Citrus Aurantium is the Latin name for a citrus tree which grows bitter oranges. Traditionally being used by Chinese medicine and herbologists, the extract of the orange and the peel was used as a dietary supplement in concoctions with other herbs to suppress appetite. While other active ingredients of the citrus aurantium may contribute and even promote the effect, the main ingredient used in all weight loss products is synephrine, an alkaloid similar to ephedrine. It is a phenethylamine; it influences the alpha1 adrenergic receptor, constricting blood vessels, additionally increasing the heart rate and the blood pressure. In most cases the use of synephrine is paired with a diet and body building plan, where weight loss and muscle building is essential.

Hoodia Gordonii is a water retaining plant, also known as a succulent, which grows without leafs. Being native to the south of Africa, it has been in use for an indeterminable amount of time as an appetite suppressant. It is very easily identifiable, because the flowers of this plant have a rotten meat odor. The ingredient of the plant which is responsible for the appetite suppressing effects has been named P57. It is a steroidal glycoside which seems to act directly to the central nervous system’s mechanisms and supposedly raises the content of adenosine triphosphate in brain by at least a half. The effects of P57 in trials were registered as capable to reduce food intake by some fifty per cent on a daily basis.