A friend of mine was tooting Dr. Oz's horn this morning about this stuff. I usually don't buy into quick fixes, but this looks like its just a natural plant derivative. She's going to give it a go, but I'm wondering if its safe.

Any one ever try it?

First thing I'd say is if Dr Oz recommends it, be wary of it.

Honestly, a lot of the benefits aren't supported by current studes and the dangers are unknown.

WebMd says the following:
A study using Garcinia Cambrogia (GCE here) http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21936892
Here is a study of studies where basically they went through all known studies to determine the effectiveness of common dietary supplements.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20847896

Dr Oz has a new diet product every day or at least every week.

LOL but yes.

http://www.slate.com/articles/health...t_science.html

Yeah, this is the same girl that believed Dr. Oz when he said sucking on raspberry candy will make you lose a lb a day.

I don't watch him, but she swears by his advice, most of which is comical.

Your google skills are awesome LOL.

I'm going to show her this and maybe she'll listen to studies instead of my skepticism. She'll try it anyways likely, but hey, her money to waste. I'm just concerned it may end up harming her like all the other diet fad pills out there eventually do.

The candy thing, OMG. I was like, are you even listening to what you are saying???

Well there is no conclusive evidence in humans and Dr Oz generally isn't one to be trusted.

WebMD is generally a good place to read about supplements:
http://www.webmd.com/vitamins-supple...tName=GARCINIA

My guess is whatever pill you are taking may be mixed with either laxatives, diuretics or maybe both. Or perhaps just a general change of diet.

Ubee,

I will say that I used to like Dr. Oz and he seemed level headed but then things changed. Having a show where you feel you need to provide new products and solutions on a regular basis changed him. Now he seems to back every product with some slight promise. It has nothing to do with big pharma. It has to do with the age old scientific method that works if applied correctly and he ignores that. I've looked into the studies he references and there are often issues or they are preliminary at best.

PubMed is a good place to look into studies and get some of the real information as long as you understand that a single study doesn't prove anything as it should be measurable and repeatable.

Hi Nelie,

Thanks for giving me a new site to cross reference other findings with.

I must admit I have only watched Dr. Oz about 5 times.

I do think that nature provides us with answers to our health problems. I do use big $ pharmacy however, I don't always trust them. I also struggle with the lack of funding to study natural remedies. There is no money to be made so why would companies want people to know about natural remedies.

As you can tell I am very frustrated by this.

Thanks, Ubee

Ubee - I think nature provides us many answers but I think the best answer we've ever been given for weight loss is move more, eat less.

And companies do invest in natural remedies when they do work such as a big company (can't remember who now) bought out the rights to exclusively use hoodia in their products because it was something that worked in it's natural leafy state. The problem is that they couldn't replicate the appetite suppressant effects out of its natural state despite trying for years. That didn't stop other diet companies from claiming they contained hoodia or marketing it. Green tea was also something to shown to have a slight effect in tea form but never in pill form but doesn't stop diet pill companies from marketing it based on studies of green tea you drink. If you think big pharma is bad, you should see the diet industry, it is the worst which is why I'd be more wary of any diet pills than any big pharma medicine.

Most likely you lost water weight. I was 210 when I started eating healthy but I don't even count the first 10 lbs, I lost those literally within a day or two, it was just water weight.

I think it would be awesome if they made a magic pill that made fat go away, and it is very tempting to try the things they come up with...I had a friend talk me into some that were 'all natural' blah blah blah, she lost about 80 lbs on them and they are just great. It wasn't until AFTER I was taking them that I did research and I found out they were essentially meth...No one ever puts that on the label, do they?

I don't think this is a new thing?... I swear I seen garcinia products around for years now, I think even 10 years ago the home shopping network channel had a product with it in it for weight loss...I guess they are running out of ideas so use old ones and make them look new. green coffee, red raspberry, etc aren't working anymore.

@FickleHearts - Did your friend ever try Garcinia Cambogia?

Now I know why garcinia sounded so familiar!!... it also goes by the name citrimax which has been around forever... think it's been around as long as CLA. funny they are trying to market it as something new and just discovered.

I have it. I don't take it religiously, just on days I'm feeling extra hungry or stressed out, or know I'll be tempted to over-eat. It's an appetite suppressant. I definitely wouldn't rely upon it as a sole method of dieting, but it does help to curb hunger.

My friend tried it. She has tried just about every diet pill or diet known to man, so when I told her about this she rushed to the health food shop and bought it. The one she took contained no potassium, which you apparently need for it to be absorbed properly. She is a moderately big woman, with a good appetite and she took twice the dosage and said it was staving off her hunger (could have been wishful thinking too) but if she lost any weight it was nothing major. My other friend took it after hearing about friend 1's experience. Friend 2 said it was not even worth spending money on it and she stopped taking it. I was afraid to take it after reading some of the online reviews and the side effects experienced, nausea, cramps, possible liver damage. There is no quick weight loss fix, unfortunately.