By Paola Bassanese
Ever since Dr Oz mentioned Garcinia Cambogia as an aid to weight loss, sales of the supplement skyrocketed and the media picked up on that.
In the UK the media frenzy hasn’t been as spectacular as in the US, however, because some of my massage clients have been asking me about it and I didn’t try it, I thought I would use myself as a case study after checking it was safe to use.
The instructions are to use the supplement for at least a month, ideally for two months. As this was an experiment, I took the supplement for one month. Usually, any changes to your eating regime will show in the body after 6-8 weeks.
Here’s my experience.
Week 1: after about three days, I noticed that I didn’t have those uncontrollable cravings for chocolate I had just the week before. I filed that under: “placebo effect” and carried on.
Week 2: I noticed a drop in my hunger levels. My stomach will still growl if I left it too late to have a meal however the sensation of hunger was not as powerful. I must admit it was quite interesting to witness this change.
Week 3: cravings and hunger had diminished and I was adapting to a new routine where food did not rule my world. I found that quite empowering.
Week 4: plateau. My body had adapted so the supplements were not showing the same levels of hunger control, however my brain was re-wired somehow into making the right food choices and become better at portion control. I was not expecting that.
I must admit that hunger suppressants can become addictive and if you are suffering from an eating disorder you should never touch them – always seek medical advice first.
I consider myself to eat healthily but when I kept a food diary (see article on food diary) I realised I had been fooling myself: for some reason, those Lindt chocolates didn’t count as food!
My experience of taking Garcinia Cambodia has been that it helped me re-train my mind into making better food choices and listen to my body for actual hunger – if you, like me, tend to over-eat when bored, taking a supplement could be a useful way to adopt a healthier lifestyle.
As I said, I stopped taking Garcinia Cambogia ever since (I finished the course in August) and I am still making healthier food choices compared to earlier in the year.
VERDICT
I am in no way endorsing this product or telling you it’s a miracle cure. I would say a good 50% was a placebo effect; in any case, taking the supplement made me more aware of my body and the hunger signals.