RESEARCH AND MARKET EXPRESS
Clinical Research Shows Relora® Provides Benefits for Stress Induced Obesity & Mild Anxiety
From: ProHealthNetwork.com Relora®, a natural patent-pending plant extract of Magnolia and Philodendron proved highly effective in recent clinical studies, helping to alleviate stress induced obesity, anxiety and irritability, according to Next Pharmaceuticals Inc., the product’s manufacturer.The research showes Relora significantly alters the hormone levels associated with stress-induced obesity. These findings not only support earlier research demonstrating that Relora provides significant relaxation and more restful sleep in stressed individuals, but that it also offers new hope for many people whose weight problems are often stress-related. The result of the trial, completed in January, 2002 at the Living Longer clinic in Cincinnati, showed the effects of Relora on cortisol and DHEA, two hormones related to anxiety, and in the case of cortisol, also to food cravings and over eating in stressed individuals. Data showed Relora lowered cortisol levels by 37% and increased DHEA by 227%.
“These findings are statistically significant and support the positive results we have obtained with this ingredient over the past year,” said Dr. James LaValle, Living Longer Wellness Director and principal investigator for the study. “More than 20 percent of American adults have metabolic syndrome, a type of obesity often characterized by increased abdominal and facial fat that is also associated with increased risk for heart disease, hypertension, stroke, diabetes, and cancer. This stress-related condition is associated with elevated cortisol levels. The new findings with Relora are very exciting because it is the first natural product for lowering cortisol, decreasing stress and its associated increase in cortisol that has been shown to cause the excess fat deposits seen in metabolic syndrome,” says LaValle.
In a previous human trial, 8 out of 10 stressed individuals felt more relaxed, 7 out of 10 enjoyed more restful sleep, and 9 out of 10 said Relora was gentle on the stomach. Eighty-two percent of the users agreed that Relora appeared to help control irritability, emotional ups and downs, restlessness, tense muscles, poor sleep, fatigue and concentration difficulties. An independent research firm commissioned by Next Pharmaceuticals administered the study involving 50 dietary supplement users who took Relora at home for two consecutive weeks.
"This study design was selected over a traditional clinical trial to simulate real world product usage in consumers who are likely to purchase the product stated Dr. Walter G. Chambliss, Ph.D., Professor of Pharmaceutics, and Associate Director in the National Center for Natural Products Research in the School of Pharmacy of the University of Mississippi, who designed the trial. “This study not only demonstrated that Relora has excellent relaxation properties, but 3 out of 4 users reported having a restful sleep. The sleep quality benefit was unexpected since Relora did not cause sedation in previous animal studies.”
The 50 respondents in the human trial were mostly women in their late thirties and early 40s who were married, well educated and employed full-time. The majority described themselves as leading busy and stressful lives. They had used dietary supplements in the past three months, suffered from mild anxiety and nervousness at least once in the past two months, or at least six times in the past year, and had not taken prescription medication for mild anxiety or nervousness in the past year. St. John's Wort was the most common dietary supplement taken for anxiety in the past 12 months by the study participants. The average user took 2.4 capsules a day, satisfying the labeling recommendation to “Take 2-3 Relora capsules per day,” according to Dr. Chambliss.
Relora evolved from 18 months of screening more than 50 plant fractions from traditional medicines used around the world, according to Bob Garrison, chairman and co-founder of Next Pharmaceuticals. The research and development program for Relora involved bioassay-directed fractionation of plants, toxicity testing, and the Chick Social Separation-Stress procedure developed at the University of Mississippi specifically for screening anxiolytic and sedative properties of botanical extracts. Findings from animal studies at the University have been recently published in the Journal of Psychopharmacology.
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