Compound or practice · Supplement
Garcinia Cambogia (HCA)
A perennial TV weight-loss star that fails in controlled trials — and carries a rare liver risk.
- Overall grade
- Grade D
- Last revised
- 2
- graded outcomes
- 0
- references listed
A structured monograph in Prometheus's bundled library. Its grades are the monograph's own reading of the evidence, not a peer-reviewed review.
1 at grade C · 1 at grade D — 2 graded rows
What is known
Each outcome with its grade (how strong the evidence is, A to D), the size of the effect where the entry records one, and how often studies agree.
- Liver injuryEvidence grade C
Rare but serious
Smalllow
- Weight lossEvidence grade D
Not meaningful
Trivialhigh
What is uncertain
Read off the same rows as above. Nothing here is added that the entry does not itself record.
- Thin evidence: Liver injury (grade C); Weight loss (grade D).
The evidence in words
What it is
Garcinia cambogia supplies hydroxycitric acid (HCA), heavily marketed for appetite and fat.
How it works
HCA inhibits an enzyme in fat synthesis and may modestly affect satiety.
What the evidence shows
Meta-analyses show negligible, clinically meaningless weight effects. More concerning, it has been linked to rare cases of serious liver injury. Ineffective and not risk-free.
Safety & interactions
Rare hepatotoxicity reported; avoid.
Bottom line
Doesn't work for weight and carries a rare liver risk. One to avoid.
Related reading
Entries that share this one's tags or conditions.
- CLA (Conjugated Linoleic Acid) for Fat lossEvidence grade D — Not meaningfulEvidence grade D
- ForskolinA cAMP-raising herb marketed hard for fat loss with unconvincing human data.Evidence grade D
- Forskolin for Fat lossEvidence grade D — Weak, unreplicatedEvidence grade D
- Garcinia Cambogia (HCA) for Liver injuryEvidence grade C — Rare but seriousEvidence grade C
Sources
This entry lists no references of its own.
Last revised . A grade is this entry's reading of the evidence, not medical advice.