Science and Education Publishing Journal of Food and Nutrition Research 2333-1240 3 8 2015 10 29 Obesity and Natural Products 540 549 EN Patrícia Rosane Leite de Figueiredo Ana Luiza de Albuquerque Siebra Luiz Jardelino de Lacerda Neto Larissa Rolim de Oliveira Andreza Guedes Barbosa Ramos Gyllyandeson de Araújo Delmondes Izabel Cristina Santiago Lemos Cícera Norma Fernandes Saulo Relison Tintino Álefe Brito Monteiro Dayanne Rakelly de Oliveira Francisco Elizaudo de Brito Junior Francisca Valéria Soares de Araújo Pinho Valter Menezes Barbosa Filho Francisco Assis Bezerra da Cunha Alexandre Magno Rodrigues Texeira Roseli Barbosa Diniz Maciel de Sena Junior Cícero Francisco Bezerra Felipe José Galberto Martins da Costa Henrique Douglas Melo Coutinho Irwin Rose de Alencar Menezes, Marta Regina Kerntopf Department of Biological Chemistry, University of Region of Cariri - URCA, Av. Cel Antonio Luiz, 1161, Crato (CE), Brazil JFNR2015389 10.12691/jfnr-3-8-9 2015 7 9 2015 10 8 2015 10 27 Obesity in adults is characterized when the Body Mass Index (BMI) is greater than or equal to 30. It is estimated that 1.7 billion people in the world are overweight or obese, and more than one third of U.S. adults (35.7%) are obese. There are a variety of factors that play a role in obesity, such as behavior, environment, and genetic factors. Usual countermeasures include adequate physical activity, avoidance of calorie-dense foods, and use of certain drugs for promoting weight loss. Surgery is an extreme measure and anyone considering it must have failed consistently in losing weight through lifestyle changes and less invasive methods. The main drugs currently employed in obesity treatment present dangerous side effects, namely: elevation of blood pressure, insomnia, constipation, headaches, among others. For this reason, a wide variety of natural materials have been explored for their obesity treatment potential. Considering that natural anti-obesity products have different mechanisms, the recommended approach to research a more effective obesity treatment, reaching the associated synergistic effects, must involve the combination of natural products and/or products with multiple activities. This chapter describes several natural products with anti-obesity activity, and active components and mechanisms of action to combat obesity.