Herbal Weight Loss

The use of Herbal or plant medicine for herbal weight loss is in an established fact not now but since ancient times. Herbalism or Phytotherapy is in practice in all parts of world over thousands of years. Healing power of plants and plant extracts is not a thing to be questioned. There is evidence that over 60,000 years ago Neanderthals used plants for medicinal purpose. As only recently the demand to losse weight has increased among the people the popularity of herbal weight loss has also increased.

Weight loss by herbal medicine

Obesity is a morbid condition and its herbal treatment has been in practice since long. The potent side-effects of allopathic medicine is established fact proved both on excremental and clinical basis. So a basic concept behind herbal weight loss is its low ability to cause body damage, is it so or not it is a different issue. The mechanism by which herbs act on body and help to lose weight is not established yet and not a considerable work has been done on this dimension of herbal weight loss.

Mechanism of herbal weight loss

The proposed mechanisms for weight loss are the following

Thermo genesis

It is thought that there are certain herbal chemicals which when introduced in the body they cause increase in body metabolism which means increased heart rate, Heightened digestively, elevated breathing rates and high basal temperatures due to high basal metabolic rates.
They give a temporary energy boost, which wear off quickly and the individual tend to be very active during the active phase of herbal medication but later exhausted by this mechanism herbal products reduces the increased weight but the basic side effect associated with herbal medication is temporary weight loss.

Diuretic Action (water loss

To understand the mechanism of Diuretic weight loss, understanding of Body fluid is very important. Herbal medicine causes polyuria (increase volume of urine), which in turn reduces the body weight by dehydrating the individual without mobilizing the annoying fat globules.
Side effects associated with diuretic herbal medicines are very sever and may cause kidney and liver damage. Temporary weight loss and amplified viscosity of blood are few more side effects.

Thermogenic herbs

They are mostly stimulants of central nervous system and the principle ingredient is caffeine and other caffeine like substances e.g.; theophylline. They increase heart rate, respiration and digestion etc. examples of thermogenic herbs most commonly used are

• green tea
• nettle
• dandelion

The water reducing herbs (water reducers)

The active ingredient is still unknown but the principle modus operandi is diuresis and thus reduces the increased weight, the mechanism is also known as water weight loss.

• Buchu
• Uva-Ursi

Above mentioned are most notorious for their water reducing activity.