Essay On Garcinia Cambogia

With everyone always competing to look their best, it is no wonder that several diet/weightless supplements have hit the market within the last few years. One in particular, by the name of garcinia cambogia, has even been featured on the Dr. Oz show, being called a “miracle pill” (Konstantinides, 2016). Nonetheless, one must wonder, how do these proclaimed “miracle" pills allow our bodies to supposedly drop weight so quick? Research states that garcinia cambogia does this specifically by manipulating the active ingredient, hydroxycitric acid, which is overall responsible for blocking an important enzyme called citrate lyase. (WebMD, n.d.). Citrate lyase is what the body uses to make fat; furthermore, once blocked, it is also capable of raising the brains chemical balance of serotonin- giving you the feel of not being as hungry (WebMD, n.d.). Blocking a small enzyme doesn't seem like much harm; however, there are several listed dangers an increased usage of garcinia cambogia could lead …show more content…
Furthermore, reports actually state mixed feeling when it comes to the overall effectiveness of the product; it is stated that there was not substantial evidence to determine whether or not the supplement had any effects on appetite or satisfaction (Schaefer, 2015). In terms of lowering body weight- after a 12 week, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study published in JAMA- it was again reported that the supplement did not help with significant weightless or decreasing fat mass (Schaefer, 2015). Nonetheless, it did however show minimal evidence in supporting fat metabolism, in both mice and humans, and an increase in endurance while training/exercising (Schaefer,