Garcinia Cambogia - does it work?

Not for weight loss in humans, maybe for blood sugar, the research on side effects is minimal. Weight loss occurred in rats but not in humans.

From WebMD: Possibly Ineffective for:

Weight loss. Taking garcinia fruit rind extract doesn't seem to decrease weight, fat breakdown, or energy expenditure in overweight people. There is some mixed evidence that garcinia might help people feel full even when eating less, but it's too early to recommend garcinia for this use.

http://examine.com/supplements/Garcinia+Cambogia/:

At least in rats, evidence of suppressed de novo lipogenesis has been noted and oral consumption of (-)-Hydroxycitric acid appears to reliably reduce food intake and body weight (the latter to a degree where food intake cannot explain all the observed effects). Studies in humans, for the most part, fail to replicate this; this may be related to less actual activity of de novo lipogenesis in humans and a much higher level in rats. Some isolated studies do note weight loss, but it appears to be quite variable and unreliable. Many studies also do report subjective appetite decrease, but tend to record dropout rates (how often people leave the study due to being unable to maintain the diet protocol) rather than food intake; even then the benefits are still unreliable and sometimes not present. Although there is some limited potential for (-)-Hydroxycitric acid as a weight loss aid, the magnitude of effect is quite low (up to 2kg over 3 months) and the benefit is unreliable; making it hard to recommend this compound as a fat burner or anti-obesity agent.

i've been taking garcinia cambogia for about a month now... I have been losing 2.5 pounds a week BUT i also switched to a whole food/plant based diet so (and walking daily), not sure if I can attribute the weight loss to the GC, I am going to stop taking it for a month and see if my results change or stay the same... if they stay the same I will probably drop the GC altogether. I will follow-up in 30 days with results

I've been using it for about 2 months now, and I've lost 21 pounds. But I've been eating better too, so the loss is probably a combination of both.

The thing about Garcinia Cambogia is, it is cheap, so no one is making tons of money off of it. I have found it very helpful for decreasing my appetite and making it far easier for me to say no when it comes to sweets. I have only been taking it for 2 weeks, am probably at my ideal weight already, so I haven't seen any weight loss or inches loss yet even though I have been counting calories and exercising too.

While it may or may not help, there is no substitute for eating nutritiously (and less quantity) and getting physical activity. There really is no magic pill or secret formula. The not-so-secret formula is eat less and move more!

Amy? Is that you?

Sorry I posted something a second ago thinking you were asking about MyFitnessPal.

Let's assume it works great. What happens when you stop taking the pill? Stop grasping for temporary solutions to a lifelong problem.

I tried it, NOT worth it. It's definitely not worth the money either. I took it for a month and lost 8 pounds, eating whatever I wanted and not exercising. But that isn't healthy. And as soon as I stopped taking it, those 8 pounds came right back. Don't waste your money on junk like I did, get into a fitness and exercise routine.

i took it for a few months and it acted as a mild appetite suppressant. i would advise you to save your money. also, i think a lot of the "real" reviews for the product, are fabricated. be wary of "GET ONE FREE BOTTLE" cons.

First off GC is supposed to be an appetitie surpressant, not something that makes you lose fat. I, for one need something to reduce my appetite. Just ordered a bottle. I'll let you know if it works.

As for losing weight, I lost 100 pounds over a year ago. Regained it back because I turned my focus from me to the *kitten* of a husband (now ex). He put me through hell and back - left me and played games. FIrst he wanted to come back, then he didn't....it was a nightmare. Anyway, from all of that I regained my weight that I worked so effing hard to lose!! I started working out again 2 weeks ago...starting to get energy back, which makes me very happy.

All I can say is never again. Focus will remain on me always.

Bump!

Another link implicating GC liver toxicity
http://no-baloney.com/2013/04/03/the-newest-fat-buster-is-a-bust-garcinia-cambogia/

A few days ago someone else was asking about this stuff. Here's a link to that thread:

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1213351-my-1st-post-please-i-need-help

Please specifically note this reply:

Right off the bat - NO there is no shortcut pill.

Since I'm bored, I checked out what the National Toxicology Program had to say about this stuff.. Side effects they mention include arrhythmia (irregular heartbeat), rhabdomyolysis (destruction of muscle fibers that leads to them being in your bloodstream, in turn causing kidney damage), and hypokalemia (potassium deficiency)

In animal trials – no weight differences were found between a treated group and a control group after four weeks, but the treated group had lower insulin and leptin levels from taking it.. Increased serotonin levels in vitro (just in case youre planning more children)


So short version, this stuff has the potential to really mess you up and going by the animal trials, wont help you lose weight. Plus it's pushed by Dr Oz, which is a red flag all by itself.




http://ntp.niehs.nih.gov/ntp/htdocs/Chem_Background/ExSumPdf/GarciniaCambogiaExt_508.pdf

ETA: The above link is from the National Institute of Health, which is way more credible than most sources I've seen mentioned so far. If you don't believe that, well, do as you will. Just be very careful taking supplements like this, as they are NOT regulated, and often don't contain as much (if any) of the ingredient they're supposed to. Recent studies have show that some of them even contain items that could be potentially harmful if you have allergies.

Thanks!