Thsi article review about forskolin.
supplement-geek.com says:
What is Coleus forskohlii?
Coleus forskohlii, is a member of the mint family of herbs. Its technical name is Plectranthus barbatus. The roots of the plant contain a compound called forskolin. As such, coleus forskohlii and forskolin are often used interchangeably. Traditionally used in Ayurvedic medicine to treat asthma and other ailments, for the last several years, it’s the claims that forskolin helps weight loss that has sparked peoples interest the most. I’ve even seen Dr. Oz say “it works” when talking about forskoiln
Supplement Tip. There are many weight loss supplements that contain Coleus forskohlii. As a personal rule of thumb, any supplement that contains the prefix “fors” or forsk” (or something similar) in their name, probably contains coleus forskohlii.
Coleus Forskohlii and weight loss.
How does Coleus forskohlii help weight loss? Or rather, what is the theory behind how it’s supposed to work? This will get a little technical but bear with me, I promise to bring it home at the end.
Coleus forskohlii stimulates the production of a molecule called cyclic AMP (cAMP). In our body, cyclic AMP helps our cells talk to each other. When an increase or decrease in cAMP is detected, it acts as a signal that causes the body to do something. One of the things that cAMP does is tell our cells to increase in an enzyme called hormone sensitive lipase—which burns fat. cAMP might also seems to stimulate the release of thyroid hormone which also helps burn fat and calories.
Translation: Coleus forskohlii (Forskolin) stimulates fat-burning enzymes and hormones which, in turn, causes weight loss.
The theory sounds good but is there any proof? It turns out there are a couple of Coleus forskohlii weight loss studies. Let’s take a look at them now.
One study published in the Journal Obesity Research in 2005 looked at 30 overweight and obese men. Half of these men received Coleus forskohlii and half received a placebo. The people in this study took 250 mg of a supplement (ForsLean) that had 10 % Coleus forskohlii. They took the supplement twice a day. The study lasted 12 weeks.
Body fat was determined via DEXA, a very accurate body fat measurement technique that uses x rays. At the end of the study, those getting Coleus forskohlii showed a reduction in body fat as well as an increase in testosterone.
Lean body mass (I take this to mean muscle) increased as well– but lean body mass also increased in both the placebo group. While lean body mass did increase more in those getting the Coleus forskohlii extract, how did the placebo (which should do nothing) increase lean body mass? This is a problem. The people in this study did not exercise. So if exercise didn’t cause the increase in lean body mass what did?
Another problem is that the people in the Coleus forskohlii group had higher testosterone levels at the start of the study than those in the placebo group. If the people were randomly divided into two groups, one would think that testosterone levels would be pretty much the same between the groups. But they were not. This doesn’t make sense.
Another observation was that Coleus forskohlii did not appear to increase metabolic rate. This totally contracts “experts” on the Dr Oz Show who have said that forskolin raises metabolic rate.
This particular study gets mentioned a lot on bodybuilding websites, however given the problems I just listed, I’d like to see another study to confirm these findings.
In another study, published in 2005 in the International Journal of the Society of Sports Nutrition, , 19 women were either given a Coleus forskohlii supplement (ForsLean) which contained 250 mg of a 10% Coleus forskohlii extract. The supplement was taken twice a day. The other group received a placebo and the study lasted 12 weeks.
Body fat was determined via DEXA. This study found that Coleus forskohlii did not promote any significant weight loss but it did seem to reduce the gaining of weight.
The forskolin extract did not seem to change thyroid hormone, liver enzymes, cholesterol, insulin, heart rate, blood pressure or red or white blood cells. This study unfortunately did not measure testosterone. So, while the Coleus forskohlii extract didn’t seem to help weight loss, it did appear to help people from gaining weight.
It is interesting that supplement used in this study (ForsLean) is the same as that tested in the previous study. So, two studies on the same supplement each finding different outcomes.
As far as I could tell, these appear to the only recent human studies of Coleus forskohlii and weight loss. If these are the only two studies, then they appear to contradict each other in terms of whether Coleus forskohlii helps weight loss or not.
Based on this, maybe forskolin helps weight loss or maybe it might reduce the rate at which people gain weight. So which is it? I don’t think anyone has the answer at this time. This is a far cry from the proclamation of Dr Oz who said on his TV show it works.
Coleus forskohlii side effects.
Based on the human studies done so far, Coleus forskohlii seems to be pretty safe in healthy people for at least 3 months. There is no research on people who are not “healthy” and the herb may interact with medications like blood thinners. People with serious health issues like heart disease etc. should speak to their doctor before taking Coleus forskohlii.
Does it work or does it help you lose weight?
While you may have heard Dr. Oz say a weight loss supplement “works”, have you ever heard him say a supplement “causes weight loss”? I haven’t and this may be why:
Saying “it works” is vague language that gives the impression that something helps you lose weight. People connect the dots in their mind and assume that’s what it means.
In ads, this is a way of tap dancing around the law because if somebody really did say in an ad that “Coleus forskohlii helps people lose weight”, they would have to prove it. This is why ads for supplements always say “it works”.
So, the next time you hear Dr. Oz say “it works” in reference to some weight loss supplement, ask yourself why he’s not saying “it helps you lose weight”.
As I have tried to show, the research on forskolin is interesting but it is far from conclusive. If the research is to believed, there may be something to it but the best results so far only seem to be based on just one study, which I think is questionable.
