Caralluma fimbriata is an edible plant extract sold as an appetite suppressant and weight-loss supplement. A 2021 meta-analysis found no effect on body weight or appetite, only a small drop in waist size.
Also known as: caralluma.
An Indian trial used 500 mg twice a day (1 g a day) for 12 weeks (Arora 2015). An Australian trial gave daily supplementation for 16 weeks (Rao 2021). These are study protocols, not a recommendation.
It is sold in the US as a dietary supplement. Under the 1994 dietary supplement law (DSHEA), FDA does not approve dietary supplements before they are marketed, and the maker, not FDA, is responsible for safety and labeling. How it differs from GLP-1 medicines: semaglutide (Wegovy) and tirzepatide (Zepbound) are prescription drugs whose FDA labels include reducing excess body weight and keeping it off long term in adults with obesity, or with overweight and a weight-related condition, alongside diet and exercise. Caralluma is not an FDA-approved drug for weight loss.
What studies show: a 2021 meta-analysis of 7 studies found that, compared with placebo, caralluma reduced waist size by about 1.6 cm but had no significant effect on body weight, BMI, appetite or blood tests; the authors concluded it is unlikely to be recommended as a weight-loss supplement or appetite suppressant (Jayawardena 2021). In a 12-week trial in 89 adults with overweight or obesity, 1 g a day did no better than placebo on weight, waist size or appetite (Arora 2015). In a 16-week trial in 83 adults (mostly women) not on a calorie-controlled diet, people on placebo gained 1.33 kg while those on caralluma lost 0.37 kg, and the caralluma group reported eating fewer calories (Rao 2021).
Safety: the few studies that reported side effects listed constipation, diarrhea, nausea and rashes (Jayawardena 2021); in the 12-week trial they were mild and short-lived (Arora 2015). The sources here do not describe drug interactions. FDA warns that many products sold for weight loss, including supplements and teas, are likely to contain dangerous hidden drug ingredients, and that its public list of such products covers only a small fraction of them.
We could not find a single published half-life or time to peak for caralluma that applies to a supplement dose, so we do not list one. Plant extracts are mixtures of many compounds, so no single figure would describe them.
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