Does Garcinia Cambogia work?
The category of weight loss supplements is competitive, and Garcinia Cambogia is another one that promises to help with this task.
This is a fruit that you can find for sale alone, but it is also present in several thermogenic in combination with other ingredients.
Its active ingredient is HCA, and in theory, it inhibits an enzyme that leads to weight loss.
Now, does it work?
That is another story, and in fact, a story that is reminiscent of the famous CLAN.
Animal studies are promising.
In humans? Not really.
We analyzed three studies, and more, to evaluate the results of this supplement on weight loss.
References for each of them are found at the end of the article.
Does Garcinia Cambogia work? That's what we're going to see now.
Not really
86 people were selected for a 10-week study.
The participants were between 20 and 50 years old and were separated into three different groups, one of which used 2g of Garcinia Cambogia daily.
As for the other two groups, one of them used EGML and the other a placebo.
An interesting detail of this study is that none of the groups followed any specific diet or training.
In other words, each person continued their previous routine, and the only change was the start of supplementation.
Completing the study at the end of the 10 weeks was straightforward.
Garcinia Cambogia did not promote weight loss or changes in body fat.
Maybe (very) little
In this study they decided to investigate the effects of this supplement on appetite, and find out if it had any influence or not.
Fortunately, they also evaluated the effects on weight loss.
89 overweight women participated and were divided into two groups.
42 ingested 2.4g of Garcinia Cambogia daily, which corresponded to 1.2g per day of HCA, while 47 opted for a placebo.
The study lasted 12 weeks and both groups followed a 1200 kcal low-calorie diet.
Both groups lost weight as expected, but the group that used supplementation achieved better results.
However, they were not exactly very significant.
The average difference was approximately 1.3kg between groups at the end of 12 weeks.
In other words, the group that used Garcinia Cambogia lost an average of 1.3kg more weight than the group that did not use it.
It is obviously a positive result, but not very significant over a 12-week period.
As for appetite, no changes were detected between groups.
Or maybe not
A supplement that helps combat obesity is always interesting, and that's why a study was carried out to evaluate the potential of Garcinia Cambogia in this area.
It included the results of 84 healthy but overweight people and two groups were created.
One of the groups received 3g of Garcinia Cambogia per day, and the other just a placebo. Both followed a similar diet of 1200 kcal per day.
At the end of the study, which lasted 12 weeks, the conclusion the authors reached was not very encouraging.
Garcinia Cambogia did not produce results superior to placebo in terms of weight loss or fat loss.
In fact, although the difference was not statistically significant, the group that did not use Garcinia Cambogia tended to lose more weight than the group that used it, as you can see. In this image.
Meta-analyses
A meta-analysis serves to bring together the results of several studies, and then reach a conclusion through these data.
It is a useful method and fortunately Garcinia Cambogia has several.
At the end of 2010, a meta-analysis was published that evaluated the effectiveness of this supplement in weight loss.
The conclusion was as follows:
?Evidence from clinical research studies suggests that Garcinia/HCA extracts generate short-term fat loss.
However, the magnitude of this effect is small, ceases to be statistically significant when only rigorous clinical research studies are considered, and its clinical relevance seems questionable.
In other words, the effect, when it exists, is small and short-lived, and if only rigorous studies are considered, the effect is no longer even statistically significant or clinically relevant.
In 2013, another meta-analysis was published that reached similar conclusions, stating that although the results in animals were promising and real, in humans they are disappointing.
Conclusion
Garcinia Cambogia doesn't seem to be a great help with weight loss, at least that's what human studies show.
Although the results have been very promising in animals, to date, there has not yet been much demonstrated utility in using this supplement for weight loss in humans.
If you consider that the possibility of losing an extra 1kg at the end of three months justifies using this supplement, well, then maybe it's worth it.
But in reality, does it justify investing in something that, even when it works, the effects are so modest?
Finally, here are some articles that may be useful to you about various weight loss supplements.
References
Not really
Kim JE, Jeon SM, Park KH, Lee WS, Jeong TS, McGregor RA, Choi MS. Does Glycinemax leaves or Garcinia Cambogia promote weight-loss or lower plasma cholesterol in overweight individuals: a randomized control trial. Nutr J. 2011 Sep 21;10:94.
Maybe (very) little
Mattes RD, Bormann L. Effects of (-)-hydroxycitric acid on appetitive variables. Physiol Behav. 2000 Oct 1-15;71(1-2):87-94.
Or maybe not
Heymsfield SB, Allison DB, Vasselli JR, Pietrobelli A, Greenfield D, Nunez C. Garcinia cambogia (hydroxycitric acid) as a potential antiobesity agent: randomized controlled trial. JAMA. 1998 Nov 11;280(18):1596-600.
Meta-analysis 2010
Onakpoya, Igho et al. ?The Use of Garcinia Extract (Hydroxycitric Acid) as a Weight Loss Supplement: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Randomized Clinical Trials.? Journal of Obesity 2011 (2011): 509038.
Meta-analysis 2013
Chuah, Li Oon et al. ?Updates on Antiobesity Effect of Garcinia Origin (?)-HCA.? Evidence-based Complementary and Alternative Medicine?: eCAM 2013 (2013): 751658.
