Appetite suppressant composition and method relating thereto

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The appetite suppressant composition of the present invention includes both a heating carminative substance and a cooling carminative substance.
Carminative substances are known agents which induce expulsion of gas from the stomach and intestines.
As used herein, the term "heating carminative substance" is a substance having a gastric heating effect and which exhibits a local anesthetic effect in the stomach (particularly upon the gastric nerves controlling hunger) when administered orally at a sufficient dose.
Capsaicin is a preferred heating carminative substance, and is represented by the following chemical structure: ##STR1## An advantage of capsaicin over other local anesthetics (such as procaine hydrochloride) is that it is not subject to rapid hydrolyzation in the stomach.
While standardized oleoresin capsicum (which contains capsaicin) is preferred, crystalline capsaicin may also be used.
Capsaicin may generally be characterized as a vanillylamide having the structure: ##STR2## wherein R is a saturated or unsaturated, branched or unbranched, alkyl moiety having 1-20 carbon atoms (preferably 9-11 carbon atoms) and optionally substituted with one or more hydroxy moieties.
While capsaicin is a preferred heating carminative substance, vanillylamides of the above structure may also be utilized.
Such vanillylamides are known compounds and may readily be synthesized by standard organic synthesis techniques.
For example, vanillylamides suitable for use in the present invention (and the syntheses thereof) are disclosed in U.
S.
Pat.
No.
4,680,313 (which is incorporated herein by reference).
Additional heating carminative substances of the present invention include capsicum or "cayenne pepper" (known commercially as "African Chillies"--Capsicum frutescens L.
, Solanaceae; "Tabasco pepper"--Capsicum annuum L.
, var.
conoides Irish; "Louisiana Long Pepper"--Capsicum annuum var.
longum Sendt; "Louisiana Sport Pepper"--hybrid between the Honka variety of Japanese Capsicum and the Old Louisiana Sport Capsicum, Fam