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(HealthNewsDigest.com) – Bottom line: We don’t yet know if green coffee bean extract might aid in weight loss. This is a good example of evolving research that got out of control because of media hype. Green coffee bean extract surged in popularity when Dr. Oz promoted it as a miracle weight loss product on his TV show. Critics took Oz to task over this bold suggestion. The good doctor then set up his own experiment with 100 female volunteers who took green coffee extract and reported losing 2 pounds in 2 weeks.
Though this might make for good TV theater, it isn’t exactly sound scientific evidence that the extract worked. If you were recruited to lose weight for Dr. Oz, it is a good bet you would try your hardest to succeed. What controls where used to track the subjects? Did they make changes to the way they normally ate and exercised, even if told not to? Nonetheless, after this green coffee bean extract flew off the shelf. Even Starbucks jumped on the bandwagon and is selling a new line of drinks, Refreshers, including the extract.
Let’s step back and examine this issue carefully to see what we currently know and don’t know. Green coffee beans are the raw, unroasted version of the roasted coffee beans we use to make our morning brew. They are very bitter tasting so they need to be consumed in supplement form, as a chewing gum or in a heavily sweetened drink (this option defeats the weight loss effect). As a supplement green coffee bean extract should consist of 50% cholorgenic acid. Many products being marketed fall short on this dose level. If there is any magic to this substance it lies with this compound.
Cholorgenic acid is a polyphenol antioxidant naturally found in coffee beans. When roasted the level of cholorgenic acid falls to a quarter or less of the amount found in raw green beans. Though experts are unsure of all the roles for cholorgenic acid in the human body, they believe that it may slow down the release of sugar into the bloodstream. This means less sugar will be absorbed, cutting the calories we eat, which in turn could reduce the amount of fat stored in the body. This is the key mechanism for the weight loss claims.
You are thinking – sounds pretty good so far. You are right, but here is the catch. Beside Dr. Oz’s TV study there are few studies on people to back up this claim. The studies that exist were done on very few people, for a very short period of time. It is difficult from this scant amount of evidence to predict how safe and effective the extract would be when taken by thousands of people for long periods of time. Some minerals interact with cholorgenic acid. Many of the supplements marketed contain caffeine which could cause problems for those that are sensitive. Conditions such as anxiety, bleeding disorders, diabetes, glaucoma, high blood pressure and irritable bowel syndrome may be affected by cholorgenic acid.
The study most cited as evidence for the weight loss potential of green coffee bean extract was published in 2012 in the journal Diabetes, Metabolic Syndrome and Obesity. The lead author, Dr. Vinson from the University of Scranton in Pennsylvania, did indeed examine the data and write the paper that was published. But, he did not conduct the actual study. The research was conducted in India using only 16 people for 22 weeks. Though the subjects lost weight, there were too few of them, it was too short a period of time, and although they were all overweight to start, they were healthy adults. Many people attempting to lose weight are not healthy to start. Under the footnotes section of the study, where authors are obligated to note any conflicts of interest, Vinson indicated none.
This doesn’t tell the entire story. The green coffee bean extract used in the study was supplied by a Texas company, Applied Food Sciences, Inc. The company paid Dr. Vinson to write the paper. When asked about this possible conflict of interest, Dr. Vinson said he would not gain financially by the sale of the extract and the journal did not require him to disclose this relationship. Any reputable scientist will tell you this lack of disclosure casts a shadow over the work and is misleading.
The old saying – If it sounds too good to be true, it probably isn’t true. This may be the case with green coffee bean extract. Time and more research are needed to sort out the pieces of this story.
© NRH Nutrition Consultants, Inc.
Jo-Ann Heslin, MA, RD, CDN is a registered dietitian and the author of the nutrition counter series for Pocket Books with sales of more than 8.5 million books.
Look for:
The Most Complete Food Counter, 3rd ed., 2013
The Calorie Counter, 6th Ed., 2013
The Complete Food Counter, 4th ed., 2012
The Diabetes Counter, 4th Ed., 2011
The Protein Counter, 3rd Ed., 2011
The Ultimate Carbohydrate Counter, 3rd Ed., 2010
The Fat Counter, 7th ed., 2009
The Healthy Wholefoods Counter, 2008
The Cholesterol Counter, 7th Ed., 2008
Your Complete Food Counter App: http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/your-complete-food-counter/id444558777?mt=8
For more information on Jo-Ann and her books, go to: www.TheNutritionExperts.com.
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