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Brand of Confusion: Are Svetol® and GCA® Really Any Better Than Non-Brand Name Chlorogenic Acid?

Brand of Confusion: Are Svetol® and GCA® Really Any Better Than Non-Brand Name Chlorogenic Acid? - aProvenYou.com

Green coffee bean extract quickly became the most talked about supplement on the market when Dr. Oz hyped its weight loss potential on his television show. But we believe that Dr. Oz may have caused some unnecessary confusion for buyers of the supplement when he recommended they stick to only brand name green coffee bean extract.

Here is an excerpt from Dr. Oz’s official website where he recommends sticking to GCBE supplements with Svetol® and GCA®. He also shared this advice with television viewers.

Brand of Confusion:  Are Svetol® and GCA® Really Any Better Than Non-Brand Name Chlorogenic Acid? - RagTagResearchGeeks.com

Chlorogenic acid is the key active compound in green coffee bean extract. It slows the release of glucose into the bloodstream following a meal, thereby reducing caloric input and inhibiting fat production. It is also believed to speed up the liver’s metabolic processing. It is the principle mechanism in green coffee bean responsible for the supplement’s suggested weight loss benefits.

But Svetol® and GCA® are nothing more than trademarked brand names of chlorogenic acid. Just like Kleenex is a facial tissue brand or Xerox is a brand of copy machines. That said, how many of us still commonly ask for a kleenex rather than a tissue or say we’re xeroxing something instead of photo copying it? This is the marketing strategy behind these trademarks as well. The owners of these trademarks hope people are trained to only accept chlorogenic acid listed as Svetol® or GCA® on Green Coffee Bean supplement labels.

Svetol® is a trademarked chlorogenic acid extract owned by Naturex based in France.

GCA®, short for Green Coffee Antioxidant, is a trademarked chlorogenic acid extract owned by Applied Food Sciences based in Austin, TX.

A brand name doesn’t necessarily mean better quality. At the end of the day, both trademarked chlorogenic acid and non-trademarked chlorogenic acid are just chlorogenic acid.

It’s Not What Kind Of Chlorogenic Acid It Is, It’s How Much!

The chlorogenic acid level is the most important factor when choosing a green coffee bean supplement. To increase the odds of successfully shedding a few pounds with this supplement, you need something with chlorogenic acid levels between 45% and 50%. Anything less and you pretty much have a potent antioxidant and that’s it.

Both brands claim to be 45% chlorgenic acid, which seems to be good-quality pure green coffee bean extract. However, unless manufacturers are testing every single lot, even these brand name extracts recommended by Dr. Oz can still test low for active ingredients.

Consumerlab.com recently found that over half of the green coffee bean extracts tested by two independent laboratories were lower in chlorogenic acid than expected.

We encountered this issue ourselves when a brand name that we tested came back at only 41% chlorogenic acid, causing us to send it back and look for another Green Coffee Bean supplement to endorse.  This ultimately led to us recommending GC50™, as every single lot consistently tested well over 50% chlorogenic acid.

Applied Food Sciences’ Connection To Study Praised On Dr. Oz Show

Applied Food Sciences, the owner of the GCA® trademark, coincidentally financed the Vinson, Burnham and Nagendran study that Dr. Oz and guests spoke of on his show. The company also supplied researchers with the GCA® used in the study.

While this study involving GCA® is the most heavily publicized green coffee bean/weight loss study, it is not the ONLY study. We have found over 180 studies, most of which involve the use of non-trademarked extracts, demonstrating the potential weight loss and overall health benefits of this compound.

Non-Trademarked Extract’s Effect On Body Weight

Back in 2007, way before green coffee bean hysteria kicked in, a 12-week comparative, randomized, double-blind study involving 30 overweight people was conducted. Subjects were randomly assigned to drink either coffee enriched with chlorogenic acid or an everyday regular cup of caffeinated “joe.”

Normal coffee drinkers lost 4 lbs. on average. Meanwhile, by comparison, those drinking the chlorogenic acid enriched coffee dropped an average of 12 lbs.

Non-Trademarked Extract’s Effect On Glucose Absorption

In another 2007 experiment, 12 healthy subjects, all normal weight, were randomly given four types of drinks – regular caffeinated instant coffee, regular decaffeinated instant coffee, coffee enriched with chlorogenic acid, and water. Sugar was used in each drink. Sugar levels were monitored for two hours.

The people consuming the coffee laced with chlorogenic acid were shown to have 7% less glucose absorbed as opposed to when they were drinking caffeinated or decaffeinated coffee and water.

If stored glucose from carbohydrate consumption isn’t used to fuel the body, this excess glucose can end up being stored by the body as fat. Reduced glucose absorption is believed to decrease the body’s ability to pack on more fat, which makes this study relevant to anyone considering green coffee bean extract as a slimming aid.

A previous study in 2003 observed the glycemic effects of chlorogenic acid and caffeine on nine healthy fasted volunteers. This study again concluded that chlorogenic acid delayed glucose absorption.

Non-Trademarked Extract Reduces Weight Gain and Total Fat in Animal Studies

While human studies observing green coffee extract for weight loss are relatively new, the effects of GCBE on mice and rats have been studied for awhile. A 2006 study showed that mice ingesting green coffee bean extract gained less weight, showed moderately reduced levels of triglycerides in their bloodstream, and reduced the amount of fat between their organs by as much as 50%, compared to mice consuming a regular diet. Researchers concluded green coffee bean extract inhibited fat absorption and activated the liver’s fat metabolism action, making it effective in preventing weight gain and fat accumulation.

Another 2010 study demonstrated that mice given a chlorogenic enriched diet for eight weeks gained 16% less body weight, with 46% less body fat, compared to mice consuming an identical diet without chlorogenic acid.

Conclusion

While aspects of Dr. Oz’s endorsement can be questioned, or perceived as unfounded hype, there is enough science that suggests chlorogenic acid may play an instrumental role in slowing the release of glucose into the bloodstream and altering our body’s metabolism.

What we need at this point are longer duration human clinical trials, with larger polls of people, that ARE NOT paid for and sponsored by owners of chlorogenic acid trademarks.

Because of his influence, Dr. Oz finds himself in an unenviable position of now having to play watchdog as fly-by-night companies try to market supplements he promotes on his show without a care in the world in regard to quality, effectiveness, and consumer safety. These types live to make as much money as possible until one fad runs out and the next comes along. Often times, they use Dr. Oz’s name and imagery in their promotion without permission.

We believe Dr. Oz’s recommendation of only buying green coffee bean extract with Svetol® or GCA® is based primarily on his desire to protect his audience from schemers and scam artists by directing them to supplements with at least 45% chlorogenic acid.

But we also feel that its important to clarify that it isn’t a brand name that makes a Green Coffee Bean supplement effective but the true level of chlorogenic acid it has. And even these known brand names tested low in independent testing conducted by us and Consumerlab.com.

This proves to us that Svetol® and GCA® are more about brand marketing than actual science. This is something to keep in mind as you shop for a green coffee bean extract.