Mangosteen, acai berry and rapberry ketones… they’re all very well-known fruits or fruit products commonly found on the supplement aisle of your local store. But there’s a newcomer that looks like it is even more powerful for weight loss, even if it isn’t as widely known: Garcinia Cambogia. But what is this funny sounding supplement and how effective is it at burning fat and helping you lose weight?
Research indicates that by taking Garcinia cambogia regularly, weight loss can be increased by 2-3 times! When using this product consistently, folks have experienced impressive weight loss with no real change to their lifestyle or nutrition.
How Does Garcinia Cambogia work?
This fruit has been used for centuries, and scientists have known since the 1960’s that the rind contains something called HCA (Hydroycitric Acid). This is he active ingredient that is used in an extract to increase the effectiveness.
(1) HCA has the ability to reduce appetite by way of increasing serotonin levels in the brain. Serotonin is a neurotransmitter that affects mood and sleep patterns. Increasing serotonin levels has been shown to decrease food intake, enhance mood, and reduce weight gain.
(2) HCA can support weight loss by inhibiting an enzyme called ATP-citrate-lyase (ACL). This enzyme helps convert excess carbohydrates (sugars) into fat in the body. When HCA inhibits ATP-citrate-lyase, fat build-up and storage is blocked in the body.How Garcinia Cambogia Works
Where did Garcinia Cambogia Supplements Come From?
This diet supplement that’s been getting quite a bit of attention this year, is manufactured from the rinds of a plant that is native to Myanmar, Indonesia and southwest India. It comes from the Malabar tamarind, most-often just called that tamarind fruit. It’s also called the gamboge fruit – just not as often as it’s called tamarind.
This cute little pumpkin like fruit can be found in a variety of colors. Once it ripens, it’s usually plump red, yellow or orange-ish color.
Traditional Uses of the Tamarind Rind
Traditionally, this fruit has been an ingredient used in different foods authentic to the area, such as curries and chutneys. It’s even been a common go-to for stomach aches and other digestive problems. However, it’s getting so much attention now for its promotion of natural and safe weight loss.
We’ve actually known about its diet and weight loss benefits for a while now. Back in the 1960’s, researchers pointed out the fact that the rind of the fruit contains HCA (hydroxycitric acid). This acid was shown to stop the production of an enzyme in your body that takes sugar and turns it into fat cells.
Dr. Oz talked about Garcinia Cambogia extract on his show earlier this year and naturally, it’s been gaining in popularity and interest ever since.
Garcinia Studies to Research Effectiveness
Does garcinia diet pills work? The answer you get will likely depend on who you talk to. But in our research and digging, we would say yes without hesitation. It clearly worked in laboratory testing where mice automatically were eating less, losing weight and producing less fat from the sugar that they ate.
But just because something works in mice, doesn’t mean that it’s going to work in humans the same way. So we dug into everything we could find about human studies that have been done to test how well Garcinia works and overall it’s clear that it does indeed promote weight loss through fat burning, blocking new fat and reducing appetite (almost surely thanks to an increase in serotonin levels).
Probably the most significant proof of how effective Garcinia Cambogia is for weight loss came from a placebo-controlled, double-blind study (Int J Obes Relat Metab Disord, 1996). In this 8-week long study, there were 60 participants. Those who were using HCA vs. the placebo lost much more weight.