Mehmet Cengiz Oz, also known as Dr. Oz, earned an undergraduate degree from Harvard, then both medical and MBA degrees from the University of Pennsylvania. He has been professor of Surgery at Columbia since 2001, was made famous by Oprah, and now has his own TV show. I've never watched it, but have noted that many of his health recommendations go viral. He has touted Green Coffee Bean Extract and Raspberry Ketones for their fat burning capabilities, and likes African Mango and 5HTP (5-Hydroxytryptophan, from the seed of an African plant) for hunger suppression. Note that these are all "natural" pills.
Last year in November he featured Garcinia Cambogia (GC), an extract from the rind of an Indonesia fruit, known by various names (gambooge, garcinia gummy-gutta, brindleberry, Malabar tamarind, pot tamarind, etc.). I live across the street from a cemetery which must have half a dozen large tamarind trees, but this fruit is brown and looks like a small turd. Anyway, I've been watching this weight loss diet, mainly because one side effect is the lowering of glucose in your blood. I'm approaching a level of concern about diabetes, plus need to watch what I eat to maintain my present weight. Wouldn't it be nice to eat what you want and lower your blood sugar level at the same time?
GC is a popular food additive and medicinal throughout Southeast Asia and India, used in curries, but also to cure fish and applied as a purgative. The active ingredient is Hydroxycitric acid (HCA).
Nothing is perfect, and neither is GC. In 1998 a randomized trial to test the anti-obesity value of 138 people failed to produce any significant weight loss relative to a group on some placebo. Worse, there is some worry about hepatotoxicity, or chemical driven liver damage. Hydroxycut was removed from the marketplace some years ago for this reason, including one fatality, but this was during the days of the ephedra scare. Best as I can determine, though, Hydroxycut had no GB. In any case, never take too much of a good thing, and most indications show 1000 mg/day of 50% HCA should be safe.
Amazon.com has a range of prices, probably having something to do with quality and credibility. The cost to you would be from 50 cents to two bucks per day.
Well, I thought it couldn't hurt too much to get a free one month sample. I'd take this pill three weeks before my next blood text, and see what happens to my glucose concentration. Plus, I might actually lose weight (I would like to be 4 pounds slimmer). I see my doctor in a week or so, and will ask him first how safe this might be. Unfortunately, I haven't yet been able to determine exactly how to get this FREE sample. Maybe its a ploy. According to this ad, they have 350,000 satisfied customers. On balance I remain sufficiently dubious. Return sometime in the future for possibly Part 2, my personal experience with Garcinia Cambogia.
Some of you might remember my ordeal with 5-hour energy. I still look at Jim Furyk with some disdain, as he wore a 5-hour energy shirt at the U.S. Open last weekend. Click on this article to read more about his involvement with this supplement that has already killed 13 people. I don't blame Furyk for my stupidity, as I tried this potion mostly because the night before I had read an interesting article in Forbes about the creator, Manoj Bhargava, and, being sold at the check-out counter of Longs Drugs, how fatal could that dangerous tonic be? Well, I can highly recommend that you don't try it!!!
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