The "Coffee Diet" --> Lose a pound...to Roast a pound...

STUDY OF EXTRACT
Green-coffee extract shows potential as weight-loss aid

HEALTH HEADLINES
National Institutes of Health
By  Melissa Healy
Los Angeles Times Thursday March 29, 2012 5:38 AM

LOS ANGELES — When roasted at 475 degrees, coffee beans sometimes are described as rich and full-bodied. But for the full-bodied person who is not so rich, unroasted coffee beans — green as the day they were picked — might hold the key to cheap and effective weight loss, new research suggests.

In a study presented Tuesday at an American Chemical Society meeting in San Diego, 16 overweight young adults took, by turns, a low dose of green coffee-bean extract, a high dose of the supplement and a placebo. Though the study was small, the results were striking: Subjects lost

an average of 17.5 pounds in 22 weeks and reduced their overall body weight by

10.5 percent.

If green-coffee extract were a medication seeking approval from the Food and Drug Administration, these results would make it a viable candidate — more than 35 percent of subjects lost more than

5 percent of their body weight, and weight loss

appeared to be greater while subjects were taking the pills than when on the placebo.

But as a dietary supplement, it does not require the FDA’s blessing. It already is available as a naturopathic medicine and antioxidant.

Joe Vinson, the University of Scranton chemist who conducted the pilot study, said the findings should pave the way for more-rigorous research. A trial involving

60 people is being planned.

Vinson, whose research focuses on the effect of plant polyphenols on human health, said it appears green coffee-bean extract might work by reducing the absorption of fat and glucose in the gut; it also might reduce insulin levels, which would improve metabolic function.

There were no signs of ill effects, Vinson said. The extract is “extremely bitter” and would be hard to take without a lot of water.

The trial in India was paid for by Applied Food Sciences Inc. of Austin, Texas, which makes the extract.