Anyone who has their heads stuck in the sand may not have heard of these two “miracle” supplements for weight loss and fat burning.

Visit any integrative pharmacy and chances are they are loaded, or possibly sold out, of both Garcinia Cambogia and Green Tea Coffee Bean extract.

You see, Dr. Mehmet Oz touted them a few months ago (on his show) as the latest, greatest remedy for those unwilling to go the old-fashioned route of healthy moderate eating and exercise. Or maybe, many want to speed up the process and see what all the hype is about regarding both supplements.

As a lifelong wellness professional, who does some part time work at one of the local integrative pharmacies, I cringe when people ask if we carry these items, mainly because I know that we have a Dr. Oz “section” of the wellness department devoted solely to whatever he professes on his show as a cure-all for any illness or dietary aid.

Dr. Oz has a solid following of loyal proportions, and it’s better to heed the call to what people want versus what we believe to be true and medicinally correct. This is not to say that Garcinia Cambogia or Green Coffee Bean extract aren’t quality herbs to ingest; it is simply noting that the jury continues to be out on their results, even as Dr. Oz pushes forward with more and more rather obscure dietary supplements, which then flood the markets based on his own opinions and research. The overall purchasing of these two herbs has now reached epic proportions!

Garcinia Cambogia is actually a fruit that grows in many parts of the world.

Its common name is the Tamarind, which looks like a small pumpkin and has great nutritional and health benefits. What has become the powerhouse of this fruit is the rind, where the Garcinia Cambogia extract is derived from to make the weight loss supplement.

This extract was first discovered by Dr. Julie Chen, a wellness specialist in her own right. She found that patients who took Garcinia Cambogia lost an average of ten pounds per month, simply by taking the supplement. There was no exercise or other dietary modifications included in her control studies, therefore the conclusions were far and above what she had expected.

This caught the attention of Dr. Oz, who wanted to research his own studies on the extract, mainly because anything that is 100 percent safe and natural was his true claim to fame.

He performed many experiments, striving to replicate Dr. Chen’s findings. Besides the two to three times more weight loss than a control group, Dr. Oz added in the benefits of exercise and dietary changes. This alone proved to him that Garcinia Cambogia was indeed a quality weight loss supplement, and thus his marketing began nationwide. It truly does work, according to his studies.

Here are the benefits of what both Dr. Oz and Dr. Chen found in their research:

• It attacks stubborn belly fat, without any further necessary action.
• It raises your serotonin levels, which help with depression and possibly emotional overeating.
• It works on a cellular level to prevent the storage of fat.
• It also raises your cortisol levels, further reducing your stress which leads to binge eating.
• It suppresses your appetite, by lowering your caloric intake while blocking fat.

After all is said and done, this supplement has been shown and proven to be the real deal. If you add in the exercise and dietary modification component, chances are you will see more results with weight loss. And, as Thanksgiving and the holidays are on the horizon, it might be a good idea to get an added boost to your mental and physical appetite control.

Green Coffee Bean extract, on the other hand, are coffee beans that have not yet been roasted. Green coffee beans have a higher level of chlorogenic acid than regular roasted coffee beans, and this is thought to assist with heart disease, diabetes and weight loss.

In 2012, again Dr. Oz made the discovery through his own studies, and found green coffee bean extract burns fat fast, therefore helping with overall weight loss.

The press jumped on it.

The wellness sections of all health food stores and integrative pharmacies overstocked the shelves, and the masses came in droves for this apparent “solution” to their diet and fat loss challenges. After Dr. Oz tested over 100 women who ingested the herbal supplement prior to each meal, his conclusions found that the women lost an average of two pounds over the two weeks.

Is this a miracle? The research is still out.

But, Starbucks was quick to jump on the bandwagon by offering a drink to boost natural energy that contains green coffee bean extract.

This particular supplement has been one of the most researched, in terms of weight loss. It does contain caffeine, which speeds up metabolism, and chlorogenic acid is an antioxidant that may promote weight loss by reducing the absorption of fat and glucose in the gut, thus lowering insulin levels to help with metabolic function. But, too much chlorogenic acid may increase heart disease risk, and is it worth it?

Dr. Oz may think so, but many wellness professionals aren’t entirely sold on the benefits of Green Coffee Bean extract.

So, with all the information being given here, I would have to surmise that the boring route is probably the safest route: eating healthy, organic, and wholesome foods in moderation, and spending each and every day performing feel-good exercises for a minimum of 30-45 minutes.

Garcinia Cambogia and Green Coffee Bean extract have their places on the shelves, and a big piece of Dr. Oz’s heart, yet real food is always worth more of the effort.

References:

Web MD
Food Security
Business Wire
Alive by Nature

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Ed: Catherine Monkman

{Photo: Flickr, Flickr & Flickr.}