4 MARKET WEIGHT MANAGEMENT : SIX POSSIBLE MEANS OF ACTION There are several possible means of action that an ingredient targeting overweight management can choose from, such as those targeted by certain anti-obesity drugs. Overview of these pathways and of the ingredients that “match” the underlying mechanisms. IncreasIngtheenergy example is capsaicin, which sti- mulates the sympatho-adrenergic expendIture activity, and fucoxanthin, which in- duces the expression of the UCP1 protein in the adipose tissue mito- Excessive adiposity is mainly chondria Capsimax(OmniActive® . attributed to energy homeos- Health Technologies), an encapsu- tasis imbalance, as in this case lated form of capsicum extracted the food intake is higher than the from the seeds of hot red peppers, energy expenditure. Increasing demonstrated in three randomized, energy expenditure is crucial for double-blind studies conducted obtaining a negative energy ba- in normal weight, overweight or lance and therefore for losing obese subjects that it could fur- weight. In the human body, the ther increase energy expenditure adipose tissue and its uncoupling and the use of fats before, during protein UCP1 (also known as ther- and after exercise as compared mogenin) play a key role in trans- to placebo subjects. Xanthigen® forming food energy into heat. (PLT Health solution), which is made of two compounds, fucoxan- An ingredient able to increase the thin extracted from brown algae UCP1 protein gene expression (Undaria pinnatifida) and punicic and therefore energy expendi- acid from pomegranate seed oil, ture would be a significant asset also acts by increasing thermoge- in weight management. Such an nesis in the white adipose tissue.