OBESITY and OVERWEIGHT – Herbal Medicine

Obesity and overweight are mainly linked to the existence of an energy imbalance: we eat too much, too fat, too sweet, while our physical activity and therefore our energy needs have decreased.
It must also be emphasized that we are not equal when it comes to the problem of excess weight; our genetic heritage can promote overweight or obesity.
To combat obesity and overweight, it is first of all necessary to limit caloric intake by following a diet and if possible increase caloric expenditure (thermogenesis, physical activity). To lose weight more easily or quickly, we can use synthetic drugs, medicinal plants or plant extracts which suppress the appetite, which slow down intestinal absorption, which increase thermogenesis (fat-burning). Finally, we can resort to surgery which will modify the digestive system in such a way as to limit the absorption or intake of food.

CAUTION

Losing weight, fighting obesity and overweight are the concerns of millions of people. It is tempting for some to take advantage of this situation to offer miracle solutions, drugs that make you lose weight without any effort or cocktails of plants with exotic names whose side effects are not always well known and whose effectiveness is not known. not always convincing. So find out carefully and take advice before embarking on a “new” treatment with attractive advertising.

TREATMENT OF OBESITY AND OVERWEIGHT:
LOW-CALORIE DIET AND PHYSICAL EXERCISE,
REMINDER OF BASIC PRINCIPLES

We now know that to achieve lasting weight loss, weight loss treatment must result in a regular but modest drop in weight, no more than 2 kg per month. A rapid and massive loss of weight leads to an adaptation of the metabolism which makes it more difficult to follow the weight-loss diet subsequently and is accompanied, when this drastic diet is abandoned, by a rebound phenomenon causing a large part of the lost weight to be regained.

The low-calorie diet should not fall below 1200-1500 calories per day depending on the size of the person and their daily activity and must include an intake of essential vitamins and fatty acids.

What to be wary of and what to think about:

Excess lipid foods (foods containing a lot or exclusively of fatty substances): these are the first that must be drastically limited, they are full of calories and do not suppress the appetite.
Excess intake of rapidly assimilable sugars (fast sugars), particularly those hidden inside artificially sweetened drinks, fruit juices and sodas (these drinks are one of the leading causes of weight gain in children).
Excess alcohol (high in calories).
Do not reduce protein intake but be wary of “hidden” lipids in fatty meats and certain fish.
The absence of a substantial breakfast and the presence of a dinner full of calories: eating well in the evening makes you gain weight (chrono-obesity or how Muslims gain weight during Ramadan).
Combat snacking (chips or peanuts in front of the TV) but split meals (the body secretes less insulin during a small meal and therefore stores less fat).
Fight impulses to eat outside of usual meal times (especially at night).
You have to burn calories through physical exercise: walking, gymnastics, gardening, sports, etc. Regular and “moderate” activity gives a better result than intense but short exercise. Regular exercise with some more intense moments allows you to increase muscle mass which in turn increases the energy dissipated and allows you to store more glycogen in the muscles. Osteoarthritis induced by increased weight may be a factor limiting the resumption of sustained physical activity.

TREATMENT OF OBESITY AND OVERWEIGHT: SYNTHETIC DRUGS

A medical journal headlined in 2007: “The meager results of treatments against obesity and overweight” referring to the drugs available against obesity.
We will cite 3 types of anti-obesity drugs which were fashionable for a while: Sibutramine, Orlistat, Rimonabant.
All the studies carried out on these molecules have been subsidized by the pharmaceutical industry, both the studies proving their effectiveness and the surveys studying the risks they induce.

Sibutramine (Reductil®) (removed from sale in many countries) is believed to act by limiting appetite and increasing thermogenesis. The manufacturer recommends a maximum duration of one year of treatment, due to the side effects of the medication (increased blood pressure and heart rate).

Orlistat (Xenical®) would act by limiting the digestion and intestinal absorption of lipids (fats). According to published studies, it takes at least two years of treatment to achieve statistically measurable weight reduction. As fatty substances are not digested, they are found in feces, which can cause rather unpleasant fatty diarrhea.

Rimonabant (Acomplia®), (was withdrawn from the market in France in November 2008), due to a risk of suicide.
It would act by selectively blocking neurological receptors (cannabinoids), in doing so it would disrupt the regulation of the absorption and metabolism of lipids and carbohydrates. Again it took at least two years of treatment.

In recent years, new drugs have been marketed to specifically treat type 2 diabetes.
They are often used to combat excess weight or obesity.
These new drugs target a natural molecule (GPL1) secreted by certain parts of the digestive tract (intestine) which mainly:

increases pancreatic insulin secretion, blocks glucagon secretion,
delays emptying of the stomach
and acts on the brain to suppress appetite (satiety effect).
The treatment requires regular injections (often weekly), it is expensive and there are a large number of possible side effects, including cancerous ones.
In the family of long-acting GLP-1 analogues: Semaglutide (Ozempic, Wegovy), Dulaglutide (Trulicity), Tirzépatide (Mounjaro, Zepbound), Amycretin or Bydureon.
Those which prevent the disappearance of the hormone GPL1, gliptins.

TREATMENT OF OBESITY AND OVERWEIGHT WITH MEDICINAL PLANTS

Reminder: medicinal plants or plant extracts alone are not capable of lasting weight loss. It is absolutely necessary to combine these phytomedicines with a low-calorie diet and an increase in physical activity.
We give below a simplified classification then we then detail certain medicinal plants useful in the treatment of excess weight or its complications.
Some medicinal plants can act in several ways, on several levels.

anorectic medicinal plants to suppress appetite or hunger: Hoodia, eucalyptus, bay leaf sauce, coca, catharanthus, phyllantus niruri, orthosiphon, algae, carob, konjac
medicinal plants which increase thermogenesis (fat burner): fucus and marine algae, green tea, mate, guarana, coleus, garcinia, ephedra (ma huang),
inulin plants which limit the intestinal absorption of carbohydrates: yacon, Jerusalem artichoke
sweetening plants but without sugar: Stevia or sweet grass from Paraguay, Rubus suavissimus or sweet bramble from China.
plants that increase liver activity, depurative plants: dandelion, artichoke, rosemary, milk thistle, turmeric, hercampuri (gentianella)
“calming” medicinal plants to help with a low-calorie diet: St. John’s wort (Hypericum), California poppy (Eschscholtzia), valerian (Valeriana), linden (Tilia)

TREATMENT OF OBESITY AND OVERWEIGHT: ANOREXIGENOUS MEDICINAL PLANTS TO CUT APPETITE OR HUNGER

HOODIA

Several species of Hoodia, succulent plants from the Apocynaceae family, may be poised to revolutionize the treatment of obesity. Hoodia is traditionally used by the SAN ethnic group of South Africa and other tribes of Namibia and Botswana to suppress the appetite and thirst of hunters going on long marches, and to treat various disorders.
The most interesting species are Hoodia gordonii and Hoodia pilifera.
The first studies confirm the appetite suppressant power of Hoodia extracts and the compounds involved have already been determined. Currently the company Unilever is responsible for marketing Hoodia associated with the English company Phytopharm.
Hoodia poses several problems: It is a desert plant that grows very slowly, it will quickly be overexploited and its cultivation is not easy. It is a plant which logically belongs to the people who discovered its properties. Hoodia extracts can already be found on the Internet, but the quantity of active product is often insufficient and many authorities prohibit its trade because it is a “protected” plant.
Hoodia extract is intended for adults only and is not recommended for pregnant women pending full clinical trials.
The ANSM has no longer authorized the sale of medicines containing Hoodia in France since May 2012.

EUCALYPTUS GLOBULUS AND RADIATUS, LAURUS NOBILIS

For many people, the infusion of eucalytus (cineole) or bay leaf suppresses the appetite. Essential oil is less effective.
Eucalyptus is useful in cases of mild type 2 diabetes.
You can drink these infusions (without sugar) at any time of the day, but 1/2 hour before a meal seems the most effective; Be careful, for some people, these plants can on the contrary be appetizers.
A teaspoon of broken dry leaves in a cup of very hot water, infusion for 10 minutes, 2 or 3 times a day

ERYTHROXYLUM COCA

Coca leaf is of course not easy to find outside the Andean countries where it is easily and freely purchased in markets or in tea bags (coca mate). The whole leaf is more effective, consumed in the traditional way.
It is a very good appetite suppressant which also has anti-diabetic properties and undoubtedly also a “fat-burning” effect.

CATHARANTHUS ROSEUS

This small decorative plant of tropical origin is very widespread in warm countries, it is annual in countries with cold winters.
Madagascar periwinkle, Catharantus roseus, is best known for the anticancer alkaloids it contains (vinblastine, vincristine). Madagascar periwinkle infusion is a classic remedy for “fatty” (= type 2) diabetes throughout the West Indian region. The antidiabetic and slimming action is undoubtedly the consequence of the anorexic power of this infusion which contains quite a few alkaloids.
15 to 20 g of leaves (a small handful) in a liter of very hot water, infuse for 10 minutes, filter, consume in 1 to 2 days, keep cold.
One week of treatment, one week of rest. Stop in case of adverse disorders: digestive or urinary.

PHYLLANTUS NIRURI, ORTHOSIPHON STAMINEUS

These two plants are diuretics. We know that a diuretic is not useful for losing weight, it can even cause an electrolyte imbalance, if taken randomly and for a prolonged period.
However, these two diuretic plants also act on the appetite (phyllantus) and perhaps on thermogenesis (orthosiphon).
Experience shows that they can help consolidate weight loss in association with a low-calorie diet and increased physical activity.

Phyllantus niruri is a common tropical plant, mainly used in traditional medicine to treat urinary lithiasis (stone) (diuretic, anti-infectious): 15 to 20 g of fresh leaves (a small handful) in a liter of very hot water, infuse for 10 minutes, filter, consume in 1 to 2 days, keep cold. One week of treatment, one week of rest. Stop in case of adverse disorders: digestive or urinary.

Ortosiphon stamineus or java tea, a decorative plant native to the Indo-Malay region, is a traditional remedy in Asia: diabetes and excess weight, urinary disorders, gout attacks, hypertension. It is slightly anti-inflammatory; 10 to 15 g of leaves in a liter of water to consume in one to two days. Possibility of using the mother tincture (50 to 100 drops per day), the dry extract, the total extract.

ALGAE, CAROB GUM, KONJAC

Algae contain polysaccharides (carbohydrates) that cannot be assimilated by the human body.
We are therefore tempted to use algae or their extracts to induce a satiety effect (appetite suppressant) without caloric intake. Consumption of seaweed also provides trace elements (including iodine which supports thyroid activity (fat burner)).
Dried seaweed is now easily found in Europe and can be incorporated into the diet. It is also possible to harvest and dry seaweed from the coast, taking care to avoid areas polluted by industrial discharges or near nuclear power plants.
Certain red algae polysaccharides are very often incorporated into foods. The most interesting, in our opinion, for their appetite suppressant effect are carrageenans, partly extracted from Chondrus crispus (easy to find on the Atlantic coast).

The carob tree, Ceratonia siliqua, is a tree typical of the Mediterranean region. The fruit is a pod with edible pulp. From the seeds, whose regular weight corresponds to the jewelers’ “carat”, a “flour” is extracted, which is not assimilable (without dietary calories). This “thickening” and mucilaginous flour can be incorporated into food, it is a very good appetite suppressant.

Other plants can provide non-assimilable polysaccharides useful for moderating the appetite: konjac (Amorphophallus konjac), guar (Cyamopsis tetragonolobus), plantains (psyllium, ispaghul). All these non-assimilable carbohydrates can accelerate intestinal transit and sometimes cause cramps or diarrhea in people with a very reactive intestine. The acceleration of intestinal transit or its normalization in overweight people who are usually constipated facilitates weight loss: food stays a little less long in the digestive tract, bacteria in the colon have less time to break down the normally indigestible food into assimilable molecules.

TREATMENT OF OBESITY AND OVERWEIGHT: MEDICINAL PLANTS THAT INCREASE THERMOGENESIS (FAT BURNING)

It is easy to increase energy consumption through exercise but much more difficult to induce this effect using an herbal miracle pill. Beware of misleading advertising.
How to increase thermogenesis? We know that hyperthyroidism (increased activity of the thyroid gland) is accompanied by weight loss through an increase in basic metabolism. It is therefore possible to lose weight by artificially increasing thyroid activity. Many women have thus consumed thyroid extracts as an adjuvant to a weight-loss diet (especially in the USA), sometimes with catastrophic results often due to exaggerated titrations of thyroid hormones. This avenue is now more or less abandoned, but we can try to “naturally” stimulate the thyroid.
Caffeine is a tonic for the central nervous system and the heart, it is a stimulant that causes an increase in physical activity and is believed to increase lipolysis.
Ephedrine extracted from several Ephedra (ma huang) is very close to amphetamine; it is a “sympathomimetic” stimulant, which, among other things, facilitates weight loss, but we do not recommend it because its side effects are not negligible.

FUCUS

We mainly use fucus (vesiculosus, serratus) as adjuvants in weight-loss diets (effect of iodine + effect of fucans), especially when obesity is accompanied by hypothyroidism .
There are phytomedicines based on fucus thallus powder (titrating 20 to 120 micrograms of iodine per gram), alcoholic extract of fucus (110 micrograms of iodine per 10 ml) and a homeopathic tincture. An average dose would be 0.5 to 1 g of thallus powder per day or 100 to 150 drops of mother tincture. Be careful not to exceed 120 micrograms of iodine per day.

CAFFEINE PLANTS

Coffee paradoxically does not induce “weight-loss”, on the other hand green tea and mate seem interesting as adjuvants to a weight-loss diet. The infusion of these two leaves contains caffeine and flavonoids.
As much as green tea is quite tasteless, mate, Ilex paraguariensis, is bitter.
Green tea is not very stimulating, it is a pleasant and beneficial drink in more than one way (vascular protection, perhaps protection against cancerous degeneration)
Mate is “very” stimulating, be careful of insomnia when you drink from mate at the end of day. Let’s not forget that caffeine is also a cardiac stimulant and slightly diuretic.

GARCINIA

Extracts from the fruit peel of Garcinia cambogia and Garcinia indica, in vitro and in animals, prevent fat accumulation, appear to reduce appetite and at the same time increase glucose consumption (thermogenesis). In men it is less obvious.

It is estimated that garcinia cambogia extracts concentrated in hydroxycitric acid or its calcium salt can help lose weight:

When the diet is too rich in carbohydrates (sugars, sweets, bread, pasta, rice, potatoes, etc.).
Garcinia extract does not work when the diet is too rich in fatty substances.
When you consume garcinia extracts rich in hydroxycitric acid very shortly before eating (1/2 hour to an hour before the meal)
When the daily dose is high enough: at least the equivalent of 1500 mg of hydroxycitric acid per day in several doses according to meals; in some studies the daily dose approaches 3 g per day and even 4.5 g per day.
By avoiding a diet rich in insoluble fiber (such as bran) which apparently prevents the intestinal absorption of hydroxycitric acid or its salts.
Pure extracts of garcinia can be found on the market, or food supplements which sometimes contain other substances or plant extracts intended for weight loss.

Since May 2012 the French authorities of the ANSM no longer authorize the sale of medicines containing garcinia, the ANSM (National Agency for the Safety of Health Products) has banned the sale and administration of products containing Garcinia Cambodia , due to cases of toxicity in the liver, muscles, heart and nervous system.
However, the sale of food supplements containing garcinia extracts is not prohibited, personally I do not recommend them.

COLEUS (COLEUS FORSKOHLII)

The root of this Asian plant has long been used in Ayurvedic medicine. It is recommended for skin disorders (psoriasis, eczema), cardiac disorders, asthma or male sexual impotence.
It appears that this plant, whose main compound is forskolin, activates several fundamental enzymatic systems of intermediate metabolism. In doing so, coleus would increase the activity of the thyroid and, directly or indirectly, that of fat cells (lipolysis of adipocytes). Coleus extract is therefore proposed as an adjuvant in weight-loss diets.
It should be avoided in cases of chronic hypotension, coagulation disorders, digestive ulcers, and in cases of pregnancy. The extract is standardized to forskolin: example 250 mg of extract standardized to 1%, two to three times a day.

TREATMENT OF OBESITY AND OVERWEIGHT: PLANTS WITH INULIN WHICH LIMIT THE INTESTINAL ABSORPTION OF CARBOHYDRATES: yacon, Jerusalem artichoke

Food plants contain different types of polysaccharides.
Starches are very common, they are carbohydrates whose basic molecule is glucose (glucose polymer). The human digestive system is capable of digesting (depolymerizing) starches, and easily assimilating all glucose. In fructans like inulin, the base molecule is fructose. This type of fructose-based polymer cannot be assimilated by the digestive system because digestive enzymes are unable to break it down. Only our colonic bacteria can transform part of the fructans into assimilable molecules.
Dietitians are now interested in inulin plants (fructans) because they provide few calories while inducing a satiety effect (appetite suppressant). In addition, they promote the maintenance of an active and varied intestinal flora which facilitates transit and keeps the colon “healthy” (probiotic action).

What are fructan (inulin) plants? Chicory and dandelion root, Jerusalem artichoke (Helianthus tuberosus) and yacon (Smallanthus sonchifolius = Polymnia sonchifolia) tubers.
The Jerusalem artichoke, Helianthus tuberosus, is a plant from North America, very resistant and which adapts to many soils, even poor ones. It was introduced in France before the potato but did not meet with the same success despite the ease of its cultivation. The underground tubers can be eaten raw or cooked.
The yacon (Smallanthus sonchifolius = Polymnia sonchifolia) is native to the Andean region of South America, it contains even more inulin than the Jerusalem artichoke. It is almost unknown in Europe although cultivable in the majority of temperate countries. The tubers can be eaten raw or cooked. Some studies have shown that consumption of yacon also helps control moderate type 2 diabetes. Yacon extracts (dehydrated root in powder or strips) can be found on the international market.

TREATMENT OF OBESITY AND OVERWEIGHT:
SWEET PLANTS BUT WITHOUT SUGAR: Stevia, Rubus suavissimus.

Humans’ attraction to sweet foods is clear and universal. However, crystallized sugar is a relatively recent food linked to the development of sugar cane and sugar beet plantations.
The omnipresence of sugar (sucrose or other industrial sugars) in modern diets is partly responsible for the increase in obesity and type 2 diabetes.
Why not replace these sugars with natural foods, producing the sweet sensation but without calories or cariogenic risk?
At least two sweetening plants are known: Stevia, Stevia rebaudiana, or sweet herb of Paraguay, and the sweet bramble of China, Rubus suavissimus.
Asian countries that produce little sugar have adopted them (Japan, South Korea, China, Taiwan, Malaysia), but Western countries do not know them because the sugar and aspartame (sweetener) lobbies are powerful there. .
The leaves of these two plants contain glycosides (stevioside for Stevia) with sweetening power (around two hundred times the effect of sugar). We use the leaves as an infusion or leaf extracts in food (in Asia there is even Stevia coca).
The interest of these plants is not limited to their sweetening power which allows them to replace sugar in a dietary or weight loss diet, they have other medicinal properties: anti-inflammatory, antidiabetic, anti-allergic, anti-hypertensive. These two plants can be cultivated in Europe.

TREATMENT OF OBESITY AND OVERWEIGHT:
PLANTS THAT INCREASE HEPATIC ACTIVITY, DEPURATIVE PLANTS:
dandelion, artichoke, rosemary, milk thistle, turmeric, hercampuri (gentianella)

The liver is a very important gland in the regulation of glucose and blood lipid metabolism. Overweight or obese people often have an exhausted or poorly functioning liver when it is not steatotic like the liver of a goose that is force-fed.
It is therefore necessary to stimulate liver activity and its bile excretion to accompany a weight loss diet. Most of the plants Hercampuri is a South American plant mainly used in Peru.

TREATMENT OF OBESITY COMPLICATIONS WITH MEDICINAL PLANTS: PLANTS AND DIABETES, PLANTS AND CHOLESTEROL DISORDERS

Metabolic syndrome linked to overweight or obesity is almost always accompanied by type 2 diabetes, often with exhaustion of the pancreas linked to the progressive ineffectiveness of insulin.
This syndrome is most often accompanied by blood lipid disorders (increase in blood cholesterol, triglycerides, abnormality in the ratio of cholesterol transporters (lipoproteins).
When excess weight is accompanied by this type of metabolic abnormalities, it is essential to combine a low-calorie (weight loss) diet with other medicinal plants
Guggul, Commiphora mukul; artichoke, Cynara scolymus; , Olea europea; walnut, Juglans regia; raspberry, Rubus idoeus; strawberry, Fragaria vesca; blueberry, Vaccinium myrtillus;

We will add to the plants already mentioned Lagerstroemia speciosa (banaba). Lagerstroemia speciosa (banaba in the Philippines) is a medium-sized tree native to South East Asia. It has long been used in this part of the world to treat the symptoms of diabetes and certain urinary disorders. Several in vitro and animal studies have confirmed the value of banaba leaf as an antidiabetic and adjuvant to a weight loss diet. It is the tannins which appear active.
This plant does not seem to present any toxicity. It is therefore very interesting for treating the complications of obesity and mild diabetes in South-East Asia, where this epidemic is growing and where medicines are often falsified.

TREATMENT OF OBESITY AND OVERWEIGHT: “CALMING” MEDICINAL PLANTS AS ADJUVANTS TO LOW-CALORIC DIET: St. John’s Wort (Hypericum), California poppy (Eschscholtzia), valerian (Valeriana), linden (Tilia)

Increased weight is often linked to anxiety or minor psychological disorders. The low-calorie diet, a restrictive diet by definition and therefore frustrating, can also accentuate “nervousness” or be accompanied by character or emotional instability. It is therefore often necessary to combine calming or slightly sedative plants with the weight loss diet.

Several plants mentioned are detailed on the Phytomania website,