Using Natural Appetite Suppressants to Lose Weight: What You Need to Know
Key takeaways:
A natural appetite suppressant is any food, drink, or herb that curbs hunger.
Natural appetite suppressants typically work via one or a combination of these mechanisms: activating the gastrointestinal tract’s stretch receptors, delaying gastric emptying, and triggering appetite-regulating hormones.
Examples of natural appetite suppressants include glucomannan, chili peppers, and yerba mate.
Natural appetite suppressants may curb hunger and result in modest weight loss in the short term, but they’re best seen as a crutch; for lasting results, you’d still need to implement concomitant healthy lifestyle changes.
Imagine an 8/10 hunger pang. Trying to finish that email, Excel sheet, deck, or report (or anything productive, really) is like trudging through sludge. Because your mind is hyper-focused on one thing: food.
Write a line — “Caramelized, nutty, gooey macadamia cookies!” Move down a cell in Excel — “Warm, buttery, deliciously flaky croissants!”
It, along with your stomach, sure isn’t shy about letting you know what they want.
But you have to say no. You’re on a diet! So, is there anything you could do to get them to quieten down? Good news: low-to-no-calorie natural appetite suppressants could help take the edge off without threatening your weight loss goals.
What is a natural appetite suppressant?
Let’s break the term down into two parts:
Appetite-suppressant: Something that makes you feel more full and have fewer food cravings.
Natural: Derived from foods and plants instead of synthetically made in a lab.
Putting it together, a natural appetite suppressant means any foods, drinks, or herbs that suppress appetite. How, though? Through one or a combination of the following mechanisms.
#1: Stretch the stomach
How does your body tell your brain that you’re full?
One of the ways is through gastrointestinal stretch receptors. These detect the distension of the stomach and intestines in the presence of food, directly stimulating neuronal pathways to your brain — triggering satiation and appetite reduction.
Interestingly, this response depends on distension volume, not nutritional composition.
In other words … this presents an opportunity for you to “trick” your brain into thinking it's full without consuming many calories. More on this in a bit.
#2: Delay gastric emptying
The relationship between appetite and gastric emptying is complex, but a large body of research agrees. Physiological or artificially induced delay of gastric emptying appears to be linked with:
Increased feelings of satiety and fullness
Cessation of food intake
#3: Trigger appetite-regulating hormones
Think about appetite-regulating hormones, and your mind will naturally jump to ghrelin (i.e., the “hunger hormone”) and leptin (i.e., the “satiety hormone”).
But these aren’t the only hormones involved in appetite control. There’s also:
Cholecystokinin (CCK)
Peptide YY (PYY)
… that play a role in regulating your energy intake.
Going back to natural appetite suppressants, you’ll often find that they upregulate satiety-promoting hormones while downregulating hunger-promoting hormones.
Natural appetite suppressants that work
OK, now that we’ve covered the (slightly more boring) bit about how they work, let’s get to the part you’ve been waiting for. An exciting list of evidence-based natural appetite suppressants.
Natural appetite suppressants found in an everyday diet
Water
Mechanism: Stretches your stomach
A 2018 study published in Clinical Nutrition Research found that when participants drank water before a meal, they ate less food than they would if they didn’t.
More promisingly, several studies have found an association between an increase in water intake (to a total of 1 to 1.5 liters daily) and a significant reduction in weight, body mass index (BMI), and body fat.
How to Use:
To use water as a natural appetite suppressant:
Drink water before eating a meal
Stay adequately hydrated throughout the day (~3.7 liters of fluids for men and ~2.7 liters of fluids for women)
Glucomannan
Mechanism: Delays gastric emptying
A water-soluble, fermentable dietary fiber extracted from the tuber or root of the elephant yam (aka konjac).
Research supports glucomannan’s satiety-enhancing and appetite-reducing effects. According to a 2008 systematic review of 14 studies published in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, the use of glucomannan significantly lowered body weight.
How to Use:
To use glucomannan as a natural appetite suppressant, source for a glucomannan supplement from a credible, third-party-tested brand. You should also ideally consult your healthcare provider for specific supplementation advice.
Chili peppers
Mechanism: Triggers
In a 2014 study published in Appetite, researchers found that individuals who consumed red pepper with every meal felt increased feelings of fullness and had fewer cravings.
Why? One word: capsaicin. As a transient receptor potential vanilloid 1 (TRPV1) agonist, capsaicin appears to boost GLP-1 secretion, slowing gastric emptying and decreasing appetite.
How to Use:
To use chili peppers as a natural appetite suppressant:
Find more opportunities to cook with chili peppers (e.g., stir-fry, roast, add into curries)
Can’t take the heat? A less fiery alternative would be capsaicin supplements (e.g., cayenne pepper extract).
Coffee
Mechanism: Triggers appetite-regulating hormones
If you love coffee for its focus-sharpening effect, you probably already know that caffeine is the hero ingredient.
But something you might not have realized about caffeine is that it’s also a natural appetite suppressant. There is some evidence showing that it may help you eat less in a subsequent meal.
As for why, researchers theorize that its bitterness may stimulate the secretion of appetite-suppressing gastrointestinal hormones and modulate gut motility.
How to Use:
To use coffee as a natural appetite suppressant, drink it before a meal. Just be sure to stay within the recommended daily caffeine limit of 400 mg (about four to five cups of coffee).
Green tea
Mechanism: Triggers appetite-regulating hormones
In a 2009 study published in Clinical Nutrition, green tea increased satiety and suppressed hunger even when participants were in a calorie deficit.
This, in turn, may explain why this 2016 study, also published in Clinical Nutrition, found that 12 weeks of treatment with high-dose green tea extract resulted in significant weight loss.
The two bioactive compounds thought to be responsible are caffeine and epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG). We’ve already covered how caffeine affects appetite, so let’s talk about EGCG.
It’s theorized that EGCG affects dopamine levels, which is a neurotransmitter known to contribute to the regulation of normal appetite and food reward.
How to Use:
To use green tea as a natural appetite suppressant:
Sip on green tea throughout the day (note: a 230-ml cup of green tea contains anywhere between 30 and 50 mg of caffeine, so be extra careful if you’re also drinking coffee)
Wish to skip the caffeine? You could go for EGCG extract supplementation.
Conjugated linoleic acid
Mechanism: Triggers appetite-regulating hormones
An omega-6 fatty acid found naturally in dairy products and beef.
According to a 2003 study published in the European Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 13 weeks of CLA supplementation increased participants’ feelings of fullness and satiety, plus decreased feelings of hunger.
This aligns with the findings of a more recent 2016 study published in Nutrition Research. While researchers aren’t sure how CLA suppresses appetite, they think it may have something to do with leptin.
How to Use:
To use CLA as a natural appetite suppressant, look for a high-quality CLA supplement from a trusted source (recommended dosage: 1.6 to 6.8 g daily).
Herbs that suppress appetite
Heading into slightly unfamiliar (i.e., you wouldn’t usually spot them in anyone’s kitchen), tongue-tying territory, here are six herbs that suppress appetite.
Yerba mate
Mechanism: Triggers appetite-regulating hormones
A type of caffeinated herbal tea prepared from the leaves of Ilex paraguaruensis, an evergreen tree that grows in South America.
A 2013 study published in Appetite found that participants experienced significant reductions in food intake and energy intake after consuming a patented herb extract containing yerba mate.
How to Use:
To use yerba mate as a natural appetite suppressant:
Consider drinking a cup of tea made with 3 grams of yerba mate leaves daily
If you’d like to skip the hassle of making tea, go for a yerba mate supplement from a trusted source (defer to the supplement label and your healthcare provider for specific dosing instructions)
Fenugreek
Mechanism: Delays gastric emptying
A clover-like herb native to the Mediterranean region, southern Europe, and Western Asia.
Fiber-rich fenugreek is thought to suppress appetite by slowing down digestion and gastric emptying.
In a 2009 study published in the European Journal of Clinical Pharmacology, participants who took fenugreek seed extract for two weeks ate significantly less fat and decreased their overall daily calorie intake by almost 12%.
How to Use:
Interested in using fenugreek as a natural appetite suppressant? The recommended daily fenugreek seed extract supplementation dose is 0.6 to 1.2 grams.
Caralluma fimbriata
Mechanism: Triggers appetite-regulating hormones
An edible succulent cacti from India.
According to a 2021 study published in Nature, participants who had supplemented with Caralluma fimbriata extract (CFE) for 16 weeks reported a significant reduction in their calorie intake from baseline compared to the placebo group.
Researchers theorize that CFE may suppress appetite by downregulating ghrelin synthesis.
How to Use:
Interested in using caralluma fimbriata as a natural appetite suppressant? The recommended daily dose for CFE supplementation is 500 mg, twice daily.
Garcinia cambogia
Mechanism: Triggers appetite-regulating hormones
A tropical plant native to India and Southeast Asia that looks like a cross between a pumpkin and a tomato.
Several studies, including this 2005 randomized controlled trial published in the International Journal of Clinical Pharmacology Research, have found garcinia cambogia suppresses appetite and increases feelings of fullness.
Wondering why garcinia cambogia works as a natural appetite suppressant?
It’s because of its hydroxycitric acid (HXA) content, which may increase appetite-regulating serotonin in the brain.
The ideal dosage for garcinia cambogia supplementation remains unknown; consult your primary healthcare provider for their advice.
Griffonia simplicifolia
Mechanism: Triggers appetite-regulating hormones
A shrub native to West Africa.
In a 2012 study published in Eating and Weight Disorders, participants who had supplemented with an herbal mix containing Griffonia simplicifolia for four weeks noted an increase in satiety and reduced binge eating tendencies.
Griffonia simplicifolia is a rich source of 5-Hydroxytryptophan (5-HTP), an amino acid your body uses to produce appetite-regulating serotonin.
The recommended daily dosage for griiffonia simplicifolia supplementation is 120 mg daily.
Gymnema sylvestre
Mechanism: Suppresses taste responses to sweet compounds
A woody plant found in Southeast Asia and India that has been used for many years in the Ayurvedic system of medicine.
Gymnema sylvestre, as a natural appetite suppressant, is somewhat unique.
Unlike the others covered thus far, it doesn’t work by stretching the stomach, delaying gastric emptying, or impacting appetite-regulating hormones.
Instead, the gymnemic acids found in the plant appear to selectively suppress taste responses to sweet compounds — significantly reducing participants’ desire to eat chocolate in a 2020 study published in Nutrients.
The recommended daily dosage for gymnema sylvestre is 100 mg, three to four times daily.
What if you still don’t see the results you want?
Trying the natural appetite suppressants listed in this article is an excellent first step toward weight loss. But what if they’re not enough?
In that case, consider a multi-pronged approach that combines the power of guided, personalized nutrition and a fitness program: NOVI Optimum.