Garcinia cambogia is being used by about one million consumers in an attempt to lose weight.
But Consumer Reports says they are wasting their money.
“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,” says Consumer Reports.
“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 told Consumer Reports.
