Last fall, the The Dr. Oz Show touted a “revolutionary” weight-loss supplementderived from an Indonesian plant call garcinia cambogia. And although the medical science community is still uncertain about the “breakthrough” diet claims, the over-the-counter supplement’s popularity has since exploded. But a new report shows that the majority of garcinia cambogia pills sold online or in stores contain only a fraction of the key plant compound listed on their labels.
ConsumerLab.com—an independent company that tests the quality and safety of health products—examined 11 of the most popular garcinia cambogia supplements, including several whose packaging untruthfully claimed endorsements from the The Dr. Oz Show. Six of those supplements contained far less hydroxycitric acid (HCA)—the plant’s alleged weight-loss component—than was listed on the bottle. In fact, one garcinia cambogia supplement contained just 16% of its advertised HCA. “Most [garcinia] products on the market don’t actually deliver what’s listed on their labels,” says Tod Cooperman, MD, president of ConsumerLab.com (see their full study here).
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Several teams of researchers have tried to identify whether the HCA in garcinia cambogia can actually help people lose weight. One 12-week study from Purdue University found overweight women who swallowed 1,200 mg of HCA daily lost about 55% more weight—8.2 pounds compared to 5.3 pounds—than women who did not take the garcinia cambogia supplement. But several other research efforts have failed to turn up similar benefits.
While the jury’s still out on whether garcinia cambogia-derived HCA can really help you lose weight, there are garcinia cambogia supplement options that will at least give you what you pay for. Puritan’s Pride ($22, puritan.com) and the Vitamin Shoppe ($14, vitaminshoppe.com) offer the least-expensive options that passed ConsumerLab.com’s tests. (Or go the natural route with these 25 best weight loss tips of all time.)