Meratol Ingredients

Meratol contains four major ingredients, all of which are natural, safe, and organic. The four Meratol ingredients are Brown Seaweed extract, capsicum, Prickly pear fruit extract, and cactus leaf extract. Each active ingredient is designed to target a different aspect of a total weight loss plan as follows.

Brown Seaweed Extract

Brown seaweed is a common food in Japan and other coastal Asian cultures. It has come under investigation in recent years because it possesses a number of potentially beneficial properties including pain reduction, antibacterial, and weight loss effects.

As a Meratol ingredient, brown seaweed is primarily used to counteract the cravings most people have for carbohydrates. Studies have should brown seaweed is able to reduce carbohydrate intake by 82%.

Because carbohydrates are converted to fat and excess consumption is directly related to weight gain, brown seaweed can have tremendous impact. Recent studies have identified the underlying mechanism by which brown seaweed reduces carbohydrate craving, which involves increasing the efficiency of carbohydrate use within the body.

Prickly Pear Fruit

Prickly pear is a type of cactus and its fruit has long been used by indigenous populations to treat the symptoms of diabetes. It has recently been found to contain a number of chemicals that are beneficial in controlling weight. In particular, Prickly pear fruit has two main mechanisms of action.

In the first, it binds to fat molecules in the stomach and prevents them from being absorbed. The result is that 25% of the fat that is consumed is simply excreted. This number is just right because at higher levels and side effects like GI upset and cramping occur. Thus, this is the maximum amount of fat that can be excreted without side effects.

The second mechanism of action for prickly pear is that it decreases blood sugar levels. It is not entirely sure how this is accomplished, but a 2010 study in the Journal of Ethnopharmacology found that the effects are substantial.

Because elevated blood sugar levels are associated with type II diabetes and obesity, it is thought that blood sugar reduction is one of the ways that prickly pear extract aids in weight loss.

Capsicum

Capsicum is probably that most interesting of the Meratol ingredients. It is a derivative of capsaicin, which is the molecule in peppers that makes them spicy. Research has shown that capsaicin and its derivatives are potent genetic modifies. That is to say, the turn genes on and off in order to control the way cells behave at the most fundamental levels.

As it turns out, capsicum increases the body’s ability to burn fats from uncoupling it from energy production. That is to say, fats can be burned even when the body does not need to do so for energy production purposes.

Clinical trials have indicated that capsicum can increase the rate of fat metabolism up to 12 fold. The result is that 278 additional calories are burned each day. That is the equivalent of more than two glaze-covered doughnuts or roughly the same number of calories that is found in a fast food hamburger. It is as if the person taking capsicum has given up eating nearly 300 calories each day.

Cactus Extract

This is different from the fruit mentioned above. This extract comes from the leaves of cacti and has been found to limit food cravings and help in portion control. Studies have also show that it has positive effects on blood lipid profiles (cholesterol) and in metabolic syndrome. It works in tandem with the other three ingredients to provide a holistic approach to weight loss.

Cactus leaf extract has been shown to decrease LDL (bad) cholesterol and increase HDL (good) cholesterol in a study published in 2007 in France. It was also shown in the same study to have a small effect in reducing triglyceride levels.