The OxyELITE Pro™ lineup...
Rauwolfia Canescens (Rauwolscine)
This particular compound has been shown to block off the Alpha-2 receptor in animal and human tissue (34)!
It's related to yohimbine, a compound which is often included in various thermogenic formulas because of its ability to antagonize alpha 2-adrenoceptors, allowing lipolysis itself, while also allowing lipolysis to continue from beta adrenoceptoragonism as well (11,12).
Here's the problem: While antagonizing alpha 2-adrenoceptors is great, yohimbine unfortunately also does the same for alpha 1-adrenoceptors – and this can actually hinder lipolysis (13).
So, on the other hand, while yohimbine helps to improve lipolysis by antagonizing alpha 2-adrenoceptors, it may also prevent lipolysis from occurring by antagonizing alpha 1-adrenoceptors...
Kind of defeats the purpose, huh? It's like robbing Peter to Pay Paul...
The end result is only a mediocre or small effect upon fat loss, or no detectable fat loss at all, which is what has been demonstrated in the literature with yohimbine supplementation (14-17).
Rauwolscine on the other hand, is just as potent at antagonizing alpha 2-adrenoceptors as yohimbine, yet it is 50 times less potent at alpha 1-adrenoceptors (18), making it much more selective and much less likely to reduce lipolysis by inhibiting alpha 1-adrenoceptor activity when compared to yohimbine.
Rauwolscine is clearly the better choice here.
Bauhinia purpurea L (Leaf & Pod [standardized for Bauhiniastatins 1-4])
This particular extract is very exciting because, due to various factors (e.g., stress, dieting, overtraining), many individuals may have impaired conversion of T4 to T3.
We all know the thyroid plays an important role in metabolic rate.
An extract from the plant Bauhinia purpurea has been shown in healthy adult animal models to increase T4 by approximately 37% compared to controls, while increasing T3 by an amazing 83%! (21)
Yet another reason that increasing thyroid hormone is so important is because it's known to sensitize or increase the lipolytic effects of adrenergic stimulation in fat cells (33).
Due to the results of the studies, the authors concluded that the plant is likely increasing the conversion of peripheral T4 to T3.
Bacopa monnieri (Leaf)
This plant has also been shown in an animal model to naturally increase thyroid hormone production. In this case, the plant extract was shown to increase T4 levels by approximately 41% compared to controls (23).
In this case, however, since there was no increase in T3 seen, the authors concluded that the plant extract can directly stimulate the release of T4 from the thyroid gland, as opposed to Bauhinia purpurea, which increased the conversion of T4 to T3.
Geranium [Stems] (extracted for 1,3-Dimethylamylamine)
Geranium has been used for centuries as a food additive and part of certain cultures regular diets. One constitute of geranium is this compound - a sympathomimetic, aliphatic amine with indirect (i.e., by increasing norepinephrine levels) and/or direct activity at alpha and beta-adrenoceptors (1-3).
Cirsium Oligophyllum (Whole Plant Extract)
Our use of this plant is based upon an animal study which had shown that compared to a control group, the extract studied was able to reduce the gain of bodyweight and fat mass and specifically seemed to target subcutaneous fat mass over that of visceral fat mass with a ratio favoring the reduction of subcutaneous fat mass over that of visceral of nearly 9 fold!(5)
Pharmacological studies revealed that the active constituent possesses beta adrenoceptor agonist activity and may stimulate lipolysis in subcutaneous fat cells.
Yet another similarity that the Cirsiumoligophyllum extract shares with beta adrenoceptor agonists is that it can work synergistically with caffeine, potentially producing a more powerful lipolytic effect that far exceeds the effect when used by itself (5).
In fact, the potency of caffeine & Cirsium Oligophyllum combined was nearly 10 times greater than Cirsium Oligophyllum by itself in this study.
Caffeine
Caffeine is often noted for its ability to increase resting energy expenditure, while also increasing lipolysis and lipid oxidation (6-8)...
In addition, it is noted for its ability to increase feelings of energy, alertness, concentration and euphoric effects (9,10).
Everyone throws caffeine in their formula...but few know why...we have a specific purpose on why we included it...
...Aside from the benefits that caffeine alone imparts, it can also provide synergistic effects when combined with other ingredients in OxyELITE Pro™...
In particular, the caffeine we have included may increase the effectiveness of the other compounds included in the formula…
...In fact, in the study performed with Cirsiumoligophyllum, they found exactly that!
Caffeine was shown to provide a substantial increase in the effectiveness of the extract at promoting lipolysis in subcutaneous fat cells (5)...
Is Your Fat Burner Targeting The Wrong Fat?
Notice that we said subcutaneous fat cells as this is where many companies fail to make a distinction when creating thermogenics...
Many compounds can produce a decrease in fat mass when it comes to visceral fat (i.e., the fat that surrounds your organs), but when it comes to improving how you look, subcutaneous fat is what you're concerned with as this is the fat that is just below your skin and smothers up your muscles...
How Much Subcutaneous Fat You Have Means The Difference Between Looking Shredded Or Looking Like You Own Stock In A Donut House.