Is This African Tree A Weight Loss Secret?
You might recognize Irvinga gabonensis as a huge source of chatter that stoked up the weight loss community. This may turn out to be another scam like hoodia and acai berry. Those who are looking for some ways on how to lose weight should beware.
The West African bush mango tree produces Irvinga, a high fat, high fiber nut. The fiber is good for health and weight loss, but is it something special?
In a study by a Cameroon research group, 40 obese people were divided into two groups and tested with Irvingia gabonensis versus a placebo to see. Subjects were tested by taking 1.05 grams of an Invingia extract three times daily for a month.While participating measurements of their weight, size, blood pressure, and cholesterol were kept.
Food and activity journals were also kept. The study showed that the Irvingia group lost an average weight of 11.5 pounds while the placebo group lost almost 3 pounds. On average, almost 3 pounds were lost by the placebo group, but the Irvingia group lost an average of 11.5 pounds.
The same group also had increased HDL cholesterol, reduced systolic blood pressure and lower levels of triglycerides and LDL cholesterol. The reasons for the weight loss are not clear: perhaps that group ate less and the results were not related to any effect from the supplement. Can you get the same results with losing weight fast instead of being slow and consistent? I think not.
Later, the same researchers compared a group taking Cissus quadrangularis by itself, a group taking an Irvingia-Cissus blend, and a placebo group in another study.
This time, the Invingia group tested better again across the same measurements. Yet another test was conducted that showed an amazing 28 pound average weight loss over ten weeks, together with improvements in body chemistry. One who understands research might be skeptical of these results, but the average person probably would think the results are wonderful.
Before going to the health food store to buy Irvingia products, you probably should try to find better research.A place like a hospital where activity and food can be monitored is where a controlled study would be performed.The subjects in these studies I mentioned may not have been reliable in recording their food intake and we don’t know what else was going on either.
The rights to the product are owned by the person responsible for the research, making the situation even worse!An increase in metabolism of 1400 calories per day would be required to lose 28 pounds in then weeks without changes in eating or exercise. Don’t you remember the last miracle pill, Hoodia? To conclude, we’d have to say that the fiber in Irvingia is good, but at $42-$72 for a month’s supply it seems more cost effective to utilize other sources for fiber.
For more information go to our weight loss forum or for a free fat loss report, go to www.fatlossfactor.com.
