Plenty of people admire Dr.Oz. He’s charismatic,
entertaining, and a damn good transplant surgeon at a very respectable hospital.
His face graces magazine covers and millions of people watch him on TV every
day. What most people don’t know is that he’s actually very greedy and
unethical. He uses his prestige to sell under researched products for weight
loss. What’s worse is that he makes false medical claims regarding the efficacy
of these products.
Many of us are unhappy with our body composition, and the idea of taking a pill to become thin is extremely alluring. We are bombarded with ads for supplements that are regarded as miracle plants. We are duped in to thinking that these supplements will make us thin without any work on our part. We mistakenly believe that these products are safe because they are natural. Indeed, the FDA classifies supplements as foods. But, this does not guarantee safety or efficacy. In fact, these compounds are not considered drugs because there has much research in to whether or not they will kill us. Drugs are rigorously tested for safety and efficacy. This process is extremely expensive for companies, so supplement distributors forgo applying to be designated as a drug. Furthermore, drugs must be prescription for a period of time. This is a safety net for compounds that don’t have much research. Doctors can monitor how their patient’s bodies respond to the compound and provide intervention before too much damage occurs. Doctors may also chose not to prescribe a drug to a patient if their case does not warrant the use. Distributors of these shady supplements would prefer to directly market and sell products to the public.
I am not saying the supplements are inherently evil. I take calcium, folate, and melatonin on a regular basis. Some supplements are not drugs because they cannot be patented, so no companies want to invest the money and time in to research and development. Most supplements are harmless, and may actually do some really great things. I’m also not saying that drug companies are benevolent gods. They do awful things as well (eg. direct marketing, falsifying of data, and price gouging). And the compounds classified as drugs have done far more damage than most supplements. I’m just attempting to point out that certain supplement companies are acting unethically in order to get your hard earned money.
I did a little research on GC after seeing a slew of Facebook pages designed to sell this supplement. These pages had normal sounding titles like “I love Yoga” or “Fitness Club”, however they were run by the supplement company. They were designed to trick consumers in to believing that other consumers were writing positive reviews of a specific GC product. In reality, a marketing professional employed by the company was generating fake countless fake Facebook accounts and writing all of the reviews. I researched the claims found in these pages and on the company’s website. Here are my findings:
Many of us are unhappy with our body composition, and the idea of taking a pill to become thin is extremely alluring. We are bombarded with ads for supplements that are regarded as miracle plants. We are duped in to thinking that these supplements will make us thin without any work on our part. We mistakenly believe that these products are safe because they are natural. Indeed, the FDA classifies supplements as foods. But, this does not guarantee safety or efficacy. In fact, these compounds are not considered drugs because there has much research in to whether or not they will kill us. Drugs are rigorously tested for safety and efficacy. This process is extremely expensive for companies, so supplement distributors forgo applying to be designated as a drug. Furthermore, drugs must be prescription for a period of time. This is a safety net for compounds that don’t have much research. Doctors can monitor how their patient’s bodies respond to the compound and provide intervention before too much damage occurs. Doctors may also chose not to prescribe a drug to a patient if their case does not warrant the use. Distributors of these shady supplements would prefer to directly market and sell products to the public.
I am not saying the supplements are inherently evil. I take calcium, folate, and melatonin on a regular basis. Some supplements are not drugs because they cannot be patented, so no companies want to invest the money and time in to research and development. Most supplements are harmless, and may actually do some really great things. I’m also not saying that drug companies are benevolent gods. They do awful things as well (eg. direct marketing, falsifying of data, and price gouging). And the compounds classified as drugs have done far more damage than most supplements. I’m just attempting to point out that certain supplement companies are acting unethically in order to get your hard earned money.
I did a little research on GC after seeing a slew of Facebook pages designed to sell this supplement. These pages had normal sounding titles like “I love Yoga” or “Fitness Club”, however they were run by the supplement company. They were designed to trick consumers in to believing that other consumers were writing positive reviews of a specific GC product. In reality, a marketing professional employed by the company was generating fake countless fake Facebook accounts and writing all of the reviews. I researched the claims found in these pages and on the company’s website. Here are my findings:
Citing Claims/ Fraudenlent Claims:
The author claimed to have "poured through mountains research", but did not care to share any of her sources. I actually did a little meta-analysis on the current data. Here is a link to an article in The Journal of the American Medical association: http://goo.gl/M08b8. The conclusion section in the abstract is one line long and reads: "Garcinia cambogia failed to produce significant weight loss and fat mass loss beyond that observed with placebo (Hemysfeild et al.,1998)."
Of course that was just one study. Another study found in the journal "Phytotherapy Research" found that GC demonstrates lipid lowering activity in lab rats (Koshy et al.,2001). http://goo.gl/kjcmu
A more recent study from 2011, can be cited as saying, "To date, there is little clinical evidence to support [weight loss supplement, including GC] use. More data is necessary to determine the efficacy and safety of these supplements. Healthcare providers should assist patients in weighing the risks and benefits of dietary supplement use for weight loss(Egras et al., 2011)." http://goo.gl/o0OKa
I did find a 2011 study that substantiates GC claims using a biochemical approach. This study is cited as saying, "Clerodendron glandulosum.Coleb extract prevents adipocyte differentiation and visceral adiposity by down regulation of PPARγ-2 related genes and Lep expression thus validating its traditional therapeutic use in controlling obesity(Jadja et al., 2011)"
I found two articles in Lipids in Health and Disease, the journal cited by the manufacturer as claiming "subjects taking Miracle Garcinia Cambogia lost an average of 19.3 pounds in 28 days without diet or exercise(Prima Lite Nutrition).
The first study addressed the role high fat diets with relation to brain oxidative stress and metabolic disturbances. CG was investigated as an antiobesity agent. This study, which utilized lab rats, found that CG was effective in lowering blood cholesterol, and in weight management (Amin et al., 2011). Though it made no mention of a 19.83 pound fat loss in 28 days. The authors describe this data as novel, meaning far more data is needed to fully substantiate claims.http://goo.gl/Mkf4H
I did find a 2011 study that substantiates GC claims using a biochemical approach. This study is cited as saying, "Clerodendron glandulosum.Coleb extract prevents adipocyte differentiation and visceral adiposity by down regulation of PPARγ-2 related genes and Lep expression thus validating its traditional therapeutic use in controlling obesity(Jadja et al., 2011)"
I found two articles in Lipids in Health and Disease, the journal cited by the manufacturer as claiming "subjects taking Miracle Garcinia Cambogia lost an average of 19.3 pounds in 28 days without diet or exercise(Prima Lite Nutrition).
The first study addressed the role high fat diets with relation to brain oxidative stress and metabolic disturbances. CG was investigated as an antiobesity agent. This study, which utilized lab rats, found that CG was effective in lowering blood cholesterol, and in weight management (Amin et al., 2011). Though it made no mention of a 19.83 pound fat loss in 28 days. The authors describe this data as novel, meaning far more data is needed to fully substantiate claims.http://goo.gl/Mkf4H
The second study addressed renal oxidative stress from high fat, high sugar diets. The study's findings concurred with the previous study. Again, this data is described as novel and took place on lab rats(Amin et al., 2011). Still no mention of 19.3 pounds in 28 days. http://goo.gl/CUWMv
Finally, I found a study that evaluated the safety of GC. This study can be cited as saying, "[Clinical studies on GC] support its safety demonstrating a wide margin of safety for human consumption. Recent animal and clinical toxicology studies have shown that G. cambogia/HCA is generally safe and is classified as NOAEL up to 1240 mg/kg/day(Chaun et al.,2011)" However, the study was short-term random trials. The authors have identified a need for studies addressing the long term effects of the supplement. http://goo.gl/uh8x6
Conclusion:
Based on the data gathered in this meta-analysis, I suspect that the manufacturer is making fraudulent claims to sell a supplement. However, with more research, CG may be a very effective antiobesity agent. There is some biochemical basis for the use of CG in oxidation prevention and weight management. There has to be human trials before an respectable claims about the effectiveness in humans can be made.
Based on the data gathered in this meta-analysis, I suspect that the manufacturer is making fraudulent claims to sell a supplement. However, with more research, CG may be a very effective antiobesity agent. There is some biochemical basis for the use of CG in oxidation prevention and weight management. There has to be human trials before an respectable claims about the effectiveness in humans can be made.
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