SupplySide West: Heart Health, Weight Management Ingredients

Ingredient distributor Horn (La Mirada, CA) is now exclusively distributing two ingredients for heart health and weight management in North America.

Targeting blood pressure management, OPtain120 is a patented combination of onion and pumpkin extract. Horn says that OPtain120 lowered systolic blood pressure (6%) and diastolic blood pressure (4%) in as little as five days, as shown by clinical trials conducted in the United States and Japan.

The ingredient is an angiotensin-converting-enzyme (ACE) inhibitor, suppressing the production of angiotensin II. This decreases peripheral resistance and blood volume, thereby reducing blood pressure. OPtain120 also boosts nitric oxide production, thereby increasing the diameter of the blood vessels and reducing blood pressure. Japanese company Ryusendo manufactures the ingredient.

Designed to target the visceral fat (abdominal fat tucked in between the internal organs) linked to increased risk of diabetes and heart disease, Chalcurb is derived from the dried sap of the Ashitaba plant (Angelica keiskei) and is manufactured by Japan Bio Science Laboratory. Horn says two clinical studies show the ingredient’s ability to reduce visceral fat by 10% in just eight weeks. The ingredient supports the production of leptin and adiponectin, which influences satiety, lipid metabolism, and glucose regulation. In addition, subjects saw reductions in subcutaneous fat, weight, body mass index (BMI), and waist and hip circumference.

In a press release, Xiaoming Chien, PhD, vice president of Horn Nutraceuticals, called OPtain120 and ChalCurb ingredients that address “two health topics that are dramatically affecting the majority of the adults in the United States today.”

Jennifer Grebow
Editor-in-Chief
Nutritional Outlook magazine jennifer.grebow@ubm.com

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