Garcinia cambogia (hydroxycitric acid) and weight loss
What 3 graded rows on garcinia cambogia (hydroxycitric acid) agree on for weight loss, and where they differ. Counted side by side, never averaged.
Consensus finder Rows from the Garcinia cambogia (hydroxycitric acid) page, reviewed Oct 21, 2026 How it decides
What the rows agree on
Each block and row is one graded row from the Garcinia cambogia (hydroxycitric acid) page, with its PubMed record.
Your question
Garcinia cambogia (hydroxycitric acid) and weight loss
3 rows · 1,371 peopleMostly an improvement: 2 of 3 rows, and most of the people. 1 found no difference.
- CGrade C× 2
- ∅No effect× 1
- Rows
- 3
- Trials
- 18
- People
- 1,371
- Pooled reviews may count some twice
Where they differ
From the rowsThe best-graded row, grade C, is a meta-analysis of 706 people (2011) and found an improvement. 1 row is graded No effect, our grade for adequately powered trials that found no effect.
The 2 rows that found an improvement were larger: a median of 618 people, against 135 people for the row that found no difference.
The 2 rows that found an improvement are pooled reviews of several trials; the row that found no difference is a single study.
Only the row that found no difference names women and men in its population.
The 2 rows that found an improvement are newer (2011 to 2020) than the row that found no difference (1998).
The rows
2 improved · 1 no difference- CGrade CShort-term weight loss · Improved
Meta-analysis, 9 studies · n 706 · 2011 · Adults in randomized trials (12 included, 9 pooled)
1,000-2,800 mg/day HCA · 2-12 weeks
Pooled weight loss was 0.88 kg more than placebo (95% CI -1.75 to -0.00); the authors called the effect small and of uncertain clinical relevance. Gastrointestinal adverse events were twice as common with HCA in one trial.
Row on the Garcinia cambogia (hydroxycitric acid) page · PubMed 21197150 (opens PubMed)
- CGrade CBody weight, BMI and waist size · Improved
Meta-analysis, 8 studies · n 530 · 2020 · Adults in placebo-controlled trials (8 RCTs)
Doses varied across trials (dose-response analysed) · Short-term trials
Weight fell 1.34 kg, BMI 0.99 kg/m2 and waist 4.16 cm more than placebo; body-fat percentage fell 0.42 points. The dose-response link was nonlinear.
Row on the Garcinia cambogia (hydroxycitric acid) page · PubMed 32951714 (opens PubMed)
- ∅No effectWeight and fat-mass loss on a low-energy diet · No difference
RCT · n 135 · 1998 · Overweight men and women, mean BMI about 32 (US)
1,500 mg/day hydroxycitric acid · 12 weeks
Both groups lost weight; 3.2 kg with garcinia vs 4.1 kg with placebo (P = .14). Fat-mass loss did not differ.
Row on the Garcinia cambogia (hydroxycitric acid) page · PubMed 9820262 (opens PubMed)