Raspberry Ketone: What It Is And How It Can Help You Lose Weight
Raspberry ketones are suddenly a hot buzz word in the weight loss industry right now. If you’re reading this article, you’ve probably already read or heard about raspberry ketones and how they can help you lose weight and burn fat but on the off chance you just stumbled upon it, we’ll give you a little history on how the raspberry ketone craze came about. But first, we have to touch on what it is.
Wikipedia tells us that:
Raspberry ketone is a natural phenolic compound that is the primary aroma compound of red raspberries. It is used in perfumery, in cosmetics, and as a food additive to impart a fruity odor. It is one of the most expensive natural flavor components used in the food industry. The natural compound can cost as much as $20,000 per kg. In 1965, the Food and Drug Administration placed raspberry ketone on generally recognized as safe (GRAS) status.
So it’s very expensive ($20,000 per kg is over $9000 per pound. It’s used in perfumes, cosmetics and as a flavor enhancer in foods. Great. But how can it help you lose weight?
When given to mice in high doses (up to 2% of food intake), raspberry ketone has been shown to prevent high-fat-diet-induced elevations in body weight. This effect is reported to stem from the alteration of lipid metabolism, increasing norepinephrine-induced lipolysis. Although products containing this compound are marketed for weight loss, this effect has not been studied in humans.
Take a look at that bolded section right there:
HAS BEEN SHOWN TO PREVENT HIGH-FAT-DIET-INDUCED ELEVATIONS IN BODY WEIGHT
So raspberry ketones, when taken in a high dosage, allowed mice to eat a high fat diet but not gain weight. Thinking about this logically, what if the same mice had been given raspberry ketones and ate a healthy diet? Think they would have lost weight? We do, but unfortunately, that study hasn’t been conducted. Instead, let’s focus further on the 2005 study conducted by Morimoto and others, found here.
From that study:
Raspberry ketone (4-(4-hydroxyphenyl) butan-2-one; RK) is a major aromatic compound of red raspberry (Rubus idaeus). The structure of RK is similar to the structures of capsaicin and synephrine, compounds known to exert anti-obese actions and alter the lipid metabolism.
So raspberry ketone (RK) has a very similar molecular structure to other known substances that have been proven to fight obesity and change how your body processes fats (lipids).
The present study was performed to clarify whether RK helps prevent obesity and activate lipid metabolism in rodents. To test the effect on obesity, our group designed the following in vivo experiments: 1) mice were fed a high-fat diet including 0.5, 1, or 2% of RK for 10 weeks; 2) mice were given a high-fat diet for 6 weeks and subsequently fed the same high-fat diet containing 1% RK for the next 5 weeks.
This part just clarifies how they conducted the test, splitting it into two groups, one that got the RK in different doses the whole time, the other that got it only during the second half of the study. Sadly, they didn’t conduct the test with a third group, raspberry ketones plus healthy eating + exercise.
RK prevented the high-fat-diet-induced elevations in body weight and the weights of the liver and visceral adipose tissues (epididymal, retroperitoneal, and mesenteric).
Basically, like we touched on above, raspberry ketones prevented body fat gain and fatty deposits in the liver and around other organs while eating a high fat diet. Additionally, the effect on visceral adipose tissues lends itself to the potential of fat burning around the waist area. This is really good for the weight loss capabilities, in our opinion. But, again, unfortunately this wasn’t tested.
RK also decreased these weights and hepatic triacylglycerol content after they had been increased by a high-fat diet.
Simply put, less fat in the blood stream after ingesting fat equals less fat stored as body fat.
RK significantly increased norepinephrine-induced lipolysis associated with the translocation of hormone-sensitive lipase from the cytosol to lipid droplets in rat epididymal fat cells.
Confusing sentence, breaks down to “fats remained liquid (lipid droplets), where it can be burned quicker than the solid form.” Additionally, less solid fats take up less room, which is healthier and promotes a leaner appearance.
In conclusion, RK prevents and improves obesity and fatty liver. These effects appear to stem from the action of RK in altering the lipid metabolism, or more specifically, in increasing norepinephrine-induced lipolysis in white adipocytes.
Summarizing, raspberry ketones help stimulate fat breakdown through a number of different mechanisms. Interestingly enough, none of these methods stimulate the cardiovascular system, unlike most thermogenic substances. This is significant. Why? Imagine if you combined something that did stimulate the cardiovascular system (like say, oh, how about EXERCISE?) with the natural fat inhibiting properties of raspberry ketones. While further clinical studies are clearly needed to ascertain the validity of this theory, there’s enough evidence there that we feel strongly about the potential of raspberry ketones as a weigh loss stimulator, especially when combined with intense exercise and healthy eating. We will be conducting our own internal testing and updating this page to reflect the results.