Obesity and Natural Products

Obesity in adults is characterized when the Body Mass Index (BMI) is greater than or equal to 30. It is estimated that 1.7 billion people in the world are overweight or obese, and more than one third of U.S. adults (35.7%) are obese. There are a variety of factors that play a role in obesity, such as behavior, environment, and genetic factors. Usual countermeasures include adequate physical activity, avoidance of calorie-dense foods, and use of certain drugs for promoting weight loss. Surgery is an extreme measure and anyone considering it must have failed consistently in losing weight through lifestyle changes and less invasive methods. The main drugs currently employed in obesity treatment present dangerous side effects, namely: elevation of blood pressure, insomnia, constipation, headaches, among others. For this reason, a wide variety of natural materials have been explored for their obesity treatment potential. Considering that natural anti-obesity products have different mechanisms, the recommended approach to research a more effective obesity treatment, reaching the associated synergistic effects, must involve the combination of natural products and/or products with multiple activities. This chapter describes several natural products with anti-obesity activity, and active components and mechanisms of action to combat obesity.