Green Coffee Bean Extract

I was asked to write a post for a wonderful friend from work.  She has lost over 90 pounds by eating real food.  You can read my part of the post here, but please checkout her blog: My Life Lived with Fat.  She is a real inspiration and keeps the challenges of weight loss and weight maintenance real.  If your 2013 resolution is to lose weight or just get healthy, remember, there is no magic pill...

Dr. Oz is about as bad as a politician when it comes to health and wellness.  One day he tells us a healthy diet is low in fat, the next day he invites Dr. William Davis on to discuss wheat and gluten, and then the next day he has a nutritionist touting the newest weight loss miracle pill.  So which is it Dr. OZ, what is the ultimate secret to weight loss?  At this point I’m not sure even he knows. 

Real Coffee may have health benefits from antioxidants.  

Recently he spot-lighted the magical benefits of green coffee bean extract (GCBE).  Supposedly, taking this supplement will melt away the pounds without having to change one’s diet or increasing exercise.  Sounds too good to be true to me.  However, unlike the famous raspberry ketone show, there are a few studies, that have shown supplementing with GCBE may actually help people lose weight.  Don’t get too excited just yet.  The most recent study is very small (16 test subjects), who took a placebo, 700mg, 1050mg, for 6 weeks with 2 weeks between doses.  Results showed an average weight loss of 6-10 pounds during the highest dose period.  Unfortunately there is no information on how long these people kept the weight off.

 During the show Dr. Oz went on and highlighted two audience members who took GCBE for 1 week.  Both lost 2-5 pounds and stated that they had fewer cravings and more energy.  But can we really trust them?  They’re on Dr. Oz!  Of course they’re going to say they felt great taking the supplement.  In the words of Dr. House, “Everyone lies.”  The Dr. Oz Show Medical Unit went on and conducted its own larger study using 100 overweight women and found that after taking 400mg of GCBE for two weeks the GCBE group lost 2 pounds and the placebo group lost 1 pound.  Both groups were told not to change their diets.  So then how did the placebo group still manage to lose one pound?  Obviously this is not a very scientific study, and its results should not be trusted.

Currently no large, long term studies have been performed on GCBE, so we don’t know how long a person can take it and possibly lose weight.  We also don’t know if there are any negative side effects from long term use.  As usual, it doesn’t address the reason a person gained excess weight in the first place, poor diet habits.  Sure people might lose weight, but they are not necessarily healthier.  Body weight is not the problem, it is a symptom.  Inevitably, once someone stops taking the supplement they will probably gain the weight right back. 

For people willing to tune out Dr. OZ, long term sustained weight-loss can be theirs.  But it takes time and effort, and there are no magic pills.  This year make a commitment to yourself.  This year you are going to eat real foods.  You are going to eat balanced meals and snacks and not starve yourself.  This year you will stop believing in magic pills and quick fixes.  This year you will begin believing in your own power to make good choices and to nourish your body.