What is it?
Hydroxycut is a weight loss brand that’s available in different forms, with common ingredients such as green coffee bean. They often use this ingredient to show that within 60 days, people lost 10.95 pounds versus a placebo.
The intended benefits of this brand are increased fat loss, energy, and enhanced metabolism. For their caffeine brands, they advise to start with just 1 capsule a day, then eventually building up to 2 capsules twice a day. Their Hydroxycut blend is a proprietary formula featuring fruit, green coffee, and saffron. In this review you’ll learn about the surprising company history, what customers have to say about it, and whether or not it’s a good weight loss supplement. The top 10 diet pills are featured in this comprehensive list.
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Hydroxycut Ingredients and Side Effects
Robusta Coffee Extract (45% (Chlorogenic Acid)
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Papaya
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Blackberry
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Saffron Extract
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Caffeine Anhydrous
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Maqui
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Amla Extract
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Microcrystalline Cellulose
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Dicalcium Phosphate Dihydrate
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Pre-gelatinized Starch
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Stearic Acid
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Titanium Dioxide
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Polyethylene Glycol
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Talc
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Croscarmellose Sodium
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Magnesium Stearate
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Silicon Dioxide
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Robusta Coffee Extract (45% Chlorogenic Acid): Unroasted Robusta coffee, which is a species of coffee bean known for its higher bitterness and acidity.
It’s intended to help improve metabolism and control blood sugar. It can potentially cause side effects that include:
- Insomnia, nausea, and agitation.
- Anxiety, rapid heart rate, and difficulty concentrating.
- Restlessness, ringing in the ears, and headaches.
A study is provided by the manufacturers to show how effective this ingredient is versus a placebo.
The study was funded by a company who sells this extract, so there’s a potential for bias. In this study they took 50 volunteers and made them follow a low calorie diet.
Other unbiased studies have shown this ingredient to be ineffective for weight loss. Examine.com adds:
“seems weakly to moderately effective (on fat loss)”
It’s possible the only reason for fat loss is due to the caffeine.
Saffron Extract: Plant extract that’s used in cooking, as well as a way to improve mood and reduce sickness. Though there isn’t sufficient studies about its use. Web MD adds:
“There isn’t enough information to know how saffron might work”
“Taking large amounts of saffron by mough is POSSIBLY UNSAFE”
Possible side effects include:
- Yellowing of the skin and eyes.
- Poisoning.
- Vomiting, bloody diarrhea, and numbness.
- Death.
When taken at large amounts there have been cases of people dying from this.
Caffeine Anhydrous: Dehydrated form of caffeine that stimulates the central nervous system, it increaseses energy and metabolism.
A full serving of Hydroxycut Pro Clinical, their flagship brand, has 400 mg per daily serving. This is the maximum allowed limit for caffeine, and due to this, the company mentions:
“Do not take within 5 hours of bedtime”
“Consume 8 to 10 glasses of water per day”
This is to avoid both insomnia and dehydration. They also advise to not take any other stimulants, since it would likely raise the risk for serious side effects. Though on its own, it can potentially cause:
- Anxiety, agitation, and pain in the chest.
- Rapid heart rate, tremors, and jitters.
- Cardiovascular damage, insomnia, and restlessness.
- Dehydration, headaches, and mood swings.
Caffeine also has limitations, as Examine.com adds:
“Habitual caffeine use leads to tolerance. This means the effects of caffeine will be diminished… where the only benefit a user experiences is caffeine’s anti-sleep effect”
Therefore, caffeine must be only taken for short periods before it loses its potential weight loss effects.
Certain people are much more sensitive to caffeine, and that’s why it’s advised to slowly introduce this brand, and to not take more than just 1 pill to start with.
Maqui: A berry found in parts of Latin America, it’s used to help with weight loss. However, Web MD adds:
“There isn’t enough information to know if maqui is safe”
The possible side effects are also not known.
Amla Extract: This fruit has been used to lower bad cholesterol, and to provide antioxidant support. Though Examine.com adds:
“there is not enough evidence to recommend Amla for any particular purpose”
There have also been cases of people experiencing liver damage.
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Hydroxycut Quality of Ingredients
Ingredients like amla, maqui, and saffron have not been thoroughly studied and it’s unknown if they would affect weight loss.
Then there’s the added caffeine and green coffee bean which are the key active ingredients. Caffeine can be replaced with coffee or tea for cheaper and green coffee bean hasn’t shown any valuable weight loss effects. Studies have shown it to be either ineffective, or weak in its possible weight loss effects.
For the kinds of ingredients used, the lack of clinical studies for some ingredients, and the unknown side effects of certain additives, this mixture is a poor choice for weight loss. There are far too many unanswered questions to determine what the formula might do.
The Price and Quality of Hydroxycut
Sales are not offered via the manfaucturer, but they do suggest multiple online and in store 3rd party retailers.
Amazon.com sells one 150 capsule bottle for $28.56. At the maximum dosage of 4 capsules a day, this lasts for a total of 37.5 days. This makes the daily cost for supplementation 76 cents.
Though inexpensive, many of the ingredinets in this are either innefective for weight loss, not yet proven, or can be replaced.
There’s a high amount of caffeine in this which isn’t a long lasting source for weight loss. It may also provide side effects. Stimulant free options for long lasting weight loss are available if you click here.
Caffeine at 400 mg is roughly 4 cups of coffee. That’s why special considerations must be put in place to help protect against side effects. Still, the key active ingredients in caffeine and green coffee bean extract aren’t enough to suggest both reliable and safe effects. These two ingredients can also be replaced for much cheaper.
Business of Hydroxycut
The owners of this brand are Iovate Health Sciences Inc. They can be reached via the following:
Phone Number: (888) 334-4448
Address: 381 North Service Road West
Oakville, ON, L6M 0H4 Canada
Email: [email protected]
The company has been in trouble with both the FDA and FTC.
The FTC fined them $5.5 million dollars for making false advertising claims about their supplements. This included stating that their brands had positive health benefits, and because of this, they were required to refund customers who bought supplements from them.
The FDA also sent them a warning letter due to:
“liver toxicity associated with the use of multiple versions of the dietary supplement Hydroxycut”
“Agency has concluded that the ingestion of the dietary supplement Hydroxycut presents a severe potentially life-threatening hazard to some users”
This forced the company to schedule a mandatory recall on all Hydroxycut on the market. There were 23 reports of severe health problems due to this supplement, and one person died from it.
After this, in 2024 and 2024 there were still incidents of heart problems and ulcers associated the use of Hydroxycut.
They currently have 6 complaints on their Better Business Bureau website. This is due to issues with service, the products, and a lack of communication from the company.
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Customer Opinions of Hydroxycut
Here are select reviews from online customers:
“I really don’t have any effect using this product”
“Made me feel super sick and dizzy”
“It’s mostly a glorified caffeine pill”
“I had severe nausea, abdominal pain and felt like my stomach was on fire”
Amazon.com currently features 535 complaints. It’s often mentioned from customers that they experienced side effects, as well as a lack of weight loss.
Common side effects experienced by users include nausea, stomach pain, anxiety, rapid heart rate, restlessness, anxiousness, agitation, and some experienced difficulty breathing.
Many also said this is basically just a caffeine pill, and that it had no noticeable weight loss effects.
Conclusion - Does Hydroxycut Work?
The key features to notice about this brand are the company history, and the kinds of ingredients used. Many customers have failed to see any weight loss benefits, and people describe it as a caffeine pill. This is likely because the only ingredeints in this that might have a weight loss effect are caffeine and green coffee extract. There’s not enough in this to suggest it would help benefit people. The company has also had to recall Hydroxycut due to serious health concerns. There’s also a lot of caffeine added to this, with a full serving providing the maximum recommended dosage strength for caffeine.
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User Feedback
(Page 16 of 41, 802 total comments)bahumbug
+i love this stuff!! whoever is saying it doesnt work ur jst probably doing it wrong
posted Jan 7th, 2009 11:16 amfabulous
+i started taking it today. so far the side effects have not been bad at all. i do feel a little shaky but i have a lot of energy and im not hugry at all!
posted Jan 6th, 2009 5:32 pmalex
-it has been 4 days since i have been taking hydroxycut. for me, only negative side effect is that even though i take two pills four to five hours before going to bed, bit tougher to fall in sleep and i get up much earlier than i should and probably due to lack of sleep, I am getting some headaches.
posted Jan 6th, 2009 6:32 ami am planning to cut down to one pill at night. let's see what happens. i will keep you guys posted.
Brandon
+Ive been working out for about 4 years now, 3-5x's a week. I do cardio, light/heavy lifts, and different ab workouts. I have even changed my diet around to consume less carbs and calories but the one thing ive found that has been working for me is when i started taking hydroxycut it was a lot easier to lose weight and get more toned. I highly recommend using it because ive been working out and it seems like ive seen more improvements w/ hydroxycut than by just dieting and exercise
posted Jan 5th, 2009 11:21 pmcinnababy
-This did NOTHING for me.
posted Jan 5th, 2009 11:07 pmLyn
+Even though you do need to eat healthy and excersice, for this to work, I found it to give me more energy and was less hungry, which helped me accomplish the diet/excersice requirement.
posted Jan 5th, 2009 2:30 pmAlex
+as i get older, i just turned 46 yesterday, it is getting tougher to lose weight or even maintain my weight. i am 5' 11" and about 180 pounds. i work out regulary (five or six times a week, playing tennis, orbitrek, some weights) for entire my life, but it seems like my whole body is slowing down slowly but surely.
posted Jan 4th, 2009 8:22 ambefore it gets too late, i wanted to lose about 10 to 13 pounds in three month of time. i started taking the pills since couple of days ago. some mild side effects, but nothing major to mention. hope that it works.
Logikal
+Whether or not these pills work if taking them is enough motivation to you to exercise and diet properly than it's worth it. Let's face it, for those of us considering it - nothing else has worked and motivation is probably the key ingredient.
posted Jan 3rd, 2009 9:28 pmDuh...
-Everyone on here who states this product has helped them lose weight is stating that they exercise tons and eat healthy...DUH! maybe that's why you're losing weight. People should stop looking for a miracle pill to help them lose weight because clearly one cannot take the pill for the rest of their life and if you contribute your loss to the pill...what do you think is going to happen when you stop taking it? Americans need to stop being lazy and lose weight the healthy way.
posted Jan 3rd, 2009 8:51 pmBri
-Not worth it. While I disagree with Daryl's sarcasm because it lacks actual wit, I do agree with the overall point of his statement: the drug itself is not effective. You can do this yourself--honestly. All you're doing is keeping yourself awake-did anyone actually read how much caffeine is in that pill?! Of course you'll burn more calories hyped up on caffeine!
posted Jan 3rd, 2009 4:42 pmzbaby0808
+I been really wanting to try this pill, but wasn't sure if it really worked. But now that i have read everybody results, really changed my mind!! =) i am so going to buy them! thanks!
posted Jan 3rd, 2009 1:32 pmDuh...
-Everyone on here who states this product has helped them lose weight is stating that they exercise tons and eat healthy...DUH! maybe that's why you're losing weight. People should stop looking for a miracle pill to help them lose weight because clearly one cannot take the pill for the rest of their life and if you contribute your loss to the pill...what do you think is going to happen when you stop taking it? Americans need to stop being lazy and lose weight the healthy way.
posted Jan 3rd, 2009 12:38 pmcheetah
-that dude daryl is right!! these pills are not good they are big F in waste of money! go out and run, run forrest run...that is the only way to lose weight and inches
posted Jan 3rd, 2009 8:53 amcms
+I've gained about 30lbs since Feb. of last year and have been working out about 4 hours or more each day with one day off every other week and had lost 10lbs since November, however, I've heard that this hydroxy-cut max really work, so I bought a box and started. I am on day four with 2pills twice a day. Energy is great and BM is absolutely normal twice daily,morning and night. I can still sleep so far, caffeine is not a problem for me. I jog an average of 9.5 miles a day, so far I've lost 3lbs in four days, no change on my diet, doesn't seem to suppress my appetite. However, I have also eat healthy, except the fact that I love to eat too much! I will keep everyone posted with results next week.
posted Jan 2nd, 2009 11:59 pmKeminem
-I have been on hydroxycut for almost 2 weeks now. I THINK it worked because I lost 6 pounds in 9 days but then again that could also be because I was SEVERELY restricting calories and excercising..who knows ! All i know is that it made sleep IMPOSSIBLE and it made me weak and LAZY (which I normally am not...procrastinator, maybe..but def not lazy) and sometimes even nauseous. So all in all, if you could bypass the side effects, go for it but all in all, I would not take it.
posted Jan 2nd, 2009 8:33 pmsarah
-daryl could kiss everyones . i really dont understand why you have to be so negative. Everyone on this website is here for the same reason and i dont understand why your on it & putting in those rude remarks but i guess you have nothing better to do with your life. hope you have a bad year. (:
posted Jan 2nd, 2009 4:47 pmWillimena
+I have been taking hydroxycut for 3 1/2 months and have lost 32lbs. It works! I go to the gym 4 days a week and drink nothing but water. I do 1 hour of cardio and do 2 days of weight lifting. My goal is 60lbs and I know that I will accomplish it! I can't wait till I reach my gaol. I am so excited!
posted Jan 2nd, 2009 3:14 pmHaylie
+Does anyone no how old u should be to try this supplement?????????
posted Jan 2nd, 2009 3:15 amNate
+I have bin taking hydroxy cut for 6 days with a diet and walking for 1 h a day and lost 2 ib's so far I take 2 caplets 3 times a day and was wondering if I take less wold it not work as well? Or if I skip some times . If enyone can post a answer that wold be grate thanx
posted Jan 2nd, 2009 1:30 amshurby
+I love this product! I gained weight all through college, so I figured that I was going to continue gaining weight. But, then I began taking hydroxycut about 6 months ago. I have done nothing different to my diet or exercise regimen, but I have lost 27 pounds. I could not believe it...I still don't believe it. All of my clothes fit wonderfully and I guess the scales don't lie.
posted Jan 1st, 2009 11:34 pm