Journal Publication

Botanical CL19183 cuts body weight and fat versus placebo in 16-week RCT

A randomized, placebo-controlled trial of the citrus-cacao extract combination Theolim showed greater weight loss, fat loss, and resting metabolic rate gains in overweight adults.

By AppliedXLJuly 14, 2025

Executive Summary

A randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial asked whether a standardized botanical combination of lime rind and cacao seed extracts reduces body weight and improves body composition in overweight adults over 16 weeks.
The active arm lost more weight, body fat, and body mass index than placebo, and also showed a rise in resting metabolic rate that placebo did not.
Biomarker changes, including higher adiponectin and GLP-1 and lower ghrelin, point toward a metabolic and appetite-regulation effect rather than a purely mechanical calorie-restriction result.
The treatment was reported as well tolerated with no major adverse events over the study period.

The stake

CL19183 combines standardized extracts of Citrus aurantifolia (lime) fruit rind and Theobroma cacao seed into a proprietary composition studied for thermogenic, or heat- and metabolism-boosting, activity. Earlier work had shown weight loss and thermogenic effects in high-fat-diet obese rats, but that rodent signal needed testing in people before it could support any claim about human weight management. This trial was designed to test exactly that: whether the composition lowers body weight and improves body composition in overweight adults using a controlled, blinded design rather than an open-label or animal model. A

How it was done: a 120-patient, 16-week RCT

The study randomized 120 overweight men and women, ages 25 to 55, with a body mass index of 25 to 29.9 kg/m2, to either 450 mg of CL19183 daily or a matched placebo, 60 per arm, across multiple sites for 16 weeks. The primary efficacy outcome was body weight reduction in the intention-to-treat population, meaning all randomized subjects were analyzed regardless of adherence. Secondary measures included body composition by DEXA scan (a bone-and-fat imaging method), waist and hip circumference, resting metabolic rate by indirect calorimetry, serum lipids, and serum biomarkers by ELISA (an antibody-based blood test). Safety was assessed through serum biochemistry, hematology, and urinalysis. A

The result

CL19183 supplementation reduced body weight by 4.25 kg on average versus 0.96 kg with placebo (p=0.0001, 95% CI 1.47 to 8.59), and reduced BMI by 1.57 kg/m2 versus 0.36 kg/m2 with placebo (p<0.0001, 95% CI 0.87 to 2.11). Total body fat fell 4.28 kg in the active arm versus 0.85 kg with placebo (p<0.0001, 95% CI 2.35 to 7.79), and fat percentage also declined more with CL19183 (p<0.0001). These figures describe the gap between the active arm and placebo at 16 weeks against the trial's own prespecified primary weight-loss outcome, which the composition met. A

The metabolic signal

Resting metabolic rate, the energy the body burns at rest, rose with CL19183 both after a single dose and again after 16 weeks of continued use, in each case outpacing placebo (p<0.0001). At 8 and 16 weeks, the active arm also showed higher serum adiponectin (a hormone tied to fat metabolism) and glucagon-like peptide-1 (an appetite-regulating hormone), alongside lower ghrelin (a hunger-stimulating hormone), compared with both baseline and placebo. Combined with the weight and fat results, this pattern is consistent with an effect on energy expenditure and appetite signaling rather than solely reduced food intake, though the trial did not report a mechanistic study isolating which pathway drives the effect. A

Tolerability

No major adverse events were reported during the 16-week study period, and the authors characterized CL19183 as well tolerated. Complete blood chemistry, hematology, and urine testing were performed as part of the safety assessment, though the abstract did not break out specific laboratory findings beyond the tolerability conclusion. A

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