An Herbal Remedy That Failed to Meet Its Claims.

Hydroxycitric acid, a substance derived from two plants native to India (Garcinia cambogia and Garcinia indica), allegedly lowers body weight and reduces fat mass. A number of studies in recent years claim to have shown such effect of G. cambogia--and have been used by manufacturers of weight-loss products containing this herb to support their claims.

However, a careful review of these studies by researchers at the Obesity Research Center, St. Luke's-Roosevelt Hospital of Columbia University, New York, found enough procedural flaws to invalidate them. As a result, the center undertook its own randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study to determine whether G. cambogia could lower body weight and reduce fat mass. Reporting in the November 11, 1998, Journal of the American Medical Association, the researchers found that this herb "failed to produce significant weight loss and fat mass loss beyond that observed with placebo."