Pharmacognosic researches on medicinal teas used for weight loss purposes

Obesity is characterized by excessive or abnormal fat accumulation that causes a risk for health, impairs quality of life and reduces lifespan. This fat accumulates in adipose tissue and other organs such as the liver and skeletal muscles. Overweight and obesity are a serious health problem caused by the imbalance between calories taken and calories burned, and can cause various other diseases, especially type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, cancer, etc. The fact that the surgical methods and medicinal products used in the treatment of obesity are expensive and cause various side effects have led people to new alternatives for treatment. In this context, diet-based therapies and herbal remedies preferred for weight loss are widely used in traditional medicine and complementary and alternative medicine systems. Medicinal plants realize their anti-obesity effects through 5 basic mechanisms. These mechanisms are to control appetite, stimulate thermogenesis and lipid metabolism, inhibit pancreatic lipase activity, prevent adipogenesis, and promote lipolysis. Herbal (medicinal) teas prepared from various parts of plants have been used for centuries in nutrition, for their beneficial effects on health and for the treatment of many diseases such as obesity. A number of public health problems have come to the fore with the increasing consumption of herbal tea due to the claims that it has positive effects on health in the society. For this reason, quality control studies and clinical studies are very important to ensure the safety and effectiveness of herbal tea. The purpose of this study is to determine the content of herbal teas for weight loss by using macroscopic and microscopic methods, to prove whether they are specified / true plants in them and to investigate the effect of frequently used herbs on obesity. The content determination of 20 packs of herbal form tea mixture purchased from various pharmacies, herbalists, markets and the internet in Istanbul was made using a stereo microscope. As a result of the investigations; Prunus avium L. (cherry), Erica spp. (heather), Foeniculum vulgare Mill. (fennel), Rosmarinus officinalis L. (rosemary), Camellia sinensis (L.) Kuntze (green tea) and Cassia spp. (senna) were determined as the 6 most preferred plants in herbal form tea mixtures. Studies on the relationship of these plants, which are found to be used frequently, with obesity have been compiled. As a result of the study, it was determined that the plants declared on the packages did not match the content examined, and various plant species and parts, whose names are not included, were found on the package. As a result of the investigations, contamination, stone, string and insect residues were found in some packages. It has been found that especially open packaged teas can be exposed to contamination due to the environment they are in, and it has been determined that sellers are mostly unaware of the ingredients of the products they sell under the name of slimming tea and do not attach much importance to the storage conditions of the plants. Label information is included in most of the packages in accordance with the quality control standards, and there are recommendations and warnings for the use of teas on the labels. However, it has been observed that there are more problems with products purchased from the internet and herbalists than other products in terms of quality control. Necessary clinical and quality control studies should be carried out on medicinal teas used for weight loss, and such products should not be used without consulting healthcare professionals.