Formulation and Evaluation of Herbal Fat Burning Obesity Powder

Obesity and overweight are major contributors to the global burden of chronic diseases and complications, including cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, and cancer. In 2014, it was reported by World Health Organization (WHO) that more than 1.9 billion adults were overweight, and of these over 600 million were obese. Once mainly a concern for higher income countries, overweight and obesity are also on the rise in low- and middle-income countries, especially in urban areas. There are many different options for obesity treatments, including dietary control, exercise, life-style changes, prescription weight-loss medications, and weight-loss surgeries. According to the “Pharmacological Management of Obesity: An Endocrine Society Clinical Practice (ESCP) Guideline”, recommended by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute the most ideal treatment modality for weight loss should be appropriate dietary and lifestyle changes plus moderate-intensity exercise. However, many epidemic and clinical studies have shown that it is a great challenge to maintain long-term lifestyle modification. Obese patients are easily frustrated during the painful and seemingly endless lifestyle changing progression. Providing ways to accelerate weight loss could inspire obese patient’s confidence to accomplish their goals and give them more motivation to change their lifestyle behavior. In 2007, the Nutrition Business Journal showed that the aggregate market value of dietary supplement reached nearly 20 billion dollars in sales for the USA. It was estimated that there was at least a 700 million dollars market for weight loss products alone in 2008. By the end of 2015, the global dietary supplements market is estimated to reach nearly 123 billion dollars. In terms of the market segmentation by application, the weight loss segment is one of the major contributors to the overall revenue of the dietary supplements market. The development of the weight loss segment is anticipated to register a compound annual growth rate of 7.4% over the forecast period 2015–2025. Thus, natural supplements products primarily helping consumers to fight the battle against obesity have been widely explored. A variety of natural plants (e.g., herbs, fruits, and vegetables), functional fatty acids (e.g., polyunsaturated fatty acids and conjugated fatty acids), and other natural dietary compounds have been used in different anti-obesity products. Natural plant products are expected to be potential ingredients for the development of nature-sourced anti-obesity products in the weight loss segment due to rising consumer health awareness. In this study, the anti-obesity effects of different dietary or herbal products, and their active ingredients and mechanisms of action against obesity will be discussed. Obesity is a metabolic disorder characterized by an excess accumulation of fat in the body due to energy intake exceeding energy expenditure. Obesity is an increasingly common phenomenon all over the world. Body mass index (BMI) is the most commonly used measure to evaluate the degree of obesity.