NuPhedrine is a diet pill that makes some bold claims, such as the ability to burn more calories and increase athletic endurance. The product touts its main ingredients South African Hoodia, Slimaluma and Advantra-Z as the answer to guaranteed weight loss. NuPhedrine also makes the claims that its products are completely free of any side effects. The Web site offers plenty of extraordinary pictures of men and women who have lost weight on the product, though in some of the pictures its hard to identify if the same individual is featured in the before and after picture. Before rushing out the buy the product, dieters should be aware of exactly what their getting into when taking NuPhedrine.
Hoodia Gordonii
This plant looks like a cactus, and is native to Namibia and South Africa. It has a bitter taste, and has a tendency to suppress hunger (it was used by African hunters who were out on very long trips). Technology has been able to isolate p57, hoodia’s appetite suppression ingredient, but it hasn’t really been clinically proven to suppress the appetite. NuPhedrine’s makers can prove that their product contains real hoodia from South Africa, though it’ll have to undergo an independent lab test to prove it beyond doubt. Consequently, it’s unknown whether the amount of p57 is enough to actually affect the appetite.
It also hasn’t been verified whether or not hoodia causes side effects. Pfizer, the worldwide pharmaceutical heavyweight, once had the license to develop the plant, but relinquished the rights after realizing it wasn’t easy to do so. It was also suspected that hoodia may be bad for the liver. Since only bushmen have used hoodia to any good extent, it’s still unclear whether it’s really safe for humans. To be on the safe side, stay away from hoodia if you have any kidney or liver problems, if you’re pregnant or nursing, or if you’re under the age of 18. Likewise, avoid hoodia if you have diabetes — it can cause your blood sugar levels to drop.
Advantra-Z
Advantra-Z is a patented version or bitter orange also known as synephrine. This patented version also includes protein and several vitamins. Bitter orange is a stimulant very similar to ephedrine and like other stimulants works to suppress appetite. Because ephedrine is now banned, bitter orange is now used in place of ephedra in a number of dietary supplements. Though NuPhedrine may tout claims that Advantra-Z is caffeine free and ephedra free, bitter orange has many of the same side effects as ephedera and excessive caffeine, including increasing negative effects on the cardiovascular system and causing blood pressure to rise.
Slimaluma
Slimaluma is a more standard form of another cactus-like plant, India’s caralluma fimbriata. Like hoodia, it’s been used to suppress hunger by Indians for hundreds of years. Some small scientific studies have been made on slimaluma and has confirmed the plant’s tendency to suppress hunger and burn fat. More substantial studies have to be done, though, both to support caralluma fimbriata’s weight loss benefits and find out whether it really is free of side effects.
