Nuphedrine Review & Information: Does The Hoodia / Advantra-Z Combination Burn Fat?

"Nuphedrine is the usual way overpriced and way overhyped fat burner that plays up the ingredients without telling you how much you're getting." That's what our intrepid staff reviewer Elissa said to me in her e-mail stating I should have a look at the aforementioned product.

And boy oh boy, she wasn't kidding.

Nuphedrine combines two of the most "over-hyped" and "under-substantiated" ingredients in the fat burning industry. You wouldn't know it by reading the web site however. It proudly trumpets that "Nuphedrine is the only pill to bring you both real certified south african hoodia and patented Advantra-Z®."

Uh-huh.

After a few more minutes of wading knee-deep through the outrageous hype that permeates the product web site, it is revealed that Nuphedrine also contains an indeterminate amount of "Slimaluma®."

OK, now that we know what's in it, let's have a closer look at the ingredients...

1) Advantra-Z®: A patented form of synephrine; an alkaloid that is derived from citrus aurantium. As a "chemical cousin" of ephedra, synephrine has replaced the ephedra content of many popular fat burners (ephedra now being illegal, of course). Retailers claim synephrine offers all the "fat burning" benefits of ephedra without any of the annoying side effects -- sleeplessness, "the jitters", elevated blood pressure and heart rate, etc, etc.

Unfortunately, the evidence to support these claims is a bit sparse. First, there are studies that show synephrine-containing products do elevate blood pressure and heart rate (see Ann Pharmacother. 2006 Jan;40(1):53-7. Epub 2005 Nov 29).

And it's fat burning characteristics?...

This study (Obes Rev. 2006 Feb;7(1):79-88) concludes...

"While some evidence is promising, we conclude that larger and more rigorous clinical trials are necessary to draw adequate conclusions regarding the safety and efficacy of C. aurantium and synephrine alkaloids for promoting weight loss."

And this one (Am J Cardiol. 2004 Nov 15;94(10):1359-61) on the "Safety and efficacy of citrus aurantium for weight loss" concluded...

"An extensive search of MEDLINE, EMBASE, BIOSIS, and the Cochrane Collaboration Database identified only 1 eligible randomized placebo controlled trial, which followed 20 patients for 6 weeks, demonstrated no statistically significant benefit for weight loss, and provided limited information about the safety of the herb."

One study ("Increase in the thermic effect of food in women by adrenergic amines extracted from citrus aurantium") performed at the University of McGill in Montreal and published in Obesity Research (Obes Res. 2005 Jul;13(7):1187-94.) was slightly more positive. But although it concluded that citrus aurantium did not have any effect on blood pressure and pulse rate, and did elevate the metabolism, the results were hardly earth-shattering...

"CA (citrus aurantrium) alone increased thermogenesis, on average, by 4% (52), a response that is statistically significant but not necessarily clinically significant, representing an average 1 kg over 6 months."

What's the bottom line on citrus aurantium/synephrine? It may possibly be helpful in the battle of the bulge, but certainly not in a dramatic way (certainly there's nothing that validates the claim of elevating the metabolism to burning an additional 500 calories per day as stated on the Nuphedrine web site). And more research must be performed before its true effects can be stated conclusively.

2) Hoodia: I've talked about hoodia at length on UltimateFatBurner.com, and even reviewed it in complete detail (read the hoodia review here!), so I'm not going to repeat myself here. Instead, let me quickly outline the two main problems with hoodia...

1. Lack of clinical evidence: Despite the outrageous hype, the celebrity status (i.e., featured on Oprah, 60 Minutes, and CBS) and the reams of suspect testimonials, there is no credible, clinical evidence that hoodia suppresses hunger. I'm hoping that this will change sometime in the near future, and a series of credible study will either validate or debunk the hoodia "myth".
   
2. Limited supply of raw materials: Hoodia is an endangered species, and it takes several years to grow it to the state where it can be cultivated. According to ConsumerLab.com (an online company that tests product label claims for accuracy)...
   
   "It has been speculated that there is more hoodia being sold today than could possibly be made from all the Hoodia gordonii plants in existence."
   
   That begs the question... "is there any hoodia in your hoodia?"

3) Slimaluma®: The standardized extract of Caralluma Fimbriata, an edible plant of Indian origin used by ancient tribal people to suppress hunger. I did find one single study (Appetite. 2007 May;48(3):338-44. Epub 2006 Nov 13) that concluded...

"Caralluma extract appears to suppress appetite, and reduce waist circumference when compared to placebo over a 2 month period."

While promising, one small study does not constitute irrefutable proof. And, as Elissa noted early on in the article, we don't know how much of any ingredient is included in this formula. The study I just referenced used 1 g of Caralluma extract -- does Nuphedrine contain that much caralluma? This same issue also pertains to the Advantra-Z content -- does Nuphedrine contain enough to offer users any of the small benefits this ingredient may provide?

There are two other major problems with Nuphedrine. The first is the price. At an outrageous $75 per box, this product is priced at more than twice what it should be. Heck, you can experiment with synephrine for almost nothing -- under $10 buys you one hundred 20 mg caps at BodyBuilding.com.

I discovered the other issue when I added a bottle of Nuphedrine to my shopping cart (it was the only way I could see to determine the price of the product). There I could see that the retailers of Nuphedrine were trying to cross-sell me a box of ephedra pills. Now don't get me wrong, I'm a big fan of ephedra, but here's the thing... ephedra is illegal in the U.S. (and many other countries as well). In other words, this company is not only breaking the law by selling you ephedra, it is encouraging you to break the law by purchasing a product misrepresented as being legal.

Unfortunately, this can't help but call the credibility and ethics of this company into question even further.

Bottom line on Nuphedrine?

Long on hype, short on evidence, and very little value for the money. I simply can't think of one good reason to try this product.

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