Uncensored

Q. How does synephrine work, and why the hell did Health Canada ban it from being included in any fat burners?

A. Synephrine is the principal active extract found in the herb Citrus aurantium (bitter orange). Most synephrine found in supplements is as part of Citrus aurantium, so we can talk about them essentially interchangeably. At least three scientific studies show that Citrus aurantium/synephrine increases thermogenesis (fat burning), and two studies show that it increases fat loss. Studies also show that it increases levels of epinephrine (one of the body’s “energizing” hormones that increases calorie burning).

So there’s no doubt that synephrine is a good ingredient for a fat-loss supplement. Also, synephrine is safer than ephedrine, which was banned due to safety concerns. It has a shorter half life, and it doesn’t cause an increase in heart rate in most studies and causes only mild alterations in blood pressure (especially compared to ephedrine).

With regard to Health Canada banning it—it hasn’t. Health Canada has banned the addition of caffeine (or any source of caffeine) with synephrine. You are still allowed to use synephrine on its own (up to 30 milligrams per day), however, caffeine is required to get the best effects from most fat burners, and it works especially well with herbs such as ephedrine and synephrine. So this is a very unfortunate situation for many supplement companies in Canada because for various reasons, fat burners virtually have to contain caffeine. The reason that Health Canada has banned the addition of caffeine to synephrine is that it claims that there’s “insufficient published clinical evidence” to establish the safety of this combination. Some studies show that large dosages of synephrine with caffeine cause no significant negative side effects in humans; however, I think that because these studies weren’t long enough, Health Canada took the conservative path and decided to outlaw this combination. Synephrine is safer than ephedrine, and the evidence of ephedrine being particularly dangerous isn’t very convincing when looked at objectively. But then again, Health Canada banned L-carnitine, so it has shown very questionable judgment in the past.