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Garcinia Cambogia (HCA) Supplements Review

Find the Best Garcinia Cambogia Supplement.
Choose Carefully! Most Garcinia (HCA) Weight Loss Supplements Lack Listed Amount of Ingredient 

Reviewed and edited by Tod Cooperman, M.D. Tod Cooperman, M.D.

Initially Posted: 11/09/2013 | Last Updated: 12/03/2019
Garcinia Cambogia (HCA) Supplements Reviewed by ConsumerLab.com

Alphabetical list of Garcinia (HCA) supplement brands compared in this review

Absolute Garcinia Cambogia

Bio Nutrition Garcinia Cambogia

Futurebiotics Garcinia Cambogia

Garcinia Cambogia Select

Garcinia Cambogia XT

Genesis Today Garcinia Cambogia

Healthy Clip Pure Garcinia Rapid

Jarrow Formulas HCActive

Labrada Nutrition Garcinia Cambogia

Miracle Garcinia Cambogia

Molecular Research Labs Pure Garcinia Cambogia

Nature’s Plus Citrimax

NutriGold Garcinia Cambogia Gold

Nutritional Sciences Garcinia Lean

Pure Health Garcinia Camboigia

Puritan's Pride Super Citrimax

Vitamin Shoppe Garcinia Cambogia Extract

Vitamin World Super Citrimax

Make sure the Garcinia supplement you take passed our tests and is right for you!
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Garcinia cambogia extracts are popular weight loss supplements, but few products on the market actually provide the amounts of hydroxycitric acid (HCA) typically used in clinical trials and most don't even contain the amount of HCA listed on their labels.
 
Among 13 Garcinia cambogia supplements which ConsumerLab.com selected for review, seven contained only 14% to 81% of the listed amount of HCA, a plant compound believed to be important to Garcinia's biological effects. Even among products which contained what was listed, the amount of HCA in a suggested daily serving ranged from as little as 250 mg to 3,150 mg of HCA, while the dose typically used in clinical studies is 900 mg to 1,500 mg of HCA. Two of the products which failed testing provided less than 100 mg of HCA per day! Unlike OTC products and prescription medications, where dosing must be approved by the FDA, dietary supplement companies set their own suggested serving levels, which may or may not correspond to what has been shown to work.

Among the six products which passed testing, the cost to obtain an equivalent amount (1,500 mg) of HCA ranged was as low as just 74 cents, but among products which did not contain what they claimed, this cost was as much as $21.41 based the amounts of HCA actually found. You can use this information to find the best Garcinia cambogia supplement at the lowest cost and avoid getting ripped-off.
 
You must be a ConsumerLab.com member to get the full test results for Garcinia cambogia supplements along with ConsumerLab.com's recommendations and quality ratings. You will get results for 13 Garcinia cambogia supplements selected by ConsumerLab.com and for four others which passed our voluntary Quality Certification Testing. You'll also get information about a product similar to one that passed testing but which is sold under a different name.

In this comprehensive review, you'll discover:
  • Which Garcinia cambogia supplements failed testing and which passed
  • The evidence for and against Garcinia for weight loss  
  • How Garcinia supplements compare on ingredients, dosage, amounts of HCA, and cost  
  • Dosage used for weight loss and the best way to take Garcinia  
  • Concerns, cautions, drug interactions, and potential side-effects of Garcinia cambogia supplements -- including possible mania in predisposed individuals and toxicity when used with antidepressant drugs

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Latest Clinical Research Updates for Garcinia Cambogia (HCA) Supplements

Garcinia Concern

Another case of liver failure associated with the use of Garcinia cambogia has been reported. For details, see the Concerns and Cautions section of the Garcinia Cambogia Supplements Review.

Garcinia Warning

Be aware that Garcinia cambogia extracts, touted for weight management, may cause liver injury, as suggested by two recent case reports. See the Concerns and Cautions section of the Garcinia Cambogia Supplements Review for details.

Mania From Garcinia

There are recent reports of people experiencing mania when taking Garcinia cambogia (HCA). For details see the Concerns and Cautions section of the Garcinia Cambogia Supplements Review >>

Does Garcinia cambogia Work?

A recent study in obese women found that taking a Garcinia cambogia extract for two months did not impact weight -- although it did modestly reduce triglyceride levels. This adds to an already mixed picture about the effects of Garcinia. Learn more about this and earlier studies, see our bottom line about Garcinia's efficacy, and see how popular brands of supplements have fared in our tests in the updated Garcinia Cambogia (HCA) Supplements Review >> 

Danger Using Antidepressant with Garcinia cambogia

Taking the popular weight supplement Garcinia cambogia along with a common antidepressant may cause toxicity, according to a new report. For more details, as well as our tests of Garcinia cambogia supplements, see the Garcinia Cambogia Supplements Review >>  (Also see the CL Answer about supplement interactions with antidepressants.) 

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