What is Raspberry Ketone?

Published:February 17th, 2012

Raspberry ketone is the natural phenolic compound found primarily in red raspberries. This compound is responsible for the aroma of the raspberries.  It has been used in manufacturing cosmetics and perfumes. It is also used as a natural flavor in the food industry. Raspberry ketone is one of the most expensive flavoring compounds used in the food industry. There is a yield of about 4 mg of raspberry ketone per 1 kilogram of raspberries.

Raspberry ketones were first recognized in the 1960s. The Federal Drug Administration (FDA) has given raspberry ketones a status of ‘GRAS’ or ‘generally recognized as safe’ compound. Because of its scarcity, raspberry ketone can be chemically formulated from Comaroyl- CoA, which is also a natural compound. The chemically formed raspberry ketone is also considered safe.

Raspberries are naturally high in antioxidants and have been used in herbal and traditional medicines for centuries. Raspberries have been used to help relax blood vessels, which can help reduce heart problems and other health problems. Raspberry ketone has been used in traditional medicine to boost immunity. It has been used in health supplements due to its high concentration of antioxidants. In the past few years, raspberry ketone has entered the diet supplement world and has been promoted as a weight loss product. There are not reported side effects of consuming higher doses of raspberry ketone. Therefore it is considered a safe supplement.

New animal researches have shown that consuming raspberry ketones in high doses such as 2 percent of total food intake prevents high fat diet induced elevations in body weight. This is due to the alteration of lipid metabolism, which increases norepinephrine induced lipolysis.  Lipolysis is the breakdown of lipid (fat) cells in the body.

Clinical trials in Japan have looked at the weight loss effect of raspberry ketone in mice. These studies concluded that the accumulation of fat in liver and as adipose tissue was much lower for the animals that were given raspberry ketone in high doses. Although there are no human studies to prove efficacy, raspberry ketone shows promise as a fat burning supplement.


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