Phenocal Review

An update has been made to this review. Please see the ingredient update below.

According to their (Pharmaxa Labs) website “Phenocal is formulated with the highest grade of patented, clinically proven ingredients that will suppress your appetite, increase your energy levels, and get you on the road to a trimmer, toner, and healthier you.” They start out with an emphasis on proven ingredients. We like that. Sounds promising right? Well, we thought so too until we did a little more in depth research.

While it’s true that they do actually include some great ingredients in the pill, the amounts of these ingredients are found to be seriously lacking (sound familiar?). Although, I do have to hand it to them for actually fully disclosing the amounts. They could have just called it a “proprietary blend” and kept it a secret like the vast majority of other diet pills.

Phenocal Review Video

Phenocal Ingredients

• Hoodia Gardonii (250 mg)
• Green Tea (250 mg)
• 5 HTP (100 mg)
• Garcinia Cambogia PE (200 mg)
• Chromium (100 mcg)
• Evodiamine (40 mg)
• Glucomannan (400 mg)
• Yerba Mate (100 mg)
• Bioperine® (5 mg)
• Coleus Forskohlii (100 mg)
• Cocoa extract (325 mg)
• 7-keto (100 mg)
• L-Tyrosine (400 mg)
• Thiamine HCI, Riboflavin, Hydroxocobalamin, Niacinamide, Biotin, Pyridoxine HCl, Folic Acid, Calcium Pantothenate

Ingredient Update: The FDA has issued a warning against Hydroxycut-branded products for possibly causing health problems related with the liver. While the FDA has not confirmed it, some believe that the ingredient behind the problems is Hyrdoxycitric Acid, or HCA. HCA is found in Garcinia Cambogia. So until more definitive research is done, we are no longer recommending any products that contain the ingredient Hyrdoxycitric Acid. See the complete FDA report here or the Hydroxycut Review here for more info.

Hoodia Gardonii - The first ingredient listed on the bottle (I’m sure to get your attention because of all the Hype hoodia has received as of late) is Hoodia Gardonii – probably the least researched and least effective diet pill ingredient on the market today. Hoodia is a fad ingredient that, despite Phenocal’s claims, has not been proven to aid in weight loss or appetite suppression at all. We question any diet pill that touts hoodia as its main ingredient.

Aside from hoodia, however, Phenocal does have other ingredients that are actually backed by a considerable amount of research.

Green Tea - A proven ingredient that increases the metabolic burn rate, helping to burn calories more effectively. Phenocal’s right in putting green tea in their pill, but 250 mg probably isn’t enough to make a big difference (and certaintly not enough to do what they claim).

5 HTP - Proven to effect one’s mood and believed to aid in managing your appetite, 5 HTP (5-Hydroxytryptophan) has mounds of research backing it up. The caveat here is that in most of these studies the amount tested is 200 to 300 mg per day. Phenocal has only 100 mg, not likely to get the same results as in clinical studies.

Glucomannan – This dietary fiber absorbs water to form a gel-like substance that makes you feel more full as it passes through your intestines. Studies are very clear that it has been quite effective in weight loss in obese subjects. Phenocal, however, is not very clear regarding the fact that these studies used 2-4 grams of Glucomannan a day rather than the 400 mg that Phenocal includes in their daily dose of pills. Do we see a pattern here?

The list goes on, but I think that you can at least see that their primary active ingredients, while proven, don’t have the amounts requisite to have the effects as claimed.

Phenocal’s Marketing

Their website is pretty typical of diet pills. It first focuses on the how great being thin would be, trying to get your emotions involved. It throws some testimonials around and, of course, the ever present before and after photos make an appearance (which looked more like college dorm room wall). They do, however, include some good details on the studies supporting the ingredients. But remember, not only does the ingredient have to be right, so does the amount of the ingredient.

Phenocal’s Price

For one bottle of 150 capsules, Phenocal is priced at $54.95. But wait, if you buy today there’s a “Today’s Special!” that offers you a 10% or 15% discount when you buy 2 or 3 bottles respectively (although I happened to see that same special advertised yesterday too, hmmm…). For what you’re getting, $55 is very high.

Phenocal’s Guarantee

I guess this depends on what your definition of a guarantee is. Here’s theirs: “We want to guarantee that you’ve made the right selection by shopping with us. Our Guarantee makes it easy, convenient, and safe for you to shop with us online 24 hours a day, seven days a week. We guarantee exceptional product prices, quality, selection, service, and the highest level of security available online today. Your complete satisfaction is our goal.” (my emphasis added)

Well I “want” to believe that you would refund my money if I didn’t like your product. But where it doesn’t actually say that you’ll do so and doesn’t give me any kind of time frame, I don’t think that I can.

Conclusion

Phenocal definitely does have some great ingredients, which perked our interest. But the amounts (thank you for disclosing them!) are simply not enough to prove its effectiveness. Especially since the actual Phenocal pill itself has never been studied. So if you’re looking for a quality diet pill, we suggest you spend your hard earned money elsewhere.