As for garciniacambogia's side effects, controlled studies and animal studies have found very few, although Heymsfield says, “I don’t think it’s 100 percent safe.” It is based on serious reports of health problems, including jaundice, and one death from liver failure. In 2009 the Food and Drug Administration warned consumers about Hydroxycut, a product line containing garciniacambogia and several other ingredients. (Hydroxycut's manufacturer, Iovate Health Sciences, withdrew the products, though it has since returned a reformulated product to the market containing no garciniacambogia. The FDA said it was unable to determine exactly which ingredients were associated with the liver injuries.

The fruit best Garcinia product cambogia was once just the less popular cousin of a trendy fruit, the mangosteen. The gambooge fruit, also known as the Malabar tamarind, grows across southwest India, Myanmar and Indonesia.But now, nutritional supplements containing Garciniacambogia extract have become the rage, touted for their purported ability to curb appetite and stop weight gain.   It ripens to a red or yellowish fruit about the size of an orange, but resembling the shape of a pumpkin. But in the late 1960s, scientists identified a substance in the rind of the fruit called hydroxycitric acid, or HCA. People have long used the dried gambooge rinds for chutneys or curries, and sometimes as an aid for stomach problems.