Wednesday May 7, 2014 (foodconsumer.org) -- A study report published in Life Sciences suggests that raspberry ketone may be used as a weight loss dietary supplement because it has an anti-obesity property that is similar to that of capsaicin and synephrine. All of them have a similar chemical structure.

The study led by Chie Morimoto from Kanebo Cosmetics Inc. in Odawara, Japan was intended to clarify whether raspberry ketone can help prevent obesity by changing lipid metabolism.  It should be noted that the study found raspberry ketone prevents weight gain and the study did not test the effect of the compound on weight loss.

For the study, rodents were fed a high fat diet with 0.5, 1 or 2% of raspberry for 10 weeks or a high fat diet for 6 weeks and then the same diet with 1% raspberry ketone supplemented for five weeks.  On this high fat diet, rodents were expected to experience weight gain, but not weight loss.

Raspberry ketone was found to prevent weight gain in the whole body, the liver and visceral adipose tissues that would be otherwise induced by the high fat diet.  This means that this dietary supplement can help prevent obesity.

Intake of raspberry ketone after the high fat diet was used for some weeks was also found to decrease weight gain in different parts of the body and hepatic triacylglycerol content.

The researchers discovered raspberry ketone "significantly increased norepinephrine-induced lipolysis associated with the translocation of hormone-sensitive lipase from the cytosol to lipid droplets in rat epididymal fat cells."

The researchers concluded raspberry ketone "prevents and improves obesity and fatty liver.  These effects appear to stem from the action of RK (raspberry ketone) in altering the lipid metabolism, or more specifically, in increasing norepinephrine-induced lipolysis in white adipocytes."

Raspberry ketone is found not only in raspberries, but also some other berries including black berries and cranberries.  The compound is present naturally in the fruits at a very low level and natural raspberry ketone is very expensive.  This means that the dietary supplement available on the market is synthetic. (David Liu)

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