Getting the Skinny on Coleus

This weight-loss aid isn't your grandmother's garden plant.

By Lisa James

June 2005

Here in the United States, coleus is best known as a colorfully leafed plant that makes a spectacular garden show when planted en masse. However, a species of coleus from India is making its mark in this country not for its foliage (an unremarkable green) but for an extract taken from its root called forskolin, which may help promote weight loss among people who are doing all the right things—you know, eating a healthy diet and exercising.

In India, the highly aromatic Coleus forskohlii is found in pickles as a flavoring agent and in the medicine kits of native folk practitioners, who use it to ease discomforted digestive systems. It wasn’t until forskolin was isolated that Western scientists started investigating coleus. Besides helping weight watchers slim down and buff up, this extract shows promise in ameliorating both asthmatic reactions and unhealthy blood pressure levels.

Losing the Flab

Many folks who dream of looking good in a swimsuit obsess about the numbers on the bathroom scale. What they should really be worrying about, though, is the ratio of body fat to what’s called lean body mass—muscles, vital organs, bone, connective tissue. The more lean body mass, the better: Not only does it indicate greater fitness but lean mass burns more calories than an equal quantity of fat. That means the leaner you are, the more likely it is that you will stay that way.

Forskolin helps promote the development of lean body mass by kick-starting a metabolic process that raises levels of cyclic adenosine monophosphate (cAMP), a substance that encourages the breakdown of fatty acids within fat cells. Since the body prefers to use fatty acids to maintain a constant core temperature (a process called thermogenesis), it stands to reason that more fat breakdown equals more lean mass. In addition, forskolin may help rouse a sleepy thyroid gland (located at the base of the neck). The thyroid serves as the body’s energy throttle; if it isn’t active enough, fat—and weight—loss become nearly impossible.

Initial studies into forskolin’s effects are promising. For example, six overweight women took 250 mg of the extract twice a day for eight weeks; they all kept eating and exercising as they had been. Over that time, their average weight and fat content dropped, while lean body mass rose. What’s more, average blood pressure also decreased.

Pressure Valve

It’s not surprising that forskolin helped drop blood pressure along with body fat, since obesity and pressure tend to rise together. Pressure also goes up when the muscles within an artery’s walls tighten up; evidence suggests that forskolin helps those muscles relax and stay supple.
Low levels of cAMP have also been linked to asthma; this illness can leave a person gasping for breath as it narrows the bronchial tubes that carry air to the lungs. By raising cAMP, forskolin helps the airways expand. The extract also stabilizes special cells in the lungs called mast cells; when confronted with allergens, these cells release the histamine that starts an asthmatic chain reaction. (If you take medication for asthma, high blood pressure or any other pre-existing condition, talk to your healthcare practitioner before taking forskolin.)

So if you’re looking to sow the seeds of a serious weight-loss program that will bloom beautifully by summer, try planting a little coleus in your diet.