It’s a fact revealed in the neon headlines splashed across every magazine cover in America, and a pressure that most women feel on a daily basis: you should strive to be tall, thin, and beautiful.

Entire fortunes have been made by diet companies selling all sorts of products to help you get there. There are plans such as the cookie diet and the South Beach movement, or others like grapefruit regimens and Paleo theories. The Slim Fast campaign sold itself in chocolate-flavored shakes and protein bars, while other methods like the Atkin’s Diet marketed purely based on a book and a theory that a low-carb life led to happiness.

Most people like French fries, and protein shakes never taste as good as the real sugary thing.

Of course, there’s always the good old doctor adage of daily exercise, but when you’re busy with work or kids or school, that doesn’t always seem like a feasible option either. There’s always something more to be done or cleaned, and the call of the treadmill or the nightly jog simply isn’t alluring enough to tear a woman away from the hectic pace of her life.

The quest for weight loss has been an elusive chase for many people, so really it’s only fitting that this magical fruit would hail from an equally exotic locale. Native to the tropic forests of Indonesia, the Garcinia Cambogia plant is rapidly receiving attention for its medicinal qualities.  It has recently been praised by Dr. Oz as a miracle breakthrough for weight-loss. Who knew such a hard-to-pronounce plant would soak up so much limelight?

What You May Not Know About Garcinia Cambogia

The Garcinia Cambogia is an Evergreen plant which bears a round citrus fruit (commonly known as Malabar tamarind fruit) that vaguely resembles a small pumpkin. The fruit can come in a variety of colors, from bright yellow to orange to even purple in some cases. When cut open, Garcinia Cambogia clearly resembles the more common fruits of the citrus family.

Widely known in India and other areas of southern Asia, extracts of the fruit are traditionally used as a spice and for cooking curry; the rinds are also used as a preservative for fish due to the high acidic content it contains.