"Native to eastern Africa, the Arabian Peninsula, Syria, and Southeast Asia, bitter orange now is grown throughout the Mediterranean region and elsewhere, including California and Florida. Bitter orange has been used in traditional Chinese medicine for indigestion, nausea, and constipation. Today, people use various bitter orange products as a dietary supplement for heartburn, nasal congestion, weight loss, appetite stimulation or suppression, and athletic performance. Bitter orange is also applied to the skin for pain, bruises, infections, and bed sores. Bitter orange has been used in cooking and for adding flavor to beer and spirits. The fruit of bitter orange contains the component p-synephrine and other naturally occurring chemicals. p-Synephrine is structurally similar to ephedrine, the main chemical in the herb ephedra, but p-synephrine has different pharmacologic properties (how the chemical acts). Ephedra is banned from dietary supplements by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration because it raises blood pressure and is linked to heart attack and stroke. Bitter orange is commonly used as a substitute for ephedra in dietary supplements. The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) has placed “synephrine (bitter orange)” on its current list of banned drugs, listing it as a stimulant. The fruit, peel, flower, and oil are used and can be taken by mouth in tablets and capsules. Bitter orange oil can be applied to the skin."