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Coleus forskohli |
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ForsLean Backordered. We regret to say that ForsLean is backordered. Adverse weather conditions in the part of the world where forskolin is grown has created a shortage. Sabinsa Corp tells us that enough forkolin to produce ForsLean probably will be available around the end of 2010 or the beginning of 2011. We are looking for another source of forskolin. If we find a one, we will make it available to our customers as soon as possible. June 27, 2010
Continuation: Researchers are now conducting many studies of forskolin. We don't yet know the implications of many of the research findings. For example, investigators found that through an electrically-driven mechanism, forskolin increased the passage of chloride through the epithelial cells that line the GI track. The chloride then appears on the mucosal side of the GI tract.[12] This was a 1982 study, and I can't find follow up studies that indicate any physiological or health benefits of the chloride release. Nonetheless, the finding has been reported, and it may prove important in explaining findings of future studies. Sabinsa's fat-loss studies. Sabinsa, the company that manufactures ForsLean, conducted two preliminary clinical trials to evaluate the effect of ForsLean on the body composition of overweight subjects.[18] In the first trial, four overweight female subjects took ForsLean orally for 12 weeks. Each subject took one capsule of ForsLean twice each day. The capsules contained 250 mg of Coleus forskoli. The forskolin extract in the 250 mg of Coleus was 10%, which means that each capsule contained 25 mg forskolin. The researchers provided the subjects with information about a healthy diet and the benefits of regular exercise. A physician saw each subject at the beginning of the study and at four, eight, and 12 weeks. By the end of the 12 week study, the subjects' average lean body mass had significantly increased by 7.2 pounds. Their percentage body fat had decreased by 2.9%. This reduction, however, wasn't statistically significant. The subjects had no significant changes in blood biochemistry, pulse rate, systolic blood pressure values, appetite, or energy levels. In the second clinical trial by Sabinsa, six overweight female subjects took ForsLean (equivalent to 50 mg of forskolin) twice each day for 8 weeks. Physical activity, vital signs, body weight, and other body mass parameters were monitored during the course of the experiment. During the eight week trial, the mean values for body weight and fat content significantly decreased. Lean body mass significantly increased. The treatment had no adverse affect on the study subject, including the systolic/diastolic blood pressure or pulse rate. In fact, the researchers found a trend towards lower systolic/diastolic pressure. No Two followup clinical trials of ForsLean are currently underway in the U.S. and Japan.
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| What ForsLean Is | How Forskolin Works | | What Studies Show| Benefits | | How Much is Too Much | Recommended Dose | What Studies have Shown. In 1978, researchers published a report[1] that forskolin lowered the blood pressure of dogs and cats. Forskolin lowered the animals' high blood pressure whether their hypertension was spontaneous (not caused by a known disorder) or caused by a kidney disorder (renal hypertension). These researchers[1] noted that in previous studies, forskolin had increased the force of contraction of guinea pigs' hearts. In guinea pigs, dogs, and cats, forskolin had also increased both the rate and force of contraction of the left atrium (the small chamber of the heart that receives oxygenated blood from the lungs). Of Special Importance to people who are hypothyroid or thyroid hormone resistant. Interestingly, beta-blockers didn't decrease these cardiac effects of forskolin.[1] This is important for people who are hypothyroid or thyroid hormone resistant. The reason is that too little thyroid hormone regulation results in a slowed-down physiological state akin to that produced by beta-blockers. As I noted in The Metabolic Treatment of Fibromyalgia, this slowed-down state in fact results from too few stimulatory beta-adrenergic receptors and too many inhibitory alpha-adrenergic receptors. The importance of the finding that forskolin increases the force and rate of heart contractions despite the inhibiting effects of beta-blockers is this: forskolin side-steps the metabolic slowdown from too little beta-adrenergic receptor stimulation of cells, as in hypothyroidism and thyroid hormone resistance. Forskolin speeds up the rate of chemical reactions in cells despite the metabolic slow-down. This strongly suggests that Dr. Richard Garrison was right—forskolin will probably provide much-needed metabolic drive in patients otherwise kept sick from hypometabolism due to the ineffectiveness of T4 replacement. Rapid research-based understanding of forskolin. Within two years after the first important report on forskolin in 1978, pharmaceutical researchers were referring to forskolin as "blood-pressure lowering" agent. They also referred to it as a "positive inotropic" agent,[2] meaning that forskolin increases the heart's force of contraction.[3,4,6,7] They noted that these effects of
forskolin result from its strong activation of
the
enzyme
adenylate cyclase in cells. Normally, hormones and
neurotransmitters activate the enzyme when they bind to
their receptors on the surfaces of cells. Researchers noted that forskolin
activates the enzyme, as do hormones and
neurotransmitters. But it does this independently of the
hormones and neurotransmitters.
When forskolin activates the enzyme, it
also greatly increases the production of
cyclic-AMP in cells. In turn, the increased
cyclic-AMP accelerates the cells' metabolic processes. The
researchers pointed out, "Forskolin thus provides an invaluable tool for
the investigation of the role of cyclic-AMP in
physiological responses to hormones, both through its
direct activation of adenylate cyclase and through its
ability to potentiate hormonal activation of adenylate
cyclase."[3]
Forskolin speeds up fat
cells metabolism.
In 1983, researchers found that forskolin activates
the enzyme adenylate cyclase in the
membranes of hamster "adipocytes" (fat cells).[13]
They wrote that this showed that forskolin increases the metabolism of
fat cells.
Of great importance to
hypothyroid and thyroid hormone resistance patients.
Clonodine is a drug that stimulates a type of receptor
called the "alpha2-adrenergic receptors." This
type of receptor inhibits metabolic processes in most
cells. When
these receptors are activated, they inhibit the sympathetic nervous system
and energy metabolism in most cells.
(The sympathetic system is the part of the nervous
system that's activated by stress. When activated,
sympathetic nerves increase their release of adrenaline and noradrenaline.) Because
clonidine inhibits the sympathetic system, clinicians have
prescribed it to reduce patients' high blood
pressure.
People who are hypothyroid or thyroid
hormone resistant have too many of the inhibiting
alpha2-adrenergic receptors. As a result, their sympathetic nervous systems are harder to activate. As I pointed out in
The
Metabolic Treatment of Fibromyalgia, this is a
major reason that hypothyroid and thyroid hormone
resistance patients (and those with a
diagnosis of fibromyalgia) have trouble exercising. It's
also a reason they have
abnormally slow heart rates ("bradycardia") and problematic low blood pressure.[14,15,16][17,pp.120-122]
The finding that clonidine inhibits forskolin's
activation adenylate cyclase presents a challenging
hypothesis to
Dr.
Garrison's idea that forskolin might benefit
hypothyroid and thyroid hormone resistant patients.
These patients' excess of inhibitory alpha-adrenergic
receptors may effect them like clonidine would. The
receptors, like clonidine, may inhibit forskolin from
activating the enzyme. If so, forskolin may not have the
fat-reducing effects it does in other people. Whether
this is true or not we don't yet know. Finding out is a
project I'll do in honor of Dr. Garrison. If forskolin
doesn't work for them, or as well as it does for others,
he would want to know. Truth meant as much to him as it
does to me—and as much as it does to patients who need
to know whether forskolin will or won't benefits them.
Only by collecting feedback from patients who use
ForsLean and from clinical trials will we know for sure.
Additional studies of forskolin.
Cell researchers found[9] in working with lab cells (pheochromocytoma cells) that forskolin alone didn't increase the cells' release of noradrenaline and acetylcholine. But they found that forskolin amplified the release of these
neurotransmitters in response to potassium exposure. In 1981, researchers
noted that coleonol (a compound isolated from forskolin)
has been used in Aurvedic medicine for several medical
conditions: heart diseases, spasmodic
pain, painful urination, and convulsions.[4] They
studied the
pharmacological effects of coleonol and found that
it lowered the blood
pressure of anaesthetised cat and rats. The
forskolin derivative had the
same effects on spontaneously hypertensive rats. The anti-hypertensive effect resulted from the relaxation
of the smooth muscle lining in blood vessels. (This
smooth muscle relaxation in blood vessels is now
well-established.[11,19]) The
investigators
also found that coleonol increase the force of
contraction of the isolated hearts of rabbits and the
intact hearts of cats.[4] Coleonol also
had a generalized anti-spasmodic effect on the
smooth muscle of the gastrointestinal tract in various
species.
"These results," the researchers wrote, "provide the rationale for the use of this plant in Aurvedic medicine." In 1983, eye researchers reported the effects of
forskolin on the pressure inside the eyeball
(intraocular pressure) of rabbits.[10]
They found that forskolin decreased intraocular
pressure. They also found that forskolin almost doubled
the outflow of fluid from the eye, reducing pressure
within the aqueous humor. The researchers concluded that
agents that directly activate the enzyme adenylate
cyclase, such as forskolin, increase fluid outflow from
the eye
and reduce pressure inside the eyeball. In 2010, researchers in a an anesthesiology and critical
care department reported the effects of a forskolin
derivative on rats with induced pulmonary hypertension.
The derivative, colforsin, is a water-soluble compound.
Like forskolin itself, colforsin directly activates
adenylate cyclase. It thereby increases cyclic-AMP in
the smooth muscles of blood vessels and relaxes them.
The researchers found that colforsin was effective
in countering adverse effects of the rats' pulmonary
hypertension. They concluded, “The results suggest that colforsin could be effective in the treatment of
[pulmonary hypertension].”[11] |
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The statements made on this website have not been evaluated by the FDA. These products are not intended to diagnose, cure, or prevent any disease. The information provided by this website or the companies are for educational purposes only and should not be construed as medical advice. Please consult with a healthcare professional prior to starting any diet, exercise or supplemental protocol, prior to taking any medication or if you have or suspect you might have a health problem. |
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