Green coffee bean extract isn't a weight loss 'miracle' after all

Green coffee bean extract isn't a weight loss 'miracle' after all
(Image credit: iStock)

It was too good to be true: A study touting green coffee bean extract as a phenomenal weight loss drug has been retracted by its authors.

The study was written by Joe Vinson and Bryan Burnham of the University of Scranton, and published in 2012 in the journal Diabetes, Metabolic Syndrome and Obesity: Targets and Therapy. One of the study's fans was Dr. Mehmet Oz, who praised the extract on his television show as a "miracle" weight loss aid.

The research was sponsored by Applied Food Science Inc., a manufacturer of the green coffee bean extract. Last month, the Federal Trade Commission reached a $3.5 million settlement with the company, saying their research was "so hopelessly flawed that no reliable conclusions could be drawn from it."

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

The FTC says the study was conducted in India, and the lead researcher changed the length of the trial, incorrectly identified who was taking the placebo, and altered the measurements of subjects, the Los Angeles Times reports. When the study was over, researchers claimed 16 participants took part, and those who took the extract lost an average of 17.5 pounds in 22 weeks, reducing their overall body weight by more than 10 percent. The FTC says that when the India investigators could not get the study published, AFS hired Vinson and Burnham.

In addition to the $3.5 million, AFS must "have scientific substantiation for any future weight-loss claims it makes, including at least two adequate and well-controlled human clinical tests."

Continue reading for free

We hope you're enjoying The Week's refreshingly open-minded journalism.

Subscribed to The Week? Register your account with the same email as your subscription.

Catherine Garcia

Catherine Garcia is night editor for TheWeek.com. Her writing and reporting has appeared in Entertainment Weekly and EW.com, The New York Times, The Book of Jezebel, and other publications. A Southern California native, Catherine is a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.