Dr. Oz diet tips were questioned by the lawmakers over "his claims that certain weight loss products can be" magic weight-loss cure " and " the no. 1 miracle in a bottle. " Yahoo News reported that Dr. Mehmet Oz, host of "The Dr. Oz Show," was "harshly criticized by skeptical Senate panel."
According to Time, Missouri Democratic Sen. Claire McCaskill called for Dr. Oz to appear at a hearing on deceptive advertising claims for weight loss products after recent endorsements made on his show.
Live Science listed some of the allegedly "metabolism-boosting, weight-loss supplements" that Dr. Oz has endorsed. They are the following:
1. Green coffee bean extract: The major ingredient supplement is chlorogenic acids. "You may think magic is make-believe, but this little bean has scientists saying they've found the magic weight-loss cure for every body type. It's green coffee extract," Oz said about the supplement during an episode that aired in 2012. A study in mice, published last year in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, found that chlorogenic acid in green coffee bean extract didn't help prevent weight gain in mice fed a high-fat diet and was linked to an unhealthy buildup of fat in in the liver.
2. Raspberry ketone: "The No. 1 miracle" fat-burner as called by Oz. This compound found in raspberries has been tested in animals and in cells in the lab, but never for weight loss in humans. Some research in animals has suggested that it might increase some measures of metabolism. Still, there is no reliable scientific proof that it improves weight loss in people, and no study has examined its safety and dosage.
3. Garcinia cambogia extract: Garcinia cambogia is a small, tasty fruit native to Southeast Asia, and was featured in Oz's "The Newest, Fastest Fat Busters" episode. The extract contains a compound called hydroxycitric acid (HCA) that is advertised for weight loss, but studies have produced mixed results. One study, a randomized controlled trial published in The Journal of the American Medical Association in 1998, even found that people who took the supplement as part of their weight-loss diet lost less weight than the control group who took a placebo.
4. African mango diet pill: In a 2013 review of studies, published in the Journal of Dietary Supplements, the researchers concluded that the effects of this supplement on body weight and related outcomes were unproven, and therefore, they said, the supplement could not be recommended as a weight-loss aid.
5. Saffron extract: This expensive, exotic spice that is frequently used in Middle Eastern cooking has much folklore describing its ability to lighten up mood, but modern science hasn't found it is a "miracle appetite suppressant" as Oz has claimed. No independent studies of the supplement have found that it helps people lose weight.
