NeOpuntia® is an important ingredient in QuickLoss because it has specific weight loss and fat reducing effects.

NeOpuntia®, is a patented, dehydrated, and well studied form of the plant called Opuntia ficus-indica.

Traditionally, the leaves and fruit of Opuntia ficus-indica (also called nopal or prickly pear cactus) have been used for medicinal and cosmetic purposes. Historically, the leaves of this cactus have been consumed as a vegetable throughout Latin America and Southern Europe.

Clinical studies indicate an advantage of using NeOpuntia in dietary supplements and functional foods because of improvement of fat metabolism

(including cholesterol and triglycerides levels)

Neopuntia is able to facilitate weight loss in various ways –

• Neopuntia fibre absorbs fat in the gut and reduces its absorption from the gut into the body
• Neopuntia swells in the gut and provides a sense of fullness, thus reducing that empty hungry feeling

NeOpuntia® is showing promising benefits for metabolic syndrome. It is a complex of insoluble and soluble dietary fibre which allows a unique lipophilic mechanism. This lipophilic interaction takes place as soon as fats come into contact with NeOpuntia® in the stomach. The hypothesis is that once NeOpuntia® and part of the fat are bound in the stomach, they cannot be absorbed into the small intestine and instead are eliminated naturally through the bowels. Due to the effects of its fibre and its method of working, NeOpuntia® collects some of the bile acids and makes them unavailable for digestion of lipids by pancreatic lipase.

A study conducted in France measured changes in LDL and HDL cholesterol and serum triglycerides. The test subjects were 68 females with a Body Mass Index between 25 and 40. The study was monocentric, randomised, placebo-controlled, in parallel double blind format. During the 6 week study, half of the females consumed 1.6 g of NeOpuntia® per meal and the other half consumed a placebo, both in the form of two-piece hard gelatin capsules. On and after the 14th day of the study, NeOpuntia® tripled the benefits of a well-balanced diet alone: it decreased LDL cholesterol by 10% (compared with only 3% in the placebo group) and increased HDL cholesterol levels (these also decreased in the placebo group), which is associated with a reduced cardiovascular risk. As a subset, post-menopausal women seemed to respond best to NeOpuntia® in the trial. The results of the trial were statistically significant.

Researchers observed a reduction in alcohol hangover symptoms related to the consumption of an Opuntia ficus-indica extract, and attributed this effect to the antioxidative properties of the plant.

Reference: Randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study in a parallel-group design. It was conducted in France, between May and June 2006, by Proclaim (Parc d’affaires de la Bretèche, 35760 Saint-Gregoire, France).