Doctor Reviews: Hydroxycut Original / Pro Clinical

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A patient is rushed to the ER. Her hands are uncontrollably shaking, her heart is pounding out of her chest, and she’s finding it difficult to breathe. Blood tests reveal that she has acute liver injury, and upon further investigation, it was found that her liver injury was the result of taking a supplement called Hydroxycut.

Unfortunately, this was not the first, nor last time that Hydroxycut would be linked to such cases of liver injury or other serious side effects.

Hydroxycut is one of the most popular weight loss supplements in North America, and as a result of multiple cases of serious side effects, including one death, their formulation has gone through some changes over the years in an attempt to stop these cases.

Unfortunately this has not completely eliminated the problem, and Hydroxycut is still causing serious health issues to this day.

But how effective is Hydroxycut for weight loss? And how do you know if it’s safe for you to use? Let’s look at the whole Hydroxycut family of products and start by taking a look at Hydroxycut Original to see if it’s worth your money, see if we can replicate it with a cheaper and safer alternative, and give it an overall rating.

Ingredients of Hydroxycut Original

Let’s take a look at the ingredients. Here are the doses per capsule. The recommended dosing is 2 capsules, 2 times a day, so that’s a total of 4 per day.

Hydroxycut Original vs Pro Clinical

This is the most basic version of Hydroxycut, and in the US, it’s simply called Hydroxycut Original (formerly known as Pro Clinical). In Canada, it’s still called Pro Clinical Hydroxycut, and both are exactly the same product, just that in the US version, some of the ingredients are hidden, whereas all the ingredients are listed in the Canadian version.

Hydroxycut also has another version called Hydroxycut Non-Stimulant which is basically just the original version with the caffeine removed.

Whenever supplements add ingredients into their product, there are three very common issues with many of these ingredients:

1. The doses they use are way too small to be effective
2. The types of extract they use are ineffective and don’t contain much of the active compounds
3. The ingredient itself has not reliably shown any beneficial effect in humans.

When we analyze all these ingredients, we’re going to see which of these issues they have.

Vitamin D

Vitamin D plays an important part in metabolism. Evidence from observational studies suggests that obesity is associated with low vitamin D.

So if you are deficient in Vitamin D, taking Vitamin D supplements may support your weight loss progress.

However, if you have sufficient Vitamin D, taking extra Vitamin D is not going to help you to lose more weight.

This is an important distinction you should understand. Just because a nutrient is involved in metabolism and supports weight loss, doesn’t mean that taking more of it will speed up your weight loss progress.

It’s more like if you don’t have enough of it, it might slow down your weight loss progress. But once you have enough of it, it’s not going to have any more effects on your weight.

B vitamins

The same goes with the B vitamins. They’re used by our bodies as a part of our metabolism, by helping to convert food into energy, but supplementing B vitamins above and beyond what we need, won’t help you to lose more weight, although, like I said, deficiencies can make it more difficult for your body to burn fat and slow down your weight loss.

Some diets, like vegetarian and vegan diets, often supplement B12 since those diets are naturally low in them.

Regardless, the B vitamin doses provided in Hydroxycut is way too low to be useful, and I’d recommend taking a dedicated B complex supplement if you were truly deficient.

Green coffee bean

Green coffee bean extracts and the chlorogenic acid they contain appear to have some minor effects on fat metabolism.

How exactly they help with weight loss is debatable, and most of their weight loss effects are likely due to the caffeine content helping to improve exercise, rather than the chlorogenic acids.

Regardless, the overall amount of weight typically lost is pretty modest, with people losing on average 2-4 pounds over a few months. That’s not very impressive, unfortunately.

Apple cider vinegar

There are a lot of claims around apple cider vinegar’s ability to help with weight loss, most of which are not well substantiated by the evidence.

Its most likely benefit has to do with the acetic acid contained within, which may modestly help control blood sugar levels.

Unfortunately, this effect is only possible with large doses of ACV, or even regular white vinegar, anything with acetic acid really, and the 200 mg that Hydroxycut provides is not nearly enough to do anything.

Plum

Eating plums and the soluble fibers they contain may be helpful as a part of a weight loss diet, to help manage hunger and appetite, but are not useful in supplement form, especially at the tiny doses Hydroxycut uses.

Baobab and cardamom

Baobab and cardamom are both plants and herbs used traditionally to help with diabetes, and manage blood sugar control.

There isn’t really any good evidence that it can actually do those things, nevertheless, herbalists use many grams of these herbs for it to be useful, and the tiny doses that Hydroxycut provides isn’t going to do anything anyways.

Caffeine

The vast majority of Hydroxycut’s supplements rely mostly on caffeine for their effects. This one is no different.

Caffeine’s effects on weight loss are primarily as an exercise aid to help people to increase the intensity and duration of their exercise.

This version of Hydroxycut provides at least 400 mg of caffeine a day with their max recommended dose, and probably more due to the undeclared caffeine content in the green coffee beans.

This is the equivalent of about 7 shots of espresso. That’s a pretty high dose.

It’s important to note that having more caffeine in a supplement is not necessarily a good thing for weight loss, and can be harmful for some people.

Caffeine affects different people differently, and the ideal dose of caffeine is highly dependent on the individual. Some people do better with smaller doses, and some people require a larger dose to feel its effects.

But having more caffeine doesn’t necessarily mean more energy, or better exercise.

In fact, too much caffeine in a more sensitive individual is counterproductive to their weight loss and exercise efforts, and just leads to more negative side effects, like anxiety or heart palpitations, rather than improved energy.

Hydroxycut Original dangers

Hydroxycut products have a troubled history when it comes to safety. In the past, they used to contain ephedra, which led to reports of seizures in consumers. This resulted in numerous lawsuits against the manufacturer, and in 2004, the FDA banned ephedra from supplements altogether.

Afterwards, Hydroxycut reformulated their products with different herbal ingredients. However, this new formulation was associated with serious cases of liver injury, including a fatality directly linked to Hydroxycut use. In response, the FDA issued a warning in 2009, advising consumers to stop using Hydroxycut.

In 2010, the makers of Hydroxycut faced consequences for false advertising. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) imposed a fine of $5.5 million due to misleading claims about the weight-loss effectiveness of their supplements.

Hydroxycut then adjusted their marketing language to comply with the FTC and reformulated their products once again, with caffeine becoming the primary active ingredient. Ephedra was no longer included, and other herbal ingredients suspected of causing liver injuries were removed.

Despite these changes, case reports continue to link Hydroxycut to serious side effects such as heart and gastrointestinal issues. In 2020, rapper Daniel Hernandez, also known as 6ix9ine, reportedly experienced hospitalization after consuming two Hydroxycut pills along with coffee. The high dose of caffeine in Hydroxycut likely contributes to these ongoing reports of severe side effects.

If you are sensitive to caffeine, have cardiovascular issues, suffer from anxiety disorders, or are taking other stimulant drugs like phentermine, it is crucial to consult your doctor to determine if it is safe for you to take Hydroxycut.

It is advisable to avoid taking it in the evening to prevent insomnia. Furthermore, it is important not to exceed the maximum recommended dosage of two pills at a time, with a maximum total of four pills per day. Lastly, it is not safe to use Hydroxycut during pregnancy or while breastfeeding. 

Is Hydroxycut Original effective?

Taken together, Hydroxycut Original is primarily an exercise aid and stimulant, mostly due to all that caffeine, and its effects on weight loss depend highly on whether you’re exercising.

So Hydroxycut may help if you’re actively increasing the intensity and frequency of your exercise, and burning more calories as a result.

However, if you’re not physically active or exercising seriously, just taking Hydroxycut won’t do a whole lot, and you may not really notice any benefits.

At the core of it all, Hydroxycut Original is basically just a high-dose caffeine pill, with some added Vitamin D and green coffee bean extract.

Overall review: Hydroxycut Original

Reviewing Hydroxycut Original / Pro Clinical by effectiveness for weight loss, I’m giving it a C. It basically works as an exercise aid, and taking it without increasing your exercise is not likely going to have much effect on weight whatsoever.

Reviewing it by cost, I’m giving it a C. It can be essentially replicated by getting individual ingredients at a cost 2-3 times less.

Reviewing it for safety, I’m giving it a D. There are direct case studies of people experiencing serious side effects from taking Hydroxycut, including one death. Also the high caffeine content makes it unsafe for certain people to use.

Overall review, I’m giving Hydroxycut Original a D. I would not recommend it at all.

Top alternatives to Hydroxycut Original

If you’re looking to achieve similar effects, but better than those of Hydroxycut Original, I would combine a quality green coffee extract + vitamin D + ACV + caffeine.

• ACV (caps) – 10 to 20 caps / day
• ACV (liquid) – 1 to 2 tbsp / day
• Caffeine anhydrous – 1 cap / day
• Green coffee (caps) – 1 to 2 caps / day
• Vitamin D (caps) – 1 to 2 caps / day
• Vitamin D (drops) – 1 to 2 drops / day

Learn more about

• Apple Cider Vinegar for Weight Loss
• Is Caffeine Good For Weight Loss?
• Green Coffee Bean For Weight Loss
• 6 Things To Look For On Supplements
• 5 Things to Know Before Buying Weight Loss Supplements
• Other weight loss supplements

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