Journal of Obesity

Review Article

An Evidence-Based Review of Fat Modifying Supplemental Weight Loss Products

Table 1

Summary data of fat modifying supplemental weight loss products.


Dietary Supplement	Trial	Average BMI (kg/m²)	Treatment	Length of Treatment	Results

Conjugated linoleic acid	Blankson et al. [9]	25–35	CLA 1.7, 3.4, 5.1, or 6.8 grams/day or placebo	12 weeks	↓ BFM with CLA 3.4 grams ( kg, ) and 6.8 grams ( kg, ). No differences in body weight or BMI
	Risérus et al. [10]	32	CLA 4.2 grams/day or placebo	4 weeks	↓ SAD in CLA group ( cm, ). No difference in body weight or BMI
	Smedman and Vessby [11]	25	CLA 4.2 grams/day or placebo	12 weeks	↓ % body fat in CLA group (%, ). No change in body weight or BMI
	Gaullier et al. [8]	28	4.5 grams/day of CLA-FFA, 4.5 grams/day of CLA-triacylglycerol, or placebo	12 months	↓ BFM with CLA-triacylglycerol and CLA-FFA groups ( and kg, resp.; ) ↓ Body weight with CLA-triacylglycerol ( kg, ) ↓ BMI with CLA-triacylglycerol ( kg/m², ) ↑ LBM with CLA-FFA (2.0 kg, )
	Gaullier et al. [12]	28	4.5 grams/day of CLA-FFA, 4.5 grams/day of CLA-triacylglycerol, or placebo	24 months	No additional ↓ body weight or BFM

Garcinia cambogia (Hydroxycitric acid)	Heymsfield et al. [13]	32	Garcinia cambogia 3000 mg/day (1500 mg of HCA) or placebo	12 weeks	Both groups demonstrated weight loss and decrease in percent body fat; there was no difference between the groups
Garcinia cambogia (Hydroxycitric acid)	Mattes and Bormann [14]	NR	Garcinia cambogia 2.4 g/day (1.2 g of HCA) or placebo		↓ 3.7 kg with Garcinia cambogia versus ↓ 2.4 kg with placebo

Chitosan	Pittler et al. [15]	26	Chitosan 1 gram, or placebo twice daily	28 days	No difference between groups in regards to body weight or BMI
	Schiller et al. [16]	32	Chitosan 1500 mg or placebo twice daily	8 weeks	↓ Body weight of 1 kg with chitosan () ↓ BMI of 0.3 kg/m² with chitosan () ↑Body weight of 1.5 kg with placebo () ↑ BMI of 0.6 kg/m² with placebo ()
	Ni Mhurchu et al. [17]	35–36	Chitosan 3 grams/day or placebo	24 weeks	Chitosan group lost 0.39 kg versus a weight gain of 0.17 kg in the placebo group ()
	Kaats et al. [18]	NR	Chitosan 3 grams/day with behavior modification; placebo with behavior modification; or minimal intervention control	60 days	↓ Body weight of 2.8 lbs. with chitosan versus placebo () ↓ Percent body fat of 0.8% with chitosan versus placebo () ↓ Fat mass of 2.6 lbs. with chitosan versus placebo () ↑ BCI of 2.4 lbs. with chitosan versus placebo ()
Pyruvate	Stanko et al. [19]	27.8–52.7	Pyruvate 30 grams/day and calcium pyruvate 16 grams/day, or placebo	21 days	↓ 0.22 kg with pyruvate versus ↓ 0.17 kg with placebo () ↓ BMI 2.2 kg/m² with pyruvate versus ↓ 1.5 kg/m² with placebo () ↓ Fat 7.3% with pyruvate versus ↓ 5.4% with placebo ()
	Kalman et al. [20]	25	Pyruvate 6 grams/day, placebo or nothing (control)	6 weeks	↑ LBM 2.4% with pyruvate () ↓ Fat mass 12.2% with pyruvate (), and ↓ Body fat 12.4% with pyruvate ()
	Kalman et al. [21]	25	Pyruvate 6 grams/day, or placebo	6 weeks	↓ Body weight 1.6% with pyruvate () ↓ Body fat 14% with pyruvate () ↓ % body fat 11.7% with pyruvate ()
Irvingia gabonensis	Ngondi et al. [22]	NR	Irvingia gabonensis 350 mg/day, or placebo	4 weeks	↓ Body weight 5.6% with Irvingia gabonensis () ↓ Waist circumference 5.07% with Irvingia gabonensis () ↓ Hip circumference 3.42% with Irvingia gabonensis ()
Irvingia gabonensis	Ngondi et al. [23]	26–40	Irvingia gabonensis 150 mg/day, or placebo	10 weeks	↓ Body weight 12.8 kg with Irvingia gabonensis () ↓ Waist circumference 16.19 cm with Irvingia gabonensis () ↓ % body fat 6.3% with Irvingia gabonensis ()

Chia seeds (Salvia hispanica)	Nieman et al. [24]	NR	Chia seeds 50 g/day, or placebo	12 weeks	No differences in body mass or body composition

BCI: Body Composition Improvement, BFM: Body Fat Mass, BMI: Body Mass Index, CLA: Conjugated Linoleic Acid, FFA: Free Fatty Acid, HCA: Hydroxycitric Acid, LBM: Lean Body Mass, NR: Not Reported, SAD: Sagittal Abdominal Diameter.