Garcinia cambogia weight-loss pill is no miracle The claims make this supplement tempting, but they're untrue

Garcinia cambogia is hot. Nearly a million Americans each month Google this supposed weight-loss supplement. They're looking for reviews on garcinia cambogia's effectiveness, what kind of side effects it causes, and where they can buy it. My mom recently bought a bottle of the pills at Costco because she saw a segment about garcinia cambogia on a TV show.

Garcinia cambogia, also known as tamarind, is a fruit that grows in Southeast Asia. Manufacturers claim that it boosts weight loss by, among other things, "slowing the body's ability to absorb fat," "replacing fat with toned muscles," and even improving your mood and suppressing "the drive to react to stressful situations with food." How, you may ask? It's mostly pinned on hydroxycitric acid (HCA), a substance found in garcinia cambogia that appears to inhibit an enzyme called citrate lyase and interferes with fatty acid metabolism.

“HCA does do that—but in a petri dish," says Steven Heymsfield, M.D., the former head of the Pennington Biomedical Research Center in Baton Rouge, La. "Converting that to actual weight loss in humans would take 1,000 steps beyond that," he says.
Back in 1998, Heymsfield published the first randomized controlled trial on the effectiveness of garcinia cambogia, in the Journal of the American Medical Association. He found no weight-loss benefits. Heymsfield, who continues to study the topic of weight-loss supplements at Pennington, says that about a dozen negative studies have since been published about garcinia cambogia. But that has not stopped marketers of the supplement, he says, from “weaving a story with obscure facts. Maybe each fragment has some validity, but if you wind it together it makes no sense at all.”
His original study, conducted by Columbia University’s Obesity Research Center, looked at 135 overweight men and women age 18 to 65; about half were given garcinia cambogia and the other half a placebo three times a day before meals. Both groups ate a high-fiber diet and returned for evaluation every two weeks. At the end of the 12-week trial, there were no important differences in weight loss between the two groups.

A review of 12 trials involving garcinia products published in the Journal of Obesity in 2011 came to the same conclusion. Another study by researchers at Victoria University in Melbourne, Australia, and published in 2013 in the journal  Complementary Therapies in Medicine found that overall the evidence for garcinia cambogia was “not compelling.”
As for garcinia cambogia's side effects, controlled studies and animal studies have found very few, although Heymsfield says, “I don’t think it’s 100 percent safe.”
In 2009 the Food and Drug Administration warned consumers about Hydroxycut, a product line containing garcinia cambogia and several other ingredients, based on serious reports of health problems, including jaundice, elevated liver enzymes, liver damage requiring a transplant, and one death from liver failure. The FDA said it was unable to determine exactly which ingredients were associated with the liver injuries. (Hydroxycut's manufacturer, Iovate Health Sciences, withdrew the products, though it has since returned a reformulated product to the market containing no garcinia cambogia.)

“Being obese is difficult because only some of it is related to self-control,” Heymsfield says. “And it’s not easy to lose weight in our environment. Just preventing further weight gain is an accomplishment for some people.” The biggest problem with garcinia cambogia, Heymsfield says, besides being a waste of money, is that it distracts people from concentrating on the important things when it comes to weight loss: increasing your activity level and eating a healthier diet.

Garcinia Cambogia (HCA): Is This Right for You?

What Is Garcina Cambogia Extract?
Garcinia cambogia is a small, pumpkin-shaped fruit, sometimes called tamarind. Though native to Indonesia, it is also grown in India, Southeast Asia, and West and Central Africa. It has long been used in traditional South Asian dishes, including curries and chutneys. Many also use the fruit for curing fish and preservation.

Adding this ingredient to meals is considered to be effective in making meals more “filling.” In some villages in Malaysia, garcinia is used to make a soup that is eaten before meals for weight loss because of garcinia’s appetite-blocking abilities.
This plant offers one of the least expensive herbal supplements on the market. The ingredient from the rind of the fruit could hasten your weight-loss efforts. The natural extract is called hydroxycitric acid (HCA), and researchers claim that HCA can double or triple one’s weight loss.
With proper weight-loss efforts (dieting and exercising), the average person taking HCA lost an average of four pounds a month.

Garcinia may also be great for emotional eaters. Those who participated in the study showed an increase in their serotonin levels; hence, it may also improve mood and sleeping patterns.
How Does Garcina Cambogia Work?
The HCA extract from garcinia cambogia supplement aids in weight loss by doing two things: It helps to block fat, and it suppresses your appetite.
HCA blocks fat by inhibiting a key enzyme that your body needs to make fat from carbohydrates: Citrate lyase. Usually carbohydrates or sugars that are not used immediately or stored in other forms are converted into fats. When HCA inhibits citrate lyase, the fat-making process is halted and the production of LDL (bad cholesterol) and triglycerides decrease.
HCA also suppresses appetite by increasing serotonin levels. Serotonin is a neurotransmitter in your brain that makes you feel good. It’s a target of many antidepressant medications. Having low levels of serotonin may make you feel depressed or anxious; it drives many people into emotional or reactive eating. By increasing serotonin levels, HCA improves mood and suppresses the drive to react to stressful situations with food. As you eat less, your body senses this and it releases stored fat in your fat cells.

Side Effects of Garcinia Cambogia Extract

Looking for information on the side effects of taking garcinia cambogia extract?
For the most part, the research points to garcinia cambogia not having any significant adverse side effects, but they are important to know in case its effects could amplify or hinder any medical condition you may have or medication you already take.

• Garcinia has been well tolerated for up to 12 weeks in available human trials. Hydroxycitric acid from the rind given by mouth is likely safe in recommended doses.
• Garcinia cambogia extract may lower blood glucose levels. This can be a huge benefit of the product, but consumers should be aware in case they take medication for this.
• Rhabdomyolysis has been reported, but the product consumed contained many herbal extracts and substances and therefore no sufficient evidence suggests it was the garcinia.
• People suffering Alzheimer’s disease and other dementia syndromes should avoid taking garcinia.

The Dangers of Garcinia Cambogia Extract Diet Pills: What You Need to Know

Tons of people are buzzing about garcinia cambogia extract diet pills—thanks in part to an Internet scam that illegally used the Women's Health brand likeness and copyrighted materials (and the likeness and materials of other respected health brands) to promote the pills.

But here's something else super troubling about all this: All backstory about scammers aside, this particular diet pill can be dangerous to your health.
Garcinia cambogia, which on its own is pretty darn delicious and healthy, is a tropical fruit grown in Indonesia. (It also goes by the name tamarind fruit.) According to Purdue University, it's rich in calcium, phosphorus, iron, thiamine, riboflavin, and niacin. All good things, right?

Well, here's where things get tricky: Its rind contains a compound called hydroxycitric acid (HCA), which proponents claim decreases appetite and prevents your body from storing food as fat. However, since garcinia cambogia extract diet pills are supplements, not drugs, the Food and Drug Administration doesn't regulate their use or review their effectiveness or safety unless, as was the case with OxyElite Pro, their use becomes linked to multiple hospitalizations, says medical weight-loss expert Sue Decotiis, M.D. That means that it's up to manufacturers to decide how much garcinia cambogia their pills pack, as well as what other health-impacting ingredients are added to the mix.

"Most brands of garcinia cambogia extract diet pills, including big names, have failed independent laboratory quality and quantity testing," says Decottis. "Also, there have been no large-scale trials comparing garcinia to placeboes or other supplements. There probably will never be any objective data on garcinia."
What's more, a 2005 study in Food and Chemical Toxicology found that high doses of garcinia cambogia extract caused testicular atrophy and toxicity in mice. Even if you don't have testicles, that's sure to make you cringe.

What is Garnicia Cambogia

he newest “holy grail” of the weight loss industry, the multi-functional Garcinia Cambogia extract is claimed to be a potent appetite suppressant, help stimulate metabolism, inhibit fat production, and improve lean body mass. Sounds pretty good, right? Of course it does, but at what cost?
What are Garcinia Cambogia side effects you should be aware of?

While the final verdict is still out, as it usually is with relatively newly discovered ingredients (although Garcinia Cambogia Extract has actually been studied for its weight loss properties for well over a decade, it’s just now reaching mainstream attention), the initial judgement is that it is proving to be an effective supplement with essentially no negative side effects.

As recommended with any nutritional or herbal supplement, one should consider the many lifestyle and health variables that play into their own lives before taking – and seeking the advice of their doctor with any major questions.