Does Garcinia Cambogia Really Work?

Dr. Oz has to be credited for breaking the news about Garcinia Cambogia and causing quite a stir over it. Of course he didn’t invent it or discover it, but he’s great at introducing his audience and followers to new trends. So what’s the real story behind it, and is it something you should try?

Overview
There is still a large group of Americans that are after the One Pill to Rule Them All, and are looking for a way to lose weight or body fat with an all-natural ingredient. This is the latest in a series of extracts, and follows raspberry ketones, African mango, and green coffee bean extract. Extracts have an instant appeal because they come from fruits or other natural sources and are therefore thought to have fewer side effects than a man-made ingredient.

The Claim
Garcinia Cambogia is supposed to get your liver to stop turning the food you eat into fat, and start using it for energy instead. The end result is that you should have more energy, and that your body will start using up stored fat for fuel. It’s claimed to double or even triple the amount of weight loss you’d get from just following a healthy diet and getting regular exercise. It’s designed to increase levels of serotonin in the body, which will help you sleep better, but will also help diffuse emotional eating.

It’s also supposed to suppress your appetite. The combined effect should be that you’re only eating when you’re hungry, eating less than you normally would, and then processing the food you do eat so that it’s not being turned into fat. It’s also helping with cortisol levels, so it goes to work on the fatty areas around the midsection.

The Hype
Dr. Oz has a knack for not only bringing diet products like this to our attention, but also for hyping them up. Part of it is the way he delivers the information, and part of it is because many take what he says as gospel and believe that this will be the product to finally work for weight loss. Referring to a product as the “Holy Grail” of weight loss is a way of sensationalizing it, and while it may keep eyeballs and ears glued to the TV set, which improves ratings, it’s a disservice to hype this up so much.

The Cost
Dr. Oz stated repeatedly that one of the benefits of Garcinia Cambogia is its low price point. This is a stark contrast to many weight loss pills that charge an arm and a leg for a one month supply. You can pick up a bottle for about $10 on the low end to $25 or more on the higher side. Since it’s typical for other diet pills to go for $50 or more per month, this is relatively inexpensive.

The Commitment
It’s recommended that you take this before meals, so you’ll have to remember to take it. You’d also want to couple this with a healthy diet and regular exercise if you want to see the best results. Dr. Oz started his segment by saying that everyone asks him for a solution that involves no exercise, no dieting, and no effort. Rather than let them know that there’s no substitute for eating healthy and getting the body moving, he pointed to G. Cambogia as a possible fix.

Evaluation
Dr. Oz gives an illustrative analogy that shows how Garcinia Cambogia prevents the liver from turning carbs and sugar into fat, and instead gets it to turn into energy. While this demonstration is pretty convincing, it’s also telling people they can eat or overeat these types of foods and have more energy.

Garcinia Cambogia FAQ

Ever since it made its mainstream debut, a lot of questions have popped up about what it actually does, who can take it, who it works for, how it works, and whether or not it’s safe. We’ve provided answers to some of the most common questions being asked to try to shed a little light on this previously obscure extract.

Can Men Take Garcinia Cambogia?
There’s no gender discrimination here, because it’s working on your liver, and everyone’s got one of those. Even though the Dr. Oz show seems targeted towards women, and the questions Dr. Oz was asking were about women, there’s no indication that it wouldn’t be just as effective and safe for men to take as well.

Does Garcinia Cambogia Have Caffeine?
By itself, no, it is simply an extract from the rind of a particular fruit. But you’ll want to check the ingredients list of the specific brand you’re considering because some manufacturers might add it as an additional weight loss measure.

Does Garcinia Cambogia Raise Blood Pressure?
This isn’t a stimulant, and it’s been shown to lower the levels of bad cholesterol while also lowering your blood pressure. It could be due to the better sleep you should be getting, and the management of cortisol, which makes you feel less stressed.

What are the Benefits of Garcinia Cambogia?
The benefits should come in many forms, with better sleep, less stress, less emotional eating, overall weight loss, fat loss from the midsection, and amplification of your diet and exercise efforts, which all lead to a more fit and healthy you.

Where Can You Buy Garcinia Cambogia?
It’s available online at several retailers. It’s on the GNC website, and you can also purchase it in store. Since it is an all-natural extract, no single company owns it or owns the right to distribute it. That’s why you’re seeing many companies try to capitalize on the trend and come out with their own version of it. As a consumer you have to keep your wits about you and be sure to see through the hype and exaggerated claims to choose a brand that is going to work best.

Is Garcinia Cambogia FDA Approved?
The FDA will not endorse an all-natural extract like this one, so you should be wary of any company that is selling you FDA approved garcinia cambogia. Many times a manufacturer will use the FDA logo and claim that their production facilities are FDA approved or inspected, but that does not mean that the product they are producing has been inspected or certified by the Food and Drug Administration.

Is Garcinia Cambogia Safe?
It’s it considered mostly safe, but there have been side effect reported on its use in clinical trials. As an all-natural extract in the recommended dosage it should be relatively safe. But depending on which brand you use there could be other stimulants and additives that make you more likely to have a negative reaction to it. There are also manufactures that suggest taking more than the recommended dosage, and the safety concerns rise the more you put into the system. It’s already an extract, so it’s already in a concentrated form, which is why you want to use it responsibly.

What Are the Side Effects of Garcinia Cambogia?
This is where they details get sketchy, with some saying that it doesn’t come with any side effects, and other saying that you can experience anything from a headache, to digestive troubles, to general nausea. It’s important to stick to the recommended dosages and to get a brand that doesn’t include extra chemicals and other substances to prevent additional side effects.

What is the Best Brand of Garcinia Cambogia?
With all of the recent attention there have been plenty of new products to hit the market, all claiming that they’re the best one to take. Dr. Oz did give some advice as to choosing the right brand, and said to avoid those that contain fillers or binders, that have at least 50% HCA, and that don’t contain any artificial ingredients.

Was Garcinia Cambogia Really Recommended by Dr. Oz?
Yes, he featured it prominently on his show, and gave many examples on how it works, why it works, and even tips on how to select the right brand. He did not come out and say which brand to use, but he did mention that it shouldn’t be expensive, and that it should meet certain purity levels.

Do Any Foods Contain Garcinia Cambogia?
This is an extract from a specific fruit, not an antioxidant that many foods have in common. It’s only sourced from one plant, which is apparently abundant as they’re able to keep the costs down. In this regard it’s not able to be found elsewhere, and it’s been extracted so that it’s easier to take.

What is the Recommended Dosage?
The dosage that is recommended on the Dr. Oz Show is 500mg taken 30 minutes to an hour before you have a meal. This is where you want to be careful, because some brands recommend taking up to 1500mg of it for weight loss. This is irresponsible on their part, since there aren’t any studies confirming that a higher dosage leads to better results.

What are the Ingredients in Garcinia Cambogia?
There’s only one ingredient in pure garcinia cambogia, and that’s garcinia cambogia. However, when you see it in supplement form it will often be combined with other ingredients so that companies can patent the formula and call it exclusive.

Is Garcinia Cambogia Good for You?
It’s still undetermined whether this can be considered good for you or not. With the side effects that comes along with it, it is hard to make a case that it should be included to enhance your well-being, but if it can help you get down to your goal weight it would be a much healthier place to be than being overweight. It’s not something that you’d want to incorporate into your diet like a vitamin or a mineral, and is only intended for short term use to get you to the weight you want to be.

Final Garcinia Cambogia Review

In typical fashion, Dr. Oz doesn’t cite any of the research or studies that he says he’s basing his recommendation off of. He said that since Garcinia Cambogia has been used in recipes for a long time that this makes him feel more OK about its safety. He also admitted to just finding out about it recently himself. Because of the limited data available and the mixed reviews on several of the brands, it might be a good idea to give this more time before jumping in.

Our Recommendation
If you haven’t started a diet and exercise program and are hoping that this really is the no diet, no exercise, no effort solution it was framed to be, you may want to start making positive changes before using this. If you find that your progress isn’t fast enough and need a boost to your efforts, this may be an all-natural method that brings many additional benefits.

What do you think? Does Garcinia Cambogia work or not?