Garcinia cambogia is a fruit that is native to India, Nepal, and Sri Lanka but can now be found across Southeast Asia.[1] The fruit rind has been used to flavor food and to cure fish[6] and is sometimes added to food to make meals more filling.[7] While the fruit is safe to eat, it is rarely eaten raw because of its acidic taste.[6] It has also been used traditionally as a treatment for multiple medical conditions, including constipation, intestinal parasites, and menstrual irregularities.[8][1]
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What is Garcinia cambogia?
Garcinia cambogia is a fruit that is native to India, Nepal, and Sri Lanka but can now be found across Southeast Asia.[1] The fruit rind has been used to flavor food and to cure fish[6] and is sometimes added to food to make meals more filling.[7] While the fruit is safe to eat, it is rarely eaten raw because of its acidic taste.[6] It has also been used traditionally as a treatment for multiple medical conditions, including constipation, intestinal parasites, and menstrual irregularities.[8][1]
What are Garcinia cambogia’s main benefits?
Garcinia cambogia is most commonly used to help with weight loss, and some studies have found it can help with lowering body weight, body fat, and BMI.[9][10][11] Other studies have found that it was not effective for weight loss.[4][5] Even in studies that showed weight loss, the amount was minimal (2–3 kilograms, or 4.4–6.6 lbs, over 3 months), and Garcinia was only studied in the short term. Furthermore, although the differences noted between the control and treatment groups were statistically significant, they were not clinically meaningful. It is also worth noting that some studies used combination supplements that contained other ingredients, such as Gymnema sylvestre and chromium, and any effects cannot be attributed directly to Garcinia cambogia.
Although there are several other potential uses, including as an antibiotic or a treatment for stomach ulcers, there is little evidence to support them at present, and further clinical trials are needed to investigate these effects in humans.[12][1]
How does Garcinia cambogia work?
The active component in Garcinia cambogia is called hydroxycitric acid (HCA). HCA inhibits an enzyme called adenosine triphosphate citrate lyase (ACLY). ACLY is important for the synthesis of acetyl-CoA, which is used in energy production and the synthesis of fatty acids and cholesterol. HCA inhibits ACLY, which leads to a decrease in fatty acid synthesis and an increase in glycogen production and storage. This process might increase energy expenditure, and the stimulation of gluconeogenesis (glucose production) in the liver could decrease appetite. Other mechanisms, including vagal nerve stimulation and an upregulation of serotonin, could also contribute to the weight-loss effects of Garcinia cambogia.[13][14]
What are other names for Garcinia?
Note that Garcinia is also known as:
- Malabar tamarind
- Garcinia gummi-gutta
- Hydroxycitric acid (HCA)
- (-)-Hydroxycitric acid
- Pazhampuli
- Gambooge
Garcinia should not be confused with:
- Hoodia gordonii (another ineffective appetite suppressant)
Dosage information
Formulation:
Garcinia cambogia supplements are usually taken as capsules and are also often part of combination weight-loss supplements.
The usual dosage is 1,500 milligrams per day (mg/day) of the active ingredient hydroxycitric acid (HCA), but some toxicology studies suggest a no-observed-adverse-effect level of up to 2,800 mg/day.[1]
Range of dosages studied:
Studies have used dosages ranging from 300 milligrams to 4,667 milligrams of HCA per day.[2][3] It is worth noting that not all the studies looked at Garcinia cambogia or HCA in isolation, and some used combination supplements.
Effective dosages:
People trying to lose weight
Adults: 500 mg of hydroxycitric acid (HCA) three times per day before meals.
Special considerations: Garcinia cambogia may have a minimal effect on body weight, and, although this is the most commonly recommended dose for weight loss, it might not be effective.[4][5]
Other considerations:
There are no recommended doses as yet for the other potential uses of Garcinia cambogia. This is because there is no evidence to support its efficacy outside of its use as a weight-loss supplement.
Frequently asked questions
What is Garcinia cambogia?
What are Garcinia cambogia’s main benefits?
Garcinia cambogia is most commonly used to help with weight loss, and some studies have found it can help with lowering body weight, body fat, and BMI.[9][10][11] Other studies have found that it was not effective for weight loss.[4][5] Even in studies that showed weight loss, the amount was minimal (2–3 kilograms, or 4.4–6.6 lbs, over 3 months), and Garcinia was only studied in the short term. Furthermore, although the differences noted between the control and treatment groups were statistically significant, they were not clinically meaningful. It is also worth noting that some studies used combination supplements that contained other ingredients, such as Gymnema sylvestre and chromium, and any effects cannot be attributed directly to Garcinia cambogia.
Although there are several other potential uses, including as an antibiotic or a treatment for stomach ulcers, there is little evidence to support them at present, and further clinical trials are needed to investigate these effects in humans.[12][1]
Does Garcinia cambogia lower cholesterol levels?
Because Garcinia cambogia lowers fatty acid production, it is possible that it could improve lipid profiles. However, the results are inconsistent. Some animal studies found that Garcinia cambogia could help prevent increased cholesterol and triglyceride levels in rats,[15] but other studies did not find any effect on cholesterol levels.[16] Human clinical trials initially found that Garcinia cambogia could reduce triglyceride levels but did not affect other markers of cholesterol.[5][4] However, a 2024 meta-analysis found that Garcinia cambogia lowered triglycerides, increased HDL cholesterol levels, and reduced total cholesterol but had no effect on LDL cholesterol.[17] Although there is some promising evidence that Garcinia cambogia could improve lipid profiles, there are few good-quality studies, and more research is needed.
Can Garcinia cambogia treat type 2 diabetes?
There is some evidence to suggest that Garcinia cambogia could lower blood glucose, and it could theoretically be useful in the treatment of type 2 diabetes. One study found that combining Garcinia cambogia with glucomannan could result in lower blood glucose levels,[18] but a meta-analysis did not support these results.[19] More research is needed to assess the effectiveness and the safety of Garcinia cambogia for people with type 2 diabetes.
Is Garcinia cambogia an anti-inflammatory?
Garcinol, a compound found in both Garcinia cambogia and Garcinia indica, has been associated with anti-inflammatory properties. An in vitro study found that garcinol could decrease the expression of proinflammatory compounds such as cyclooxygenase-2 and TNF-alpha.[20] These findings were also supported by studies done on rats that showed Garcinia cambogia extract reduced other inflammatory markers like interleukin 1-beta and prostaglandin E2.[21][22]
However, there are no clinical trials in humans that show this effect, so more research is needed to show that this effect carries over into people with inflammatory conditions.
Can Garcinia cambogia be used to treat cancer?
There are some studies that suggest that Garcinia cambogia might be able to kill certain types of cancer cells, including breast, prostate, and colon cancer cells. There are several proposed mechanisms, including antioxidant properties and increased apoptosis (programmed cell death) in cancer cells.[23][24] However, the majority of these are in vitro studies or in vivo studies in rats. There are no human clinical trials to confirm these findings, and more research is needed.[25]
How does Garcinia cambogia work?
The active component in Garcinia cambogia is called hydroxycitric acid (HCA). HCA inhibits an enzyme called adenosine triphosphate citrate lyase (ACLY). ACLY is important for the synthesis of acetyl-CoA, which is used in energy production and the synthesis of fatty acids and cholesterol. HCA inhibits ACLY, which leads to a decrease in fatty acid synthesis and an increase in glycogen production and storage. This process might increase energy expenditure, and the stimulation of gluconeogenesis (glucose production) in the liver could decrease appetite. Other mechanisms, including vagal nerve stimulation and an upregulation of serotonin, could also contribute to the weight-loss effects of Garcinia cambogia.[13][14]
Other FAQs
Does Garcinia Cambogia help with weight loss?
What is Garcinia Cambogia?
As a plant...
Garcinia cambogia is a fruit that is also known as Malabar Tamarind, a small fruit that was typically ingested with a meal because some cultures enjoyed the culinary experience. Some old sources suggests that it could potentially help curb the appetite, but for the longest time it was uncertain whether this was because it had actual appetite suppressing properties or whether the taste experience just made people be more satisfied with less food.
It was only due to some exploratory studies looking at what was inside the fruit that it became a popular supplement.
As a supplement
Within garcinia cambogia is a molecule, (-)-hydroxycitric acid (HCA for all intents and purposes), that is related to the taste of the fruit. The fame of this fruit as a fat loss agent skyrocketed in the 70s when a study[26] in rats found that it reduced food intake by as much as 17% and weight gain by as much as 36%. It was assumed that this applied to humans and a safe supplement that quartered your food intake was then being talked about most commonly in the fat loss supplement Hydroxycut, which got it's brand name as a reference to both hydroxycitric acid and 'cut' (used to refer to the process of losing fat).
It was sold for quite some time, but come 1998 the first study on the topic failed to show any benefit of this fruit[27] with subsequent follow-up studies also showing an outright failure of the fruit to influence fat mass or appetite.[4][28] So what gives?
Why does it fail in humans?
The main mechanism for HCA is inhibiting the enzyme known as ATP Citrate Lysase which produces fatty acids in the body, and suppressing this pathway in rats is quite effective at reducing their fat mass.[29][30] Unfortunately, however, this process known as de novo lipogenesis is one that is very important to weight regulation in rats while humans are significantly less reliant on it; preventing a minor process from occurring in humans is only going to give minor results, and it seems that the effect is so minor that it fails to outperform placebo.
It is still commonly sold as a dietary supplement in part because it is cheap to produce and not everybody knows of its demonstrated failures in humans, and sometimes it is added to fat loss supplements in a 'it can't hurt' methodology. However, at this moment in time it seems that the effects of HCA are too mild to influence the human body.
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