Bitter Orange has served many ancient cultures for its medicine effects in treating a large variety of health distorders. Today bitter orange teas, tinctures and extracts are still used to treat gastrointestinal disorders, insomnia, head aches and obesity.

Bitter Orange for Better Health

Bitter orange has a complex chemical makeup specifically in the oil that is extracted from the peel. This oil it produces iw what gives bitter orange its strong odor and flavor, and is used to treat a variety of health problems. The peel contains flavones, the alkaloids synephrine, octopamine, and N-methyltyramine, and carotenoids.

Only the peel of Bitter Orange has proven medicinal value, and mainly for digestive problems and health concerns. However, in folk medicine the flower of Bitter Orange is also used -- not only to treat gastrointestinal disorders, but treat a myria of health problems ranging from nervousness and insomnia to gout and sore throat, and even for obesity. In oriental medicine, the flower fo the Bitter orange is used for poor appetite, chest and stomach pain, and vomiting. Homeopathic practitioners use both the peel and the flower to remedy both headaches and pain.

Today Bitter orange continued to be employed in a wide variety of traditions. In Latin America the leaf of the Bitter Orange plan is prepared as a tonic and used as a laxative, a sedative for insomnia, and to calm anxiety. The peel of the fruit is used to treat stomach aches and high blood pressure. Some cultures in parts of use bitter orange peel as an anti-spasmodic. In traditional oriental medicine, the bitter orange peal is used to treat indigestion, abdominal pain, constipation, and dysenteric diarrhea. Bitter orange is still used throughout the world as a cure for insomnia and indigestion.


Bitter Orange for Weight Loss

Bitter orange contains several chemical compounds believed to stimulate metabolic rate, which may increase calorie burning in the body. While no clinical trails have substantiated the effectiveness of bitter orange as weight loss supplement, it appears to be effective in combination with St. John’s wort and caffeine.