52 MAY 2018
A PILL FOR
OBESITY
It’s the name on everyone’s lips and it looks set to sweep the
world. Calocurb is the world’s newest weight loss treatment, and
it’s been developed here by Kiwi scientists and technologists…
using New Zealand ingredients including Nelson hops flowers.
Promising to reduce users’
appetites by 20%, the supplement
– which has been
developed over eight years
with the help of $20 million in Ministry
of Business, Innovation and Employment
grant money in 2010 – has been
released in New Zealand a month
ahead of its main focus market: the
United States. “America is the most
overweight (country) in the world
and our absolute target market,”
development company Cal-curb chief
executive Sarah Kennedy says. “Obviously
we wanted to launch in New
Zealand first because this is our home
market and the science was done
here by New Zealand scientists, and
we want to celebrate that.” Acknowledged
as a ‘breakthrough’ in the war
against obesity, the product offers gel
capsules that are taken an hour before
meals. It is the first supplement in the
world to trigger the release of satiety
hormones in the gut that signal the
brain to stop eating. The key ingredient
is Amarasate, a hop flower extract developed
by Plant & Food Research that
is showing promising short-term trials.
Lab trials on human cells show the
extract activates the body’s ‘stop-eating
signal’, research leader Dr John
Ingram says. He has been the first to
try the pills, which costs $60 monthly
for 45 tablets. “I was blown away by
the effect,” he says. “Within an hour,
I knew we had really cracked it.” One
trial involving 19 men of normal weight
showed those who got the hops
extract ate 220 fewer calories each
day – about the same as two pieces
of toast. Researchers screened 900
plants in their hunt to find the most
effective, all-natural bitter compound,
and Nelson’s hops came out on top,
Kennedy says. “The science behind
calocurb is really a story about ‘old
meets new’. We have long known
that bitter compounds can support a
feeling of fullness or satiety, and now
Calocurb’s patented capsule delivers
our bitter hop extract right to where it’s
most effective,” Kennedy says. Most
weight management supplements are
one of three types - fillers, metabolic
stimulants and laxatives. “Calocurb
sits apart from these and represents
a real breakthrough in the category.
It supports appetite, overeating and
hunger management without the
twitchiness and bloating of other
products.” A group of 50 people have
been testing the pills on a casual basis
for six months, and the results are
outstanding. “Honestly, they’ve just
loved it. They come back for a second,
third and fourth (bottle),” Kennedy
says. “It doesn’t stop you from being
hungry, but you eat smaller portions.
I’ve lost about a dress size.” The
natural supplements market in New
Zealand is worth about $20 million annually,
and US$2.1 billion in the United
States. Calocurb, which is licensed by
Cal-curb, went on sale in New Zealand
last month and will launch in the
US later this month, after which the
company will look at other countries
such as China, South Korea and Japan.
Auckland-based Cal-curb is a subsidiary
of 40-year-old New Zealand plantbased
natural health products firm
Lifestream International. “There are no
magic pills out there, but we believe
Calocurb helps people to feel confident
about staying in control of their food
choices,” Kennedy says.