or garnish for rice dishes. One of the compounds unique to brown seaweed is fucoxanthin. Brown seaweeds are rich in n-3 fatty acids such as Omega-3, Alpha linolenic acid and Omega-3 eicosapentaenoic acid.

Pomegranate seeds are edible and are often consumed along with the sweet red arils. As “anardana” they are used as a spice in Indian, Persian, and Pakistani cuisine. Pomegranate seeds are rich in punicic acid which is a linolenic acid, one of the healthful unsaturated fatty acids.

According to the study [1],  Xanthigen-600/2.4 mg (300 mg PSO + 300 mg brown seaweed extract containing 2.4 mg fucoxanthin) resulted in statistically significant reduction of body weight.  Fucoxanthin  and Xanthigen also increased REE (Resting Energy Expenditure) in the same study.

However, the REE was assessed in only 41 of the 113 subjects, so the study did have complete data but this limited data does show promising results.

Conclusion: Xanthigen consists of two ingredients that are currently used in food products worldwide. They work synergistically to reduce body fat and increased resting metabolic rate (Resting Energy Expenditure – REE). Xanthigen is effective in reducing body weight at a dose of 600mg/day (200mg three times a day).

Reference:

1. Abidov M, Ramazanov Z, Seifulla R, Grachev S. The effects of Xanthigen in the weight management of obese premenopausal women with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease and normal liver fat. Diabetes Obes Metab. 2010 Jan;12(1):72-81

Additional Readings

• The Metabolism Miracle: 3 Easy Steps to Regain Control of Your Weight . . . Permanently
• 101 Best Foods to Boost Your Metabolism
• Metabolism at a Glance

Resources:

Garden of Life FucoThin Concentrated Fucoxanthin

Garden of Life FucoThin Concentrated Fucoxanthin

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