The United States Pharmacopeia has classified capsaicin as a stimulant, and based on their previous research Lim and others have related its physiological action to caffeine, i.e., ingestion may induce sympathetic activation of the central nervous system, increasing catecholamine secretion and enhancing lipid oxidation, sparing the use of glycogen.
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The medicinal properties of the capsicum species are attributable to a compound known as capsaicin. frutescens), native to tropical America, incorporates such peppers as the cayenne, red, and chili. The following discussion highlights available research with selected herbal products other plant-derived substances, such as caffeine and ephedrine, will be discussed in a forthcoming issue. Unfortunately, however, with a few exceptions research investigating the ergogenic effects of herbal supplements is limited. Research supports beneficial medicinal effects of specific herbs for specific health problems, as documented in Herbal Medicine: Expanded Commission E Monographs and WHO Monographs on Selected Medicinal Plants. Some sports drinks and sports bars contain herbals as well. For example, the product SportPharm contains multiple herbals, including Thermadrene, Ma Huang, Guarana, Caffeine, Purple Willow Bark, Cayenne pepper, and Ginger root, and is designed to increase mental alertness, stimulate fat-burning metabolism, and help enhance physical performance. Herbal dietary supplements are marketed to physically active individuals for a variety of reasons, including increasing energy, inducing weight loss, promoting muscle growth, or inducing other physiological or metabolic responses that may enhance exercise performance. For example, Herbold and others reported that 17 percent of female collegiate athletes used herbal/botanical supplements. population takes herbal or botanical dietary supplements. In the most recent NHANES report, approximately 7 percent of the U. However, given the pharmacological effect of various herbals, some health professionals are emphasizing the need for regulations standardizing herbal therapy. Currently in the United States most herbals are regulated by the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act (DSHEA), more like food ingredients than drugs.
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Thus, herbals are regulated as medicine in some countries, such as Germany, but as dietary supplements in others. Winslow and Kroll reported the earliest evidence of human use of plants for healing dates back to the Neanderthal period, and today various modern medicines may be classified as herbals. Herbs have been used as medicine throughout history.
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Herbals, which are derived from leaves, bark, berries, roots, gums, seeds, stems or flowers of plants, also contain numerous phytochemicals thought to have nutritive or medicinal value. Other than essential nutrients, plant foods contain naturally occurring substances, referred to respectively as phytochemicals. Plants provide us with most nutrients essential for life.