Synephrine under scrutiny: will it help with fat burning?

If you've decided to lose a few pounds or start going to the gym as part of your New Year's resolution, you probably find the world of sports nutrition an unfamiliar but rather fascinating place. And quite possibly, in that case, supplements like synephrine, often touted by manufacturers as a safe and legal ephedrine substitute, may grab your attention. But what's the truth in that? Does synephrine work? And why and how to take it? Let's take a look at that in the context of this article.

What is synephrine?

Let's start nicely from the beginning and introduce synephrine along with its main properties. Synephrine is the name for an alkaloid that is commonly available in nature and which has a significant similarity in its chemical structure to, for example, the aforementioned ephedrine or epinephrine. Synephrine is most abundant in the bark and fruit of the bitter orange tree (also known as the by its Latin name citrus aurantium) , from where it is also obtained for the production of supplements. However, it can also be found in other citrus fruits.

A real ephedrine substitute?

At first glance, what may be a little surprising about synephrine is that some people use itmanufacturers promote it as a substitute for an alkaloid called ephedrine, a now banned stimulant drug. However, we can reassure you, this is rather strong sales talk, becausesynephrine has a significantly weaker effect and also acts on completely different receptors. The possible negative effects are thus not nearly as frequent or as strong as in the case of ephedrine. Nevertheless, according to meta-analyses, sensitive individuals may experience, for example, headaches, increased heart rate and blood pressure, and nervousness or blurred vision. It is therefore definitely appropriate to be cautious initially and not to overdo it with the use of synephrine.

What benefits can synephrine have?

Although synephrine is sometimes presented as a perfectly safe supplement that can help you achieve all theall your goals, the scientific literature is very limited and, for example, the website Examine.com puts it in the category of Unproven supplements and points out primarily that many of the research doneThe results of many studies investigating complex supplements containing, among other things, synephrine do not tell us much about the actual functioning of synephrine. But let's take a look at what some of the studies have found.

Possible effect on metabolism

Probably the most commonly cited study looking at the effect of synephrine examined the effect of a placebo and 50 mg of synephrine (or combinations of synephrine with other substances) on resting metabolic rate. Briefly, in the result, the group taking synephrine showed an increase in resting metabolic rate compared to placebo by almost 7%, which corresponded to about 65 kilocalories. While this may seem like great news, the resting (basal) metabolic rate for a man who is 190 cm, 100 kg and 30 years old when calculated using the Mifflin-St.Jeor equation of around 2000 kcal, in which the aforementioned 65 kilocalories is slightly negligible.

Potential performance support

Another oft-cited research speaks to the potential impact of synephrine on athletic performance. A study concluded that athletes taking synephrine were able to achieve higherhigher repetitions per squat than both the placebo group and the group taking nothing. The problem is that only 12 participants took part in the research and the difference between the groups was only a few reps. It should also be noted that the participants were taking up to 100 mg of synephrine, which is a really high dose for the average athlete.

Possible appetite suppression

Even the third of the often-discussed benefits can be slightly misleading. This is because the study conducted again only included a small number of participants (specifically 40), some of whom took synephrine-containing chewy candies before meals. Again, the total dose was up to 100 mg of the substance, and although the results suggest that the group taking synephrine had a lowera milder appetite than the placebo group, the results were collected by questionnaire and may be slightly misleading.

Synephrine use and recommended dose

If we look at the scientific studies conducted, many of them work with a dose of around 20 mg of synephrine. However, if you have no experience with this substance, feel free to start at 10 mg and see how your body reacts to this amount. We would recommend staying on low doses for at least the first week of use and only later increasing them slightly. Synephrine is usually recommended to be taken about 20-40 minutes before your chosen physical activity.

What to combine synephrine with?

There are a number of supplements that synephrine can be combined with. And it should be noted that these combinations are very widely used, for example, in pre-workout supplements or in fat burners. Typical examples are caffeine, green tea extract, forskolin and others. If you look, for example, in our ranking of the best pre-workouts or our comparison of the best fat burners, you will certainly find synephrine among the top products. When taking a combination of several different supplements, however, we recommend even more care about the correct dosage. It is always better to start on lower doses and only gradually add more if you do not feel any effect.

Is it worth trying?

Although scientific studies are not completely clear on the functioning of synephrine, many athletes can't get enough of it. If you would like to try it, we can recommend either synephrine in tablets alone or, for example, as part of complex products such as the aforementioned pre-workouts. Synephrine can be found, for example, in the very popular Agrezz supplement, which we discussed in detail in a separate review. However, we would definitely recommend not to have any miraculous expectations from synephrine. If you want to lose weight, the basis is a properly adjusted diet with a calorie deficit, without which it simply won't work.