Caralluma And Other Fat Burners

Caralluma, or caralluma fimbriata to give it its full name is a fleshy, succulent plant of the cactus family, that has been used in India as a natural appetite suppressant and fat burning supplement for many centuries, if not millennia.

But despite its long history in India, caralluma is relatively new to the West, and in fact it’s just one of a number of the family of cactii and succulent plants that are now becoming increasingly popular for their ability to assist with the suppressing of appetite, fat burning and consequent weight loss. And these remarkable plants also appear to help the body’s management of its blood sugar levels thereby reducing the risk of diabetes, a serious and all too common disease closely linked to obesity.

Given the tragic prevalence of these so-called “lifestyle” diseases in the West, it’s not at all surprising that great attention has been focussed on the potential of these plants and the supplements which can be readily extracted from them. Perhaps the most popular currently are those made from the hoodia gordonii cactus native to the Kalahari Desert in Africa, but caralluma has been rapidly emerging as an increasingly attractive alternative.

Like hoodia, caralluma fimbriata was traditionally used both to suppress appetite, and as a convenient, light but nutritionally dense food for accompanying long distance hunting expeditions. The plant grows wild throughout India, as well as Central Asia, and parts of the Middle East and Africa, and has therefore been used not just by hunters, but by a wide variety of rural peoples needing a source of sustaining food which could help ward off the pangs of hunger, particularly during the all too frequent times of famine. Though such times are thankfully now unknown in the West, it does appear that caralluma may help reduce the cravings for high fat, calorie rich and sugary foods which are such a powerful cause of our society’s epidemic of life threatening obesity. In fact, research suggests that caralluma may have a direct effect on the “appestat”, the brain’s appetite control mechanism, and it also seems that it may block the activity of several enzymes which trigger the body to lay down reserves of fat, an evolutionary legacy from the days when the organism (and species)’s survival depended on the maintenance of such energy reserves.

For centuries, people in rural areas of India have eaten caralluma cooked as a vegetable, used it in preserves like chutney and pickles, or simply chewed it raw, but there is no need to make any radical or upsetting change in diet in order to reap the benefits of hoodia or caralluma. Numerous safe and effective supplements are now available; caralluma has shown no toxicity or side effects other than the occasional minor gastric upset and has been used very widely by practitioners of traditional (Ayurvedic) Indian medicine.

On no account, however, should caralluma or any other appetite suppressant or fat burning supplement be regarded as a “magic bullet” cure for obesity or its associated health problems such as high blood pressure or diabetes. A balanced wholefood diet and regular exercise will remain crucial to success. But there seems no reason why inexpensive and risk-free caralluma should not be used as an extra weapon in the battle.