The Health Farm thinks that everyone should chill out a little bit. We highly recommend Relora® Max, which is a natural proprietary blend of a patented extract of Magnolia officinalis and a proprietary extract from Phellodendron amurense. Relora® was developed as an ingredient for dietary supplements and functional foods that could be used in stress management and for stress-related appetite control. This patented blend of plant extracts is the result of screening more than fifty plant fractions from traditional plant medicines used around the world. Relora® has excellent stress management properties without causing sedation.

Relora® Max is a natural stress management ingredient that helps control stress-related eating and has the added value of being non-sedating. In central nervous system receptor binding assays the plant extracts in Relora® binds to several important targets associated with stress. It does not bind to the benzodiazepine receptors that would cause sedation, yet has the relaxing qualities that have been demonstrated in both animal and human studies. In addition, it normalizes hormone levels associated with stress-induced weight gain and eating behavior. Stress has been shown to play a significant role in a variety of conditions. A large percentage of overweight adults have excessive abdominal fat due to stress-related over eating. Relora® appears to maintain healthy hormone levels in stressed individuals and act as an aid in controlling weight and stress-related eating.

Relora® Max Prevents Weight Gain
When chronic stress occurs, the adrenal glands release stress hormones in large amounts. Elevated stress hormones may lead to excess body fat in several ways. First, they are a potent signal to the brain to increase our appetites and cravings for pleasurable foods, or "comfort foods" such as sugar, fat, and alcohol. Second, these hormones act as a signal to our fat cells to hold onto as much fat and release as little stored fat as they can. Next, they block the effects of many hormones such as insulin, so blood sugar control suffers and comfort food cravings go up. Stress hormones can also interfere with serotonin, one of our brain's mood chemicals, leading to a depressed feeling and a drive for more comfort foods. Plus these hormones interfere with the hormone known as growth hormone resulting in muscle loss and fat gain. Lastly, sustained stress hormone elevation can lower thyroid function and that means that your metabolism gets turned down. All of these effects can combine to cause our bodies to take in more calories and burn off fewer calories — so we gain weight — and we tend to gain it specifically around our bellies (which increases our risk for hypertension, diabetes and heart disease).

Excess Tummy Flab is not your fault
That's the startling conclusion reached by scientists who discovered stress is the likely cause of stubborn belly fat. But instead of simply identifying the problem, this time they may have found the solution! According to government researchers, the link between stress, tension, and excess belly fat is clear. High levels of cortisol stress hormone can cause pound after pound of excess body fat to accumulate around your waist and tummy, a health-threatening, figure-destroying condition affecting an estimated 47 million Americans... mostly women.

8 out of 10 people feel more relaxed
Relora® helps control stress-related symptoms, such as: irritability; emotional ups and downs; restlessness; tense muscles; poor sleep; concentration difficulties. Post trial analysis revealed an excellent agreement with the pretrial concept. In addition, Relora® reduced stress-related snacking of sweets, such as ice cream, cake, pie, and cookies by 76% in those individuals that claimed they ate these types of foods under stress.

Clinical Trial
A double-blind placebo-controlled clinical trial with Relora® was completed in January 2004. The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of Relora® in overweight women who typically eat more in stressful situations. Twenty-eight subjects completed the study and Relora® was well tolerated. There was a significant weight gain during the study for the placebo group but no significant weight gain and some weight loss for the Relora® group. There was also a significant reduction in anxiety scores. The mechanism of action appears to be through reduction or normalization of stress hormone levels, and possibly perceived stress, thereby helping subjects maintain body weight.