Starmel Orexin Plus Appetite booster oral sln 150ml - formulated for people with poor appetite or loss of appetite

Orexin Plus Introduction

Orexin Plus is categorized as a Food supplement with lysine, royal jelly, plant extracts and vitamins in liquid form.

The product was formulated for people with poor appetite or loss of appetite – it is suitable for children and adults.

Strawberry flavor gives the product a pleasant taste which makes it easier to include it into children’s diet.

The bottle contains 150 ml, which means that it lasts for 15 days if taken once per day (dose: 10 ml per serving).

Orexin Plus - ingredients

Active ingredients in 10 ml (2 spoons):

•          Lysine: 100 mg

•          Bitter orange extract: 30 mg

•          Royal jelly: 25 mg

•          Artichoke extract: 13 mg

•          Pantothenic acid: 6 mg (100% NRV*)

•          Vitamin B6: 1,4 mg (100% NRV*)

•          Thiamine: 1,1 mg (100% NRV*)

•          Folic acid: 200 μg (100% NRV*)

•          Vitamin B12: 2,5 μg (100% NRV*)

•          NRV = nutrient reference value

Does not contain gelatine, gluten, artificial colours, yeast or lactose. Suitable for vegetarians.

Orexin Plus – approved health claims

•         Lysine is an essential amino acid, which is an important constituent of proteins in the body. Generally, lysine is acquired through the consumption of food sources, such as red meat, potatoes, milk, fish, beans and certain soy-based products. If your diet is composed mostly of cereal based foods, this can result in low supply of lysine.

•         Mediterranean plants bitter orange and artichoke contribute to appetite and normal digestion, and other carefully selected essential nutrients, needed for normal functioning of the body.

•         Thiamine, vitamin B6 and vitamin B12 contribute to normal psychological function and normal energy-yielding metabolism,

•         Vitamin B6 also contributes to normal protein and glycogen metabolism.

•         Pantothenic acid contributes to normal mental performance and to the reduction of tiredness and fatigue.

Orexin Plus – ingredients background

AMINO ACID

•         Lysine: Lysine is an essential amino acid. It is not a direct appetite stimulant like some drugs (i.e. pizotifen), but because it helps in the production of digestive enzymes it also acts as an appetite enhancer.

•         Lysine supplementation has been shown to improve appetite and growth rate in poorly thriving infants, but exact mechanism is not clear (see literature attached).

•         The scientific evidence is not good enough, that there would be any EFSA approved health claim available on this.

•          Literature:Nestor W. Flodin. 2015. The Metabolic Roles, Pharmacology and Toxicology of Lysine. Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, College of Medicine, University of South Alabama, Mobile. Review Article.

Orexin Plus – ingredients background

ROYAL JELLY  

•          Royal jelly is a white and viscous jelly-like substance, is a form of hypopharyngeal and mandibular gland secretion from the worker bees. It is also known as a “superfood” that is solely consumed by the queen bee. Royal jelly is also fed to the honeybee larvae upon hatching and helps to nurture the brood.

•          Royalactin is the main compound in royal jelly that allows the morphological change of a larva into the queen bee. This superfood is the main reason for the longevity of the queen bee compared to the other bees.

•          Royal jelly is widely used as a dietary nutritional complex to help combat various chronic health conditions. Furthermore, it is one of the profitable remedies for human beings in both traditional and modern medicine.

•          Many pharmacological activities such as antibacterial, antitumor, antiallergy, antiinflammatory, and immunomodulatory effects have also been attributed to it.

Orexin Plus – ingredients background

•          Royal jelly consists of water (50 % – 60 %), proteins (18 %), carbohydrates (15 %), lipids (3 % – 6 %), mineral salts (1.5 %), and vitamins.  Based on modern spectrometric analysis, approximately 185 organic compounds have been detected in royal jelly.

•          Royalactin is the most important protein present in royal jelly. In addition, royal jelly is composed of a significant number of bioactive compounds, including 10-hydroxy-2-decenoic acid (HAD), which has some immunomodulatory properties.

•          Fatty acid, proteins, adenosine monophosphate (AMP) N1 oxide, adenosine, acetylcholine, polyphenols, and hormones such as testosterone, progesterone, prolactin, and estradiol are other useful bioactive components reported to be present in royal jelly.

•          Royal jelly is one of the honey bee products which have potential towards various human disease treatments (Pasupuleti, 2017).

Orexin Plus – ingredients background

HONEY

•          Honey is recognized worldwide due to its high nutritive components that are beneficial for human well-being. It has been traditionally used by Egyptians, Greeks, Romans, and Chinese to heal wounds and diseases of the gut, including gastric ulcers.

•          In addition to being used externally, honey is also used internally as a functional food to provide energy and nourishment to enhance vital organs in the body. This has been in practice since ancient times.

•          The active components of honey, such as glucose, fructose, flavonoid, polyphenols, and organic acids, play an important role in its quality. Honey is well known for its biological, physiological, and pharmacological activities. Honey is also known as a supersaturated sugar solution.

Orexin Plus – ingredients background

•          Natural honey is composed of 82.4% carbohydrates, 38.5 % fructose, 31 % glucose, 12.9 % other sugars, 17.1 % water, 0.5 % protein, organic acids, multiminerals, amino acids, vitamins, phenols, and a myriad of other minor compounds. In addition, honey consists of minor amounts of bioactive components, including phenolic acid, flavonoid, and α-tocopherol. Honey constituents with health benefits include phenolic acids, flavonoids, ascorbic acid, proteins, carotenoids, and certain enzymes, such as glucose oxidase and catalase (Pasupuleti, 2017).

•          Honey also provides some nutrients, such as minerals, phytochemicals, and flavonoids, that aid digestive processes in the body (Pasupuleti, 2017).

•          Studies have shown that natural honey contains high amount of prebiotics. Prebiotic ingredients in honey such as inulin, oligofructose, and oligosaccharides promoted the increase in the numbers of Lactobacillus acidophilus and L. plantarum by 10–100 folds, which was beneficial for the intestinal microbiota (Pasupuleti, 2017).

Orexin Plus – ingredients background

•          Natural honey is composed of 82.4% carbohydrates, 38.5 % fructose, 31 % glucose, 12.9 % other sugars, 17.1 % water, 0.5 % protein, organic acids, multiminerals, amino acids, vitamins, phenols, and a myriad of other minor compounds. In addition, honey consists of minor amounts of bioactive components, including phenolic acid, flavonoid, and α-tocopherol. Honey constituents with health benefits include phenolic acids, flavonoids, ascorbic acid, proteins, carotenoids, and certain enzymes, such as glucose oxidase and catalase (Pasupuleti, 2017).

•          Honey also provides some nutrients, such as minerals, phytochemicals, and flavonoids, that aid digestive processes in the body (Pasupuleti, 2017).

Orexin Plus – ingredients background

•          Studies have shown that natural honey contains high amount of prebiotics. Prebiotic ingredients in honey such as inulin, oligofructose, and oligosaccharides promoted the increase in the numbers of Lactobacillus acidophilus and L. plantarum by 10–100 folds, which was beneficial for the intestinal microbiota (Pasupuleti, 2017).

•          Literature:  Visweswara Rao Pasupuleti, Lakhsmi Sammugam, Nagesvari Ramesh, Siew Hua Gan. 2017. Honey, Propolis, and Royal Jelly: A Comprehensive Review of Their Biological Actions and Health Benefits. Review Article. Oxidative Medicine and Cellular Longevity. Volume 2017, Article ID 1259510, 21 pages.

Orexin Plus – ingredients background

CYNARA SCOLYMUS

•          Globe artichoke (Cynara cardunculus L. subsp. scolymus (L.)) represents an important component of the Mediterranean diet, and is a rich source of bioactive phenolic compounds and also inulin, fibre and minerals (Lattanzioa et al., 2009).

•          The artichoke is popular for its pleasant bitter taste, which is attributed mostly to a plant chemical called cynarin found in the green parts of the plant. Cynarin is considered one of artichoke's main biologically active chemicals. It occurs in the highest concentration in the leaves of the plant, which is why leaf extracts are most commonly employed in herbal medicine.

•          Other documented "active" chemicals include flavonoids, sesquiterpene lactones, polyphenols and caffeoylquinic acids (EMA, 2011).

Orexin Plus – ingredients background

•          In Germany, artichoke leaf is used widely as a choleretic for its lipid-lowering, hepato-stimulating, and appetite-stimulating actions since at least thirty years. Moreover, in German paediatric medicine, herbs with a relatively low bitter value such as artichoke leaf are considered suitable for the treatment of appetite disorders (EMA, 2011).

•          Literature:

–       Lattanzioa Vincenzo, Paul A. Kroonb, Vito Linsalatac, Angela Cardinalic. 2009. Globe artichoke: A functional food and source of nutraceutical ingredients. Journal of functional foods.

–       Ceccarelli Nello, Maurizio Curadi, Piero Picciarelli, Luca Martelloni, Cristiana Sbrana, Manuela Giovannetti. 2010. Globe artichoke as a functional food. Mediterr J Nutr Metab (2010) 3:197–201.

–       EMA, Assessment report on Cynara scolymus L., folium. 2011. Committee on Herbal Medicinal Products (HMPC).  

Orexin Plus – ingredients background

CITRUS AURANTIUM

•          Citrus aurantium are used for stimulation of appetite because of bitter taste and essential oils (Kreft, 2013). 

•          Citrus aurantium (bitter orange) is a plant belonging to the family Rutaceae. The most important biologically active constituents of the C. aurantium fruits are phenethylamine alkaloids octopamine, synephrine, tyramine, N-methyltyramine and hordenine. It is rich in vitamin C, flavonoids and volatile oil.

•          Citrus plant is native to tropical Asia but it is also found in all tropical and subtropical country. It is easily available plant showing a wide range of uses in treatment of various diseases.

•          The major active biological constituents in Citrus herbs are flavonoids, especially hesperidin, naringin and alkaloids, mainly synephrine, with beneficial medical effects on human health. Citrus aurantium is also used in herbal medicine as a appetite stimulant (Suryawanshi, 2011).

Orexin Plus – ingredients background

•          N-methyltyramine (NMT) is a protoalkaloid isolated from various plant species. NMT is present in various Citrus species including bitter orange (Citrus aurantium). NMT has been shown to enhance appetite and digestion of foods through its stimulatory effects on gastrin and pancreatic secretions (Sidney, 2015).

•          Literature:

–       Sidney J. Stohs. 2017. Safety, Efficacy, and Mechanistic Studies Regarding Citrus aurantium (Bitter Orange) Extract and p-Synephrine. PHYTOTHERAPY RESEARCH. Creighton University Medical Center, Kitsto Consulting LLC, Frisco, TX, USA. Phytother. Res. (2017).

–       Sidney J. Stohs and Michael J. Hartman. 2015. A Review of the Receptor Binding and Pharmacological Effects of N-methyltyramine. PHYTOTHERAPY RESEARCH. School of Pharmacy and Health Professions, Creighton University, Omaha, NE 68178, USA. AdvoCare International, Plano, TX 75074, USA.

–       Kreft Samo in Nina Kočevar Glavač. 2013. Sodobna fitoterapija: z dokazi podprta uporaba zdravilnih rastlin. Fakulteta za farmacijo. Ljubljana : Slovensko farmacevtsko društvo.

–       Suryawanshi Jyotsna A. Saoner. 2011. An overview of Citrus aurantium used in treatment of various diseases. Department of Pharmacy, Government Polytechnic, Amravati (M.S. India). African Journal of Plant Science Vol. 5(7), pp. 390-395.

Orexin Plus – at a glance

Liquid with pleasant strawberry taste

Suitable for children and adults

Based on lysine, royal jelly, honey, vitamins and mediterranean plant extracts 

Dose: 10 ml before main meal (spoon inside) 

Bottle: 150 ml (for 15 servings)