Recently a friend of mine emailed a me a link to website that sells a product called Garcinia cambogia. On it was a video of Dr. Oz touting its miraculous effects as a “magic bullet” for weight loss. The website has since been shut down, but trust me, it was quite a work of theater. Click here for a youtube video somebody made of the episode.
He puts on this amazing show with a patronizing, child-like model liver and a rather impressive, if not oversimplified and pseudoscientific, computer animation of someone’s gastrointestinal tract absorbing a food that appears to be Kix cereal as far as I can tell. Click on the video to see for yourself. Now that you’ve been wowed with the magic of television, I thought I’d show you how accurate the claims are based on my own research.
What you actually get in the pills is a substance called hydroxycitric acid. The chemical name is more DuPont than Whole Foods and takes away some of the back-to-the-Earth allure than the fruit from which it is extracted. This is a fruit found in Southeast Asia that is a regular part of their cuisine there and has been used in medicinal contexts. It inhibits an enzyme called citrate cleavage enzyme which, in animal studies, suppresses fatty acid production, decreases food intake, and decreases body weight gain. Sounds pretty good. But I thought I’d point out a few of the danger zones in the claims of the website and the recommendations of the esteemed Dr. Oz.
1. The magical claim. This is not hyperbole on my part. He used the term ‘magic bullet’. I have said this many times. If there was a truly magic pill that could melt away body fat without exercise or dietary modification, someone would be making billions off it by now. You would also sure know about it because everyone would be on it and the obesity crisis would be over. I would then have fewer patients and more time to work on my golf game (actually, I’ve never played golf – no time – sorry to ruin the doctor cliche). As you may have noticed on your last trip to Walmart, our nation is not getting less fat.
The facts: When you look behind the curtain of the great and powerful Oz, things are less exciting. His own guest doctor only reported about 4 pounds a month lost in the studies and recommended that the supplement be included with diet and exercise. As for the real research, a systematic review published in the American Journal of Nutrition (2004;79:529-369) discussed Garcinia and concluded that “overall, the evidence for G. cambrogia is not compelling.” This was because there were some studies that showed benefit and some that didn’t. Regardless, it is true that there have been legitimate scientific studies that show weight loss with hydroxycitric acid, but these are countered by an equal number of legitimate scientific studies that showed no more benefit than taking a sugar pill.
2. The reference-less “quote”. The website I was sent was written as if it was a quote from who knows what he or she is talking about yet it doesn’t provide any references for the claims on the page. Here’s the quote:
“Let’s cut to the chase: The most recent study on Garcinia Cambogia published in the Diabetes, Metabolic Syndrome and Obesity journal followed a group of 16 adults who supplemented with Garcinia Cambogia for only 12 weeks. Over the course of the study, the subjects lost an average of 17 pounds each – this was 10.5% of their overall body weight and 16% of their overall body fat!”
The facts. I found the website of the Diabetes, Metabolic Syndrome, and Obesity Journal and ran a search on Garcinia but found no articles on the topic. I searched google scholar and pubmed as well and found nothing. Even if the article exists, there is no mention of the nature of the findings. Was there a placebo control group? Did the study drug do better than placebo? Was there prescribed lifestyle modifications involved in the study? What was the nature of the groups study? How many subjects?
3. The unbelievable photos. A picture is worth a thousand words. But those thousand words may be worth nothing if they’re bogus. You have no idea if these people to Garcinia or if the pictures were photoshopped.
4. The all-natural mirage. As was claimed from our phantom article, “There were no side effects reported.”
The facts: Even if the claims of the research are not completely fraudulent, just because one study had no side effects reported after 12 weeks, doesn’t mean that the supplement is safe for the long term. As a matter of fact there have been many serious adverse reactions to other reportedly “safe” natural weight loss supplements including liver failure and death. I am not claiming that Garcinia is unsafe, I’m just saying that just because a website (or even the great and powerful Dr. Oz) says that it is safe does not make it so. Just because something is all natural doesn’t make it safe either. Snake venom is all natural and will lead to weight loss but I wouldn’t recommend it. For more on the all-natural marketing ploy check out one of my earlier posts, “Cleanse Yourself of Deadly Toxins”.
Also check out this great article about Dr. Oz and his claims from the Denver Post: http://www.denverpost.com/news/ci_22305784?stopRedirect=true
References: Am J Clin Nutr 2004;79:529-36 Jama 1998;280:1596-1600 Intl J Obes 2001;25:1087-94 Obes Rev 2005;6:93-111.
The Weight Loss Counter Revolution 
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A well known key to weight loss is to do much more physical exercise. Aerobic fitness exercise uses up calories that you simply eat. When modifications to the eating habit work well, starting a fitness strategy together, may assist your weight-loss effort dramatically. People who exercise every day are unlikely to become weighty.
To maintain your fat loss regimen healthy and also productive, keep away from extreme or “crash” dieting. The best diet for healthy fat loss is a sustainable one. By their really natures, crash diets are short-term ordeals. Though they may give significant short-term outcomes, their long-term result is minimal, or perhaps damaging. It is more effective to develop a diet plan that you can stay with as time passes – even forever.
A good weight to help control your weight is to get rid of snacking. You need to take in less calories than your burning and snacking between meals goes against this. You will possibly not think it, however every single cookie or chip you consume adds up. And also, whenever you are not having in less calories than you burn, you will not reduce any excess fat.
To assist you slim down, you may discover how to prepare food for yourself and also your family members. There are many individuals out there that already know how to execute this and do it nicely, yet people often make decisions of heating commercially prepared foods. Learning to prepare easy and also nutritious foods can assist your fat loss goals and also you certainly will be assisting your family to eat more healthy too.
Unfortunately, many people will take it and run with it because Dr. Oz “says so” whether the claims are true or not.
I don’t think his claims are necessarily false I just feel he exaggerated their magnitude.
You are not alone: http://www.denverpost.com/opinion/ci_22305784/dr-oz-miracle-diet-is-malarkey
Here is another interesting read:
“Does Glycine max leaves or Garcinia Cambogia promote weight-loss or lower plasma cholesterol in overweight individuals: a randomized control trial”
Ji-Eun Kim2, Seon-Min Jeon1,2, Ki Hun Park3, Woo Song Lee4, Tae-Sook Jeong5, Robin A McGregor1 and Myung-Sook Choi1,2*
Abstract
Background: Natural food supplements with high flavonoid content are often claimed to promote weight-loss and lower plasma cholesterol in animal studies, but human studies have been more equivocal. The aim of this study was firstly to determine the effectiveness of natural food supplements containing Glycine max leaves extract (EGML) or Garcinia cambogia extract (GCE) to promote weight-loss and lower plasma cholesterol. Secondly to examine whether these supplements have any beneficial effect on lipid, adipocytokine or antioxidant profiles.
Methods: Eighty-six overweight subjects (Male:Female = 46:40, age: 20~50 yr, BMI > 23 < 29) were randomly assigned to three groups and administered tablets containing EGML (2 g/day), GCE (2 g/day) or placebo (starch, 2 g/day) for 10 weeks. At baseline and after 10 weeks, body composition, plasma cholesterol and diet were assessed. Blood analysis was also conducted to examine plasma lipoproteins, triglycerides, adipocytokines and antioxidants.
Results: EGML and GCE supplementation failed to promote weight-loss or any clinically significant change in % body fat. The EGML group had lower total cholesterol after 10 weeks compared to the placebo group (p < 0.05). EGML and GCE had no effect on triglycerides, non-HDL-C, adipocytokines or antioxidants when compared to placebo supplementation. However, HDL-C was higher in the EGML group (p < 0.001) after 10 weeks compared to the placebo group.
Conclusions: Ten weeks of EGML or GCE supplementation did not promote weight-loss or lower total cholesterol in overweight individuals consuming their habitual diet. Although, EGML did increase plasma HDL-C levels which is associated with a lower risk of atherosclerosis.
Way to keep on top of the literature!!