Svetol

Svetol is a proprietary standardized chlorogenic acid extract of decaffeinated green coffee beans, sold by Naturex. It is used as a weight-loss supplement and as an ingredient in other weight-loss products. Svetol has been on the market as a dietary supplement since 2002, and its efficacy and mechanism of action have been clinically tested.

Svetol is a hydroalcoholic decaffeinated green coffee extract produced from coffee beans of the variety Coffea canephora robusta Pierre. The extract is spray dried and encapsulated. Svetol contains a specific chlorogenic acids profile balanced between 3-, 4-, and 5-caffeoylquinic acid, and contains 45%–50% chlorogenic acids by weight.

History
Svetol was developed by Berkem, a French phytochemical and plant extract company. The product was first marketed as a dietary supplement in 2002. By 2005 it was the active ingredient in CoffeeSlender, a popular weight-loss product in Norway, and the product launched in the UK the following year. At the 2006 Health Ingredients Europe conference, boosted by recently published clinical-study findings on Svetol's weight-loss efficacy, it received the Bronze Award in the best ingredient category.

In January 2008, Naturex, an international natural ingredient manufacturer, acquired Berkem's clinically tested plant extract division, of which a prime product was Svetol. The acquisition by the larger company boosted the marketing force behind the product, and Naturex brought Svetol to the U.S. market. Also in 2008, the division of the joint company completed and published a review of studies investigating Svetol's efficacy, mechanism of action, and bioavailability.

In April and September 2012, The Dr. Oz Show featured green coffee extract, and conducted its own placebo-controlled study as to its efficacy. Dr. Oz specifically recommended either Svetol or GCA as the green coffee extract brands to assist with weight-loss goals. As of 2013, Svetol has increasingly been cited as one of the two brands of green coffee extract that is standardized to contain at least 45% chlorogenic acid, and as the brand of choice for green coffee extract supplementation. In 2013 EuroPharma added Svetol to its line, stating that it shows "some of the most impressive clinical data available". As of 2013, Svetol is the number one slimming ingredient in the U.S., and is used in 100 co-branded products in North America.

Clinical studies and mechanism of action
In a study published in 2006 in Phytothérapie, a randomized, placebo-controlled clinical trial used a group of 50 overweight volunteers to test Svetol over the course of 60 days. Subjects receiving Svetol showed significant decrease of weight, body mass index, and fat mass. In a 2007 report published in AgroFOOD Industry Hi-Tech, studies carried out on Svetol's efficacy and the mechanism of action were reviewed, including two clinical trials and an in vitro study. The report concluded that "Svetol has demonstrated its validity and could be used to aid the recommended diet in a useful and positive manner." The report also concluded that Svetol works as a fat burner to reduce body mass index and increase the lean mass to fat mass ratio via two mechanisms of action: by decreasing intestinal absorption of glucose and also by inhibiting glucose-6-phosphatase in the liver. A study published in 2007 in the Journal of International Medical Research detailed two randomized clinical studies which measured the effects on glucose absorption and body mass of a coffee product whose active component was Svetol. The study concluded that Svetol has a significant effect on the absorption and utilization of dietary glucose, and if used for an extended time can result in reduced body mass and body fat.

A 2010 in vitro study detailed in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry showed that Svetol significantly inhibited glucose 6-phosphate hydrolysis in intact human liver microsomes in a competitive manner, and that this inhibition by Svetol contributes to its antidiabetic, glucose-lowering effects by reducing hepatic glucose production. An overview of randomized clinical trials published in 2011 in Gastroenterology Research and Practice reiterated that intake of Svetol can promote weight loss. In a 2012 study using mice, published in Nutritional Neuroscience, Svetol's effect on insulin resistance and brain energy metabolism was investigated. Svetol significantly attenuated the development of high-fat diet-induced deficits in glucose-tolerance response; and it also improved brain mitochondrial energy metabolism, and modulated a number of genes in the brain that are implicated in cellular energy metabolism. And a 2013 study published in Phytotherapy Research determined that longterm Svetol use has a lipolytic activity unrelated to possible trace amounts of caffeine; the study concluded that the release of free fatty acids from adipose tissue from longterm Svetol use is due to Svetol's chlorogenic acid action.