What is anatrim ?

anatrim - claims and contents

What is anatrim supposed to be ?

The promotional copy describes anatrim as a dietary supplement that suppresses appetite. It is also claimed that anatrim doesn't contain ephedera, caffeine or any other stimulants.

What does anatrim contain ?

The following were listed as ingredients of anatrim on a website linked from a spam email

Anatrim

Much of the advertising claims that anatrim contains extracts from Anatrim gordonii, a cactus like plant, which supposedly comes from South Africa. There is no plant with the botanical name of Anatrim gordonii in South Africa, Namibia or anywhere else for that matter. Perhaps whoever was responsible for writing the marketing materials made a mistake and intended to refer to the hoodia gordinii cactus from southern africa, which is claimed to be an appetite suppressant and is widely known and sold. The alternative is that some advertising for anatrim is deliberately deceptive. If any advertisers can provide provide botanical information on anatrim gordinii this page will be updated.

Garcinia cambogia

Garcinia Cambogia is a tree found in Africa and Asia, the fruits of which were used in Indian traditional medicine. In the mid 1960's Hydrocistic acid (HCA), extracted from the rind of the fruit, was found to reduce food intake and suppress food fatty acid synthesis. It was also found that weight loss frequently occurred in these animal studies. The results were not replicated in humans - one study found that although HCA did not suppress appetite, weight loss was greater than in the placebo group. A trial involving 135 subjects over a 12 week period found "Garcinia cambogia failed to produce significant weight loss and fat mass loss beyond that observed with placebo".

Green tea

Green tea comes from the dried leaves of Camellia sinensis. It is from the same plant as black tea but has not been allowed to oxidize for such a long period. Oolong tea is between green and black in its degree of oxidation. A study found that rats given a huge quantity of EGCG, a component of green tea, did reduce weight . A small study found that men given green tea increased their metabolism. Further randomized controlled trials on humans need to be performed before green tea could be promoted as a weigh loss supplement.

Dandelion

Dandelion (Taraxacum officinale) is a diuretic, it increases the excretion of urine and causes the body to lose water.

Spirulina

Spirulina is the common name for the blue-green algae of which Arthrospira platensis is commercially grown. It is popular as a source of protein and as a meal replacement that is low in fat but rich in a number of amino acids, including phenylalanine. The latter can be harmful for people with PKU. There are no conclusive studies on the usefulness of spirulina for humans in weight loss.

Ginger root

There are no scientific studies indicating that ginger root powder assists with weight loss.