Phenphedrine Review: From The Makers of FenPhedra?

By the looks of things, Phenphedrine appears to be brought to us by the same anonymous retailers that introduced us to such dubious weight loss favorites as Fenphedra and Nuphedragen. The last two products sport nearly identical formulations—and Phenphedrine features the same core group of ingredients, plus a couple of extras.

That said, what is in Phenphedrine?...

1) DiCaffeine Malate: Caffeine is a common ingredient to most fat burners and weight loss supplements. It cheaply and easily addresses the issue of fatigue common to dieters and non dieters alike. And, it does offer established weight loss benefits, mild though they may be (see Am J Clin Nutr. 1989 Jan;49(1):44-50, Am J Clin Nutr. 1980 May;33(5):989-97).

However, there is no evidence to suggest this form of caffeine (which is bonded with malic acid) is any more effective than the regular stuff, despite the claims of various retailers.

2) Hops: According to the sales copy, this ingredient...

"...produces a mild stimulant effect which then triggers the body to relax."

Stimulants cause the body to relax? Who knew? Not really sure why this ingredient is here, although it has been studied—along with valerian—as a possible sleep aid. So maybe it is as a "relaxant."

3) Chocamine™: An extract of the cocoa plant, there's no evidence to suggest this ingredient offers any thermogenic effects, beyond those attributed to its caffeine content.

4) Razberri-K™: Raspberry Ketone, a phenolic compound derived from red raspberries. On the Phenphedrine web site, it states...

"In a recent study (Morimoto et al, 2005), test subjects were fed a high fat diet to induce obesity while treated groups were also fed an additional 1 or 2% raspberry ketone. The treated groups gained less body fat than the control groups."

What they don't tell you is that this is an animal study (you can view the details of the study here). You are not a mouse, and the results of animal studies do not necessarily translate over to humans. So this is misleading, to say the least.

An unpublished pilot study performed on Razberri-K demonstrated it enhanced post-exercise fat oxidation, although the results were apparently not large enough to be statistically significant.

5) Ginger: Ginger contains gingerols, which are chemically related to capsaicin. It does demonstrate some mild thermogenic and metabolism-boosting characteristics.

Some small animal studies performed on zingerone (a component of ginger) have been positive for weight loss (Yakugaku Zasshi. 2008 Aug;128(8):1195-201) albeit the dosage used (170 mg/kg) is too high to be transferred into humans (a 180 lbs. person would need to take about 14 grams a day).

Ginger also seems to accelerate gastric emptying... the opposite of the sort of thing dieters want (Eur J Gastroenterol Hepatol. 2008 May;20(5):436-40). Unfortunately, this product contains only 50 mg of ginger—the aforementioned study, for instance, was conducted with 1200 mg.

6) Phenylethylamine (PEA): An amphetamine-related chemical commonly found in chocolate, you'll find phenylethylamine in many fat burners these days. Although retailers claim this chemical promotes pleasure and euphoria, for the most part it's a useless addition to any formula.

That's because the vast majority of any phenylethylamine you consume is metabolized by the enzyme monamine oxidase, preventing all but the tiniest amounts from actually reaching the bloodstream.

The only fat burners in which phenylethylamine may have any impact are those that also contain natural monamine oxidase inhibitors (MAOI) to prevent the metabolism of this ingredient. Unfortunately, there aren't any in this formula.

Gaspari's Cytolean (reviewed here) is probably the best of the bunch, as its formula contains 5 natural MAOIs. Nutrex's Lipo 6 X (reviewed here) contains a single MAOI in its formula.

7) Synephrine HCL: Derived from citrus aurantium, this "chemical cousin of ephedra" was once thought to hold great promise for weight loss. Apparently, the folks selling Phenphedrine haven't yet bothered to check out the most recent data on synephrine. According to them...

"It can help burn fat, suppress appetite and increase energy."

Uh, hardly. Unfortunately, research has not borne this out. This excerpt from PubMed (Am J Cardiol. 2004 Nov 15;94(10):1359-61.) says it best...

"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."

The most positive study I could find ("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.) stated...

"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."

Nothing miraculous here.

Incidentally, synephrine is listed in the detailed ingredient rundown presented on the web site, but is nowhere to be seen on the label. Not sure then whether synephrine actually made it into the formua or not?

8) Evodiamine: a Chinese fruit that some claim burns fat by increasing the body's production of heat, as well as reducing the body's ability to store fat. Although a preliminary animal study shows promising results, to date there's no evidence showing evodiamine works in people. This formula contains 15 mg of ingredient, and the animal study just referenced used 1-3 mg per kg of bodyweight. Even with the assumption that evodiamine worked as well with mice as with people, you'd still need a minimum of 80-250 mg of ingredient to mirror the dose. Obviously then, this ingredient serves only as "label dressing."

9) Sclareolide (from clary sage): Theoretically, sclareolide is a cAMP stimulator (as is forskohlin). cAMP is what is called a "cellular regulator." In other words, this compound is required to "spark" many intercellular processes. An increased concentration of cAMP can have such "total-body" effects as raised thyroid hormone levels and increased fat burning. Is there any independent clinical evidence to support clary sage extract's amazing fat-blasting powers? Nope. Sorry.

10) 1,3 Dimethylamylamine (DMAA): DMAA is an adrenergic amine that acts as a CNS stimulant. It was originally patented by Eli Lilly as a nasal decongestant in 1944, but largely abandoned until re-introduced as a supplement ingredient (Geranamine™) by Proviant Technologies (the parent company of Ergopharm). Although there's no current research on it, DMAA's gotten mostly rave reviews from users for its effects on mood, focus and energy. That said, this formual contains a mere 15 mg of the stuff, which means it serves mostly as label dressing.

11) Yohimbine: The standardized extract of the bark of the African Yohimbe tree is yohimbine. This compound is often used as a natural aphrodisiac. It is also sold as a drug (in the U.S., a popular brand is Yohimex containing 5.4 milligram of yohimbine hydrochloride per tablet) and is used to treat impotency, dilate the pupil of the eye, and stimulate fat loss (studies indicating weight loss are promising but not revolutionary -- see Isr J Med Sci. 1991 Oct;27(10):550-6).

Because it can cause unpredictable effects on blood pressure, Yohimbe should be approached with caution.

So there you have it, the Phenphedrine formula in a nutshell.

So what's the verdict?

This is definitely going to be a product that will get you wired. The caffeine, synephrine, yohimbe, chocomine, PEA and DMAA all have stimulating properties, so anyone sensitive to stimulants needs to be careful with this product.

Next, there's the issue of the price. This product is not worth even close to $69 a bottle. There is absolutely nothing in this product to justify this price. You can buy well-thought-out commercially available products for less than half of this.

Last, there's the issue of who makes Phenphedrine, and their deplorable customer service record. Obviously then, this isn't a product we'd recommend.

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