If you’ve ever tried weight loss supplements then chances are you’ve heard about Hydroxycut, or at least read a Hydroxycut review or perhaps several of them. And the odds are that what you read was glowingly positive, since – like many supplement manufacturers, the company that makes this product spends a tremendous amount of time and money on its marketing efforts. But the real question you might want to ask yourself is whether those reviews tell the real story. Unlike most other Hydroxycut reviews, this one will attempt to peer behind the marketing curtain and discuss the true facts about this weight loss product.

A History of Controversy

Any discussion of this product should begin with a brief history lesson. For most weight loss seekers, memories of this product date way back to 2004. That was the year that the United States Food and Drug Administration banned ephedra. You see, it was apparently killing people. Yes, that’s right: the same ephedra that was being used in that old Hydroxycut formula was causing heart attacks, strokes, and even death! Meanwhile, there were somewhere around eighty ephedra-related lawsuits in play against the manufacturer. They were all settled a few years later, and the manufacturer filed bankruptcy.

Iovate Health Sciences Group, Inc. – the product’s new manufacturer – carried on with production of the product, which now had no ephedra and used a new formula of ingredients. By 2009, however, this new formula was also the subject of scientific and medical inquiry, as Hydrocut ingredients such as hydroxycitric acid were being linked to liver damage – damage which resulted in nearly two dozen reports of serious complications and one known death. Iovate then recalled the product line and reformulated it again.

The FDA later acknowledged that caffeine was the only original ingredient remaining in the new formula.

Today, this weight loss supplement remains a popular choice for many desperate dieters who are willing to risk almost anything to achieve their weight loss goals. Most give little thought to evidence of Hydroxycut side effects, or the idea that there may be medical issues related to its use.

Hydroxycut is basically a blend of several different ingredients that are supposed to lead to weight loss. Most of them contain caffeine which is very dangerous in big amounts.

Big white pills with the supplement name on them. If you have some issues about the size of pills it may be difficult to swallow these. There is no information about opening them.

Side effects are severe, leading to serious illnesses:

• insomnia
• jitteriness
• anxiety
• nausea
• diarrhea
• liver disease

Side Effects and Medical Issues

Let’s be clear: anyone who tells you that there are no side effects associated with using a product like this is probably trying to sell you something. Depending on your sensitivity to the various ingredients contained in the formula – caffeine anhydrous, Lady’s mantle extract (Alchemilla vulgaris), Wild olive extract (Olea europaea), Cumin extract (Cuminum cyminum), Wild mint extract (Mentha longifolia) and, in some Hydroxycut products, and Green coffee bean extract (Coffea canephora robusta) – these side effects could range in intensity from mild to severe.

They include things like increased irritability, an increase in blood pressure and heart rate, greater perspiration, and even insomnia. Constipation and a loss of appetite are also common.

As far as medical issues go, even after the reformulations, different case studies in medical journals continue to point to a variety of medical issues that appear to be linked to use of Hydroxycut. On the plus side of the research equation, there have been at least two positive studies that have hailed this product’s effectiveness and safety for weight loss. There’s just one caveat, however:

Those studies were funded by or affiliated with the manufacturer.

But Is It Effective?

So, the big question you might be wondering at the end of all this is whether or not Hydroxycut even works, right? Well, on that front, it does appear that many consumers have reported positive results for weight loss. They’ve used the product and lost weight. At least, those are the reports from users who’ve survived to document the product’s success.

Of course, it might also be noted that the vast majority of people can lose weight without Hydroxycut. They can lose weight without placing their health or lives in risk. They can do it naturally. In the end, however, every consumer ultimately makes his or her own choice of which products to use or not use, and has to live with the consequences of that decision.

Provided they survive, of course.