Women who are pregnant or breastfeeding should be especially skeptical of ketones. Children should not take weight loss supplements.

There is no approved dosage for raspberry ketones. However, research generally focuses on ketones as a specific percentage of the diet rather than a fixed dosage. People who want to try ketones at lower doses than supplements provide could try eating large quantities of raspberries.

Fresh raspberries contain ketones in their natural state, not synthetic ketones. They are also generally safe, though eating large amounts of any fruit can cause diarrhea in some people.

There is no clinical data on potential drug interactions with raspberry ketones. Researchers have not yet conducted sufficient research to know how raspberry ketones might interact with other drugs.

Therefore, people taking other medications should not take ketones, as this could be unsafe. There is no evidence that raspberry ketones cause weight loss in humans and no reason to believe that they work better than traditional weight loss strategies.

Although the existing body of research on the other health benefits of ketones is hopeful, researchers must conduct more trials to confirm the effects of these compounds on the body.

People who hope to get the benefits of raspberry ketones without the risk should consider eating more raspberries. Those who want to try ketones in supplement form should consult a doctor or dietitian first. The diet can have a significant impact on the brain's function. A brain-healthy diet, rich in antioxidants and omega-3 fatty acids, can boost memory….

The ketogenic diet aims to induce ketosis to burn more body fat. Several signs of ketosis can indicate whether or not the diet is working. Learn more…. Some foods can benefit a person's liver health.

Learn more about the best food and drink options here and what options to avoid to benefit the liver. The blackberry is rich in vitamin C, fiber, and antioxidants, and people can add them to their diet easily with some simple changes to their daily….

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Medical News Today. Health Conditions Health Products Discover Tools Connect. What to know about raspberry ketones. Medically reviewed by Dena Westphalen, PharmD — By Zawn Villines on September 6, Uses Side effects Dosage Interactions Takeaway Raspberry ketone, sometimes called rheosmin or frambinone, is the compound that gives raspberries their distinct smell.

Uses of raspberry ketones. Share on Pinterest Some people believe that raspberry ketones aid weight loss. Share on Pinterest Raspberry ketones may help in reducing the risk of diabetes. Side effects. Share on Pinterest A person can avoid taking raspberry ketone supplements by consuming a lot of raspberries in their diet.

Drug interactions. How we reviewed this article: Sources. Medical News Today has strict sourcing guidelines and draws only from peer-reviewed studies, academic research institutions, and medical journals and associations. We avoid using tertiary references. We link primary sources — including studies, scientific references, and statistics — within each article and also list them in the resources section at the bottom of our articles.

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Related Coverage. Medically reviewed by Katherine Marengo LDN, R. What are the signs of ketosis? Medically reviewed by Angelica Balingit, MD. What foods protect the liver? Prior to being enrolled in the study, all subjects underwent a physical examination by a licensed physician, lead electrocardiogram, health history screen and provided written informed consent.

This study utilized a randomized, placebo-controlled, parallel-group, double-blind design. Subjects were matched according to sex and BMI prior to being randomized into placebo or METABO groups.

Capsules were produced in accordance with current Good Manufacturing Practices cGMP in a United States Food and Drug Administration FDA registered facility. Prior to production, all raw materials were tested for purity and potency. The study intervention included an 8-week diet and exercise program consisting of recreationally active men and women, randomly assigned to receive either a placebo or the manufacturer recommended dosage of their respective supplement two capsules with breakfast and two capsules with lunch.

Jeor equation[ 23 ] x an activity factor of 1. Each subject was given seven days of menus based off their daily allowance for calories. Each study participant was contacted on a weekly basis to assess compliance to diet and supplement protocol. Every training session was supervised by a certified fitness professional and conducted at a single local facility to verify participation, and all subjects trained as one group.

The fitness professional used a participant attendance log to monitor training compliance. All subjects had measurements of their weight, BMI, waist and hip girths, body fat and lean mass taken at week 0 baseline , week 4 midpoint of the study and week 8 end of the study. A member of the research staff contacted all subjects on a weekly basis to ensure compliance to the supplementation protocol, and pill counts were performed during mid and post testing.

Blood samples were drawn at week 0 and week 8 for standard assessment of clinical laboratory parameters i. comprehensive metabolic panel, lipid panel and at weeks 0, 4 and 8 for serum concentrations of adipocytokines adiponectin, resistin, leptin, tumor necrosis factor-α TNF-α and interleukin-6 IL Vital signs, including blood pressure and heart rate, were also recorded at weeks 0, 4 and 8.

All measurements were completed by the same researcher to minimize between-trial variation. Energy levels and food craving data were analyzed using a whole unit Likert-type scale[ 24 ].

All energy levels and food craving data were collected at weeks 0, 4 and 8. All blood samples were taken in the morning at approximately the same time of day i. One aliquot was immediately analyzed for a item clinical chemistry profile Hitachi D, Roche Diagnostics, Germany by a certified clinical laboratory.

This profile consisted of a comprehensive metabolic panel glucose, BUN, creatinine, sodium, potassium, chloride, carbon dioxide, calcium, total protein, albumin, globulin, total bilirubin, alkaline phosphatase, AST [SGOT], and ALT [SGPT] as well as a lipid profile total cholesterol, HDL-C, LDL-C, VLDL-C, triacylglycerols [TAG].

The second aliquot was stored at °C until later batch analysis for serum adipokines adiponectin, resistin, leptin, TNF-α, IL-6 via enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Adipokines were analyzed using a MAGPIX® Luminex Corporation, Austin, TX and customized commercially available magnetic bead panels Millipore Corporation, Billerica, MA.

Prior to each assay, the MAGPIX was calibrated using the MAGPIX Calibration Kit Millipore catalog and performance verified using the MAGPIX Performance Verification Kit Millipore catalog Each assay was run in one batch, therefore no inter-assay CV was determined.

Lean mass, percent body fat and trunk limb fat ratios were assessed using dual energy x-ray absorptiometry DEXA, GE Lunar, DPX Pro. All DEXA scans were performed by the same technician and analyzed via current manufacturer software enCORE version Female subjects were measured during the early follicular phase of their menstrual cycle, based on reported last menstrual period, to minimize effects of menstrual hormonal changes on dependent variables.

DEXA segments for the arms, legs, and trunk were subsequently obtained using standard anatomical landmarks. Percent fat was calculated by dividing fat mass by the total scanned mass. Quality control calibration procedures were performed prior to all scans using a calibration block provided by the manufacturer.

Prior to this study, we determined test-retest reliability for repeated measurements of lean mass, bone mineral content, and fat mass with this DEXA via intra-class correlation coefficients[ 25 ]. Waist girth defined as the narrowest part of the trunk between the bottom of the rib cage and the top of the pelvis and hip girth defined as the largest laterally projecting prominence of the pelvis or pelvic region from the waist to the thigh were measured in duplicate using standardized anthropometric procedures[ 26 ].

Seated, resting heart rate and blood pressure were measured in duplicate using an automated sphygmomanometer Omron HEM A baseline 3-d food record was completed for each subject after screening and enrollment, prior to randomization and intervention.

To verify dietary compliance, subjects completed 3-d food records which included two weekdays and one weekend day during baseline testing, week 4, and week 8. All food records were analyzed by a state-licensed, registered dietitian using commercially available software NutriBase IV Clinical Edition, AZ.

To enhance accuracy of the food records, all subjects received instruction during baseline testing on how to accurately estimate portion sizes. This counseling was reinforced during each visit to the laboratory. No other dietary supplements were allowed with the exception of standard strength multivitamins.

Safety and tolerability of the supplements were assessed through adverse event reports that were coded using the Medical Dictionary for Regulatory Activities MedDRA.

Differences between groups from baseline to week 4 and baseline to week 8 were analyzed using analysis of covariance ANCOVA with the baseline scores employed as the covariate.

All analyses were verified to meet the homogeneity of regression assumption parallelism of ANCOVA. Non-normally distributed variables were log-transformed before analysis. For descriptive purposes, raw values as well as the change scores week 4 minus baseline, week 8 minus baseline of all dependent variables are displayed.

Statistical significance was accepted when the probability of a type 1 error was less than or equal to 0. Data were analyzed using statistical software written using LabVIEW National Instruments, Austin TX programming software.

However, a goal of 70 total subjects were be enrolled due to higher expected attrition from a study involving multiple independent variables including a prescribed diet, regular exercise, and supplement intervention. Of the 70 subjects initially recruited, 25 were lost due to attrition i.

Statistically significant decreases were observed from week 0 to week 8 for subjects who received METABO versus those who received placebo in body weight From week 0 to week 4 the mean differences in decreased waist girths for the subjects who received METABO versus those who received placebo were Similarly, the mean differences in decreased hip girths for the subjects who received METABO versus those who received placebo were The mean target daily dietary intake calculated using the Mifflin-St.

Jeor equation x 1. No differences were observed in energy consumption, or in absolute or relative amounts of dietary carbohydrate, protein or fat between METABO and placebo. Subjects who received METABO also exhibited a statistically significant decrease in relative fats cravings compared to the placebo group No statistically significant differences between the two groups were observed for sweet, fast food fats, carbohydrates or healthy food cravings.

No serious adverse events occurred during this study and analyses of standard clinical chemistry panels of serum and plasma revealed no statistically significant abnormalities of clinical importance. There were no significant between group effects for any cardiovascular variable during the 8-week trial, and the changes within groups were modest and non-significant.

For resting systolic blood pressure, the placebo group went from Similarly, for resting diastolic blood pressure the placebo group dropped from For resting heart rate, the placebo group went from The incidence of non-serious adverse events e. were transient and similar, with no significant differences between placebo and METABO.

The results from this study demonstrate that as an adjunct to an 8-week diet and weight loss program, administration of METABO significantly decreases body weight, body fat mass, waist and hip girth, while increasing lean mass compared to the placebo.

Although a restricted diet can lead to weight loss, it is often accompanied by a loss of lean tissue[ 28 — 30 ], which can have deleterious metabolic consequences. Because of this, it is important to achieve weight loss with a high ratio of fat to lean mass loss that is essential for both short-term efficacy and long-term metabolic health and body weight maintenance[ 31 , 32 ].

In this study, overweight subjects who received METABO achieved significantly greater improvements in their lean mass-to-fat mass ratio.

Future studies should follow subjects during a washout period to determine if this effect helps maintain long-term weight control i. minimize weight re-gain. Additionally, a future investigation should include a METABO only group with dietary control and no structured exercise program to explore the role of diet with METABO alone on body composition and metabolic outcomes.

Future studies may attempt to explore this observation further with studies designed to look for differences in these important metabolic and biochemical markers as primary outcome measures.

Another important finding in our study relates to the observed differences in adipokine concentrations in the METABO group, although most of these did not achieve statistical significance.

For example, we observed a trend for decreased serum resistin concentrations in subjects who received METABO compared to placebo at week 4, but not week 8.

High serum resistin concentrations have been found in obese individuals and have been linked to insulin resistance, hence the trend for decreased resistin levels in METABO is an intriguing finding that requires further investigation in a future study[ 33 ].

The current study may have been underpowered to detect significant differences in serum adiponectin, given that fat loss occurred in both groups as a result of caloric restriction and a consistent exercise program. In addition, trends for maintaining elevated serum leptin from week 0 to week 4 were observed in subjects who received METABO compared to placebo.

Leptin acts on receptors in the hypothalamus to regulate appetite, energy expenditure, sympathetic tone and neuroendocrine function, and circulating levels have been shown to decline in response to caloric restriction or negative energy balance[ 34 ].

Leptin deficiency has been shown to promote hunger and food seeking behaviour, in addition to reduced metabolic rate in humans[ 35 ]. Collectively, the trend for resistin and significant change in leptin may help to partly explain the effects of METABO on body composition.

The combination of ingredients with potentially complementary and interactive mechanisms of action may account for the favorable changes observed in many of the clinical endpoints in the METABO group.

Razberi-K® contains Raspberry ketone 4- 4-hydroxyphenyl butanone , which is a naturally occurring phenolic compound in red raspberry Rubus ideas that has been shown to enhance norepinephrine-induced lipolysis in adipocytes, prevent high-fat diet-induced body weight gain in mice, and increase adiponectin gene expression and secretion in adipocytes in culture[ 12 , 13 ].

Moreover, Wang et al. demonstrated anti-inflammatory benefits, improved antioxidant capacity, and enhanced leptin and insulin sensitivity in Sprague-Dawly rats using a high-fat diet induced nonalcoholic steatohepatitis NASH model[ 36 ]. From the limited preclinical literature, it appears that raspberry ketones require norepinephrine for maximizing their hormone-sensitive lipolytic action.

Capsimax® is a concentrated capsicum extract found in an encapsulated beadlet form to decrease gastric irritation. Advantra Z® is an ingredient extracted from the Citrus aurantium traditional Chinese herb known as zhi-shi and standardized for the bioactive alkaloid p-synephrine.

Other alkaloids are present in the extract including: octopamine, hordenine, and n-methyltyramine. Taken together, the bioactive amines found in Advantra Z® have been shown to increase thermogenesis, and there is cell and tissue culture evidence to suggest lipolysis is accelerated via a β3 adrenergic receptor pathway[ 40 ].

A recent systematic review of human clinical studies involving Citrus aurantium with its primary p-synephrine alkaloid alone or in combination with other ingredients revealed reliable increases in resting metabolic rate of between 2. Caffeine is regarded as one of the most commonly consumed methylxanthine alkaloids known to act as an adenosine receptor antagonist and phosphodiesterase inhibitor.

As such, the presence of caffeine may have contributed to amplifying the beta-adrenergic and lipolytic effects of the METABO formulation. Despite being on a calorie-reduced diet, subjects in this study reported feeling improved energy and decrease in cravings for energy-dense, fatty foods.

Previous studies have indicated that food cravings are significantly related to food intake with specific cravings correlating with types of food consumed[ 24 ] and a high-fat diet is a strong risk factor for the development of obesity and metabolic syndrome, as a result of increased energy density and overall caloric intake[ 41 ].

Caffeine, in isolation or in combination with other bioactive nutritional compounds, has also been shown in multiple human clinical trials to increase the perception of energy, blunt appetite, and improve measures of mood, alertness, attention, and concentration[ 14 , 42 , 43 ].

Although subject demographics were similar between groups, there was greater attrition of the placebo group relative to METABO. It has been reported that decreased levels of mental and physical energy and increased cravings for energy-dense foods can diminish dietary and exercise adherence during outpatient weight loss programs[ 46 , 47 ].

A notable finding in this regard is that, compared to the placebo group, the METABO group experienced a significant increase in their energy levels and decreased cravings for energy-dense foods. Future studies may examine if METABO improves adherence to a comprehensive diet and exercise weight loss program.

Gender differences were not explored in our study, but future investigations are currently underway in an attempt to answer this question. The mean target caloric intake for the METABO group using the Mifflin-St.

Jeor equation multiplied by an activity factor of 1. However, three-day food records are notorious for recall bias and an underestimation of actual energy consumption[ 48 ]. Jeor equation. The obese and overweight state is characterized by chronic, low-grade systemic inflammation as a result of the expanded white adipose tissue compartment, particularly the visceral adipose depot.

Adipose tissue from obese individuals is known to be an important endocrine organ capable of contributing to insulin resistance, persistent inflammation, and metabolic and vascular dysfunction via the perturbed adipokine secretion profile[ 34 ].

The collective action of garlic extract standardized for organosulfur compounds, ginger extract standardized for gingerols and shogaols, biotin and chromium in METABO may contribute to antiadipogenic, anti-inflammatory actions in conjunction with metabolic health benefits[ 20 , 21 , 36 , 37 , 49 — 51 ].

The bioactive compounds in garlic, ginger, and raspberry in addition to biotin and chromium have been suggested to modulate high-leverage metabolic pathways with nutrigenomic signaling, including: NF-kB, PPAR-γ, PPAR-α, orexigens, and aforementioned adipocytokines.

It is conceivable that although increased sympathomimetic drive, lipolysis and thermogenesis contributed to the positive outcomes in body composition, the interaction of reduced dietary energy intake with exercise and METABO lead to further improvements in the adipokine profile that facilitated improvements in serum triacylglycerol, selective fat loss, skeletal muscle retention and abdominal girth reduction.

It would be helpful for future studies to explore the influence of METABO on the systemic adipokine profile to clarify if this is one potential mechanism.

In recent years, there have been numerous natural products being marketed and sold that claim to contain the right combination of vitamins, herbs and foods that can help with weight loss. However, very few of these products undergo finished product-specific research demonstrating their efficacy and safety.

In the current study, as an adjunct to an 8-week diet and weight loss program, METABO administration augmented beneficial changes in body composition and anthropometric variables hip and waist girth in overweight men and women, and led to additional benefits on energy levels and food cravings.

The placebo group had noticeable beneficial changes in body fat and non-significant improvements in certain metabolic variables as a result of diet and exercise alone, albeit these changes were less robust than in METABO group.

METABO was safe and well-tolerated in all subjects, no serious adverse events were recorded, nor were differences in systemic hemodynamics or clinical blood chemistries observed between the two groups.

Further studies are required to clarify the mechanisms by which METABO exerts its weight loss effects and its possible role in regulating adipokine concentrations. HLL and TNZ contributed to the design and coordination of the study, drafting the manuscript, as well as oversight of data collection and analyses.

JEH and SMH carried out the practical aspects of the study, including data collection and dietary analyses. SMA participated in the adipokine analyses and assisted in manuscript preparation. JPW performed the statistical analyses.

AAF assisted in analysis and interpretation of data, as well as manuscript preparation. All authors participated in editing and approved the final draft of the manuscript. Dixon JB: The effect of obesity on health outcomes.

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