Mediterranean Citrus Ingredient May Help Men Lose Fat, Keep Muscle

Men and women may have different goals in mind when choosing a weight-loss supplement, but Fytexia (Vendres, France) hopes the results of a new study will convince men specifically to use its Sinetrol Xpur supplement to lose fat.

The study found that men who took Sinetrol for 12 weeks lost more body fat than men who took a placebo. Notably, the Sinetrol group also did not experience a loss of muscle mass. The fat-loss aspect of the study is crucial, but Fytexia believes that the retention of muscle mass is what will really attract male consumers to Sinetrol.

“In the fat burning segment, one can easily observe that men-oriented products usually put more emphasis on muscle mass maintenance or development than women’s formulas,” according to a press release from Fytexia.

Sinetrol is a proprietary combination of Mediterranean citrus extracts, including sweet orange, blood orange, and grapefruit, as well as caffeine from guarana. The combination is intended to stimulate the “breakdown of triglcerides stored in fat cells (adipocytes) and the release of free fatty acids (FFAs) and glycerol,” according to Fytexia’s website.

The Canadian Natural Health Product Directorate recently accepted Sinetrol as an ingredient for health management support based on the strength of two earlier published studies on the ingredient. The more recent study is currently unpublished, although it has been accepted for publication in the International Journal of Food Science and Nutrition, says Romain Thévenot, sales manager, Fytexia.

Study details

The study followed 25 men who took two 450-mg capsules of either Sinetrol or a placebo every day for 12 weeks. The supplements were taken in addition to a standardized normo-caloric diet of 2200-2500 kcal per day and an instructed 30 minutes of exercise per week.

According to a press release from Fytexia, the men in the Sinetrol group experienced an average 9.7% reduction in abdominal fat, a 7.4 cm reduction in waist size, a 5.6 cm reduction in hip size, and a 2.27% reduction in waist-to-hip ratio. Compare that with the placebo group, who experienced only a 4.8% reduction in abdominal fat, a 2.1% reduction in waist size, a 2.0 cm increase in hip size, and a 0.20% increase in waist-to-hip ratio.

The Sinetrol group also showed positive markers of muscle retention, including a decrease of inflammation markers CRP and fibrinogen, as well as a decrease of MDA, an indicator of oxidative stress. Urinary creatinine excretion also stayed at the same level in the Sinetrol group, suggesting greater muscle retention, according to Fytexia.

This latest study builds on two other clinical studies that have already been published on Sinetrol for body fat loss. Fytexia says its goal is to “provide reliable scientific material for the development of men-oriented fat loss formulas.”

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Michael Crane
Associate Editor
Nutritional Outlook magazine
michael.crane@ubm.com

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