Dr. Oz has become somewhat of a diet guru over the last year. One of the newest things presented on the show was a berry that has the ability to help you lose body fat, grow healthier nails and hair, and clear up your skin! Sea Buckthorn is a orange berry that is said to help people and mice loose weight without changing their diet.
Oz showed 2 mice. One was fat while the other was thin. The only difference between their identical diets was the Sea Buckthorn. The skinny mouse consumed that along with his normal diet.
After hearing about this show from my mom and researching it online, I found it hard to find any info that wasn’t biased.
While these other forms of buckthorn can cause a laxative effect, sea buckthorn isn’t said to possess that quality. The berry is also very rich in vitamin C, which is beneficial for detoxifying the body. It can also be found in face products due to it’s vitamin C content.
Research of Sea Buckthorn on Humans???
There wasn’t a lot of research on humans for this weight loss supplement. The only one I found was on a supplement site but the research was never mentioned on the popular daytime show.
This study, published in 2011 in the European Journal of Clinical Nutrition recruited 110 overweight women (80 completed the study). The women were given diets that contained either Bilberries, Sea Buckthorn, Sea Buckthorn phenolic extract, or Sea Buckthorn oil.
Researchers noted that both bilberries and sea buckthorn caused a statistically significant reduction in waist circumference. Bilberries appeared to reduce waist circumference more than sea buckthorn (1.2 cm vs. 0.008 cm respectively). That’s not a lot but it’s something I guess.
As far as I can tell, this seems to be the only human sea buckthorn weight loss study out there so far (source).
Dr. Oz recommended 500mg of sea buckthorn oil per day. However, the show and the Doctor didn’t release any info to support this dosage.
SIDE EFFECTS OF SEA BUCKTHORN
If you are in good health then there isn’t any side effects. However, this oil does cause a blood thinning effect and if taken with other blood thinning medication it could cause some serious problems. SEA Buckthorn should NOT be mixed with blood thinning medication.
Only time will tell if this miracle berry is what the mice showed it to be! However, the timing of this supplement on prime time TV at the end of 2011 and into 2012 could make it the supplement to buy in the new year!
Adria Ali
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