Coleus Forskohlii: Two 2005 Trials, a 2026 One, and What They Disagree On

By the Gelatide TeamLast updated November 4, 20269 min readIngredients · Reviewed by Dr. Dean Tomlin

What Coleus forskohlii is

Coleus forskohlii is a plant of the mint family grown for its root. Botanists now file it as Plectranthus barbatus, but supplement labels still use the old name. The root supplies forskolin, a compound that raises a signalling molecule called cyclic AMP inside cells. Cyclic AMP helps switch on the release of stored fat, which is why forskolin has been studied for body composition.

Research extracts are usually standardised to a percentage of forskolin. Both 2005 trials below used a 10 percent extract, and the 2026 trial used a branded one. The Gelatide label names Coleus Forskohlii Root Extract, and the section on the label near the end of this post sets the trial doses beside it.

The 2005 trial in men

The first trial, run at the University of Kansas, recruited 30 overweight and obese men with a body mass index of 26 or more. Fifteen took forskolin, 250 mg of a 10 percent extract twice a day, and fifteen took a placebo, for 12 weeks. It was randomised and double-blind, and body composition was measured by DXA scan, which separates fat, lean tissue and bone.

The forskolin group’s body fat percentage and fat mass fell significantly against placebo. Bone mass changed too, and free testosterone rose; lean mass trended upward without reaching significance. The authors called forskolin a possible therapeutic agent for obesity.

Notice what the headline measure was: body fat and fat mass on a scan, not body weight on a scale. A man can lose fat, gain lean tissue and weigh about the same.

The 2005 trial in women

The companion trial from Baylor University, published the same year, gave 23 mildly overweight women the same dose, 250 mg of a 10 percent extract twice a day, or a placebo for 12 weeks. The published analysis compares 7 women on the extract with 12 on placebo, and body composition was measured by DXA at weeks 0, 4, 8 and 12.

This time fat mass did not change significantly: down 0.2 kg on the extract and up 1.1 kg on placebo, a difference the statistics could not separate from chance. The extract group tended to gain less body mass, reported significantly less hunger and fullness, and showed a trend toward less fatigue. The authors concluded that the extract did not appear to promote weight loss but might help limit weight gain.

On safety the trial is reassuring as far as it goes: no clinically significant changes in blood lipids, liver or muscle enzymes, blood counts, hormones, heart rate, blood pressure or weekly side-effect reports.

The 2026 trial in 60 adults

A twelve-week trial published online in September 2026 enrolled 60 overweight adults aged 20 to 70 on a branded Coleus forskohlii extract or a placebo. It was double-blind but quasi-randomised, which means allocation to the two groups was not fully random.

Against placebo, the extract group lost about 1.93 kg more body weight and 1.83 cm more from the waist; triglycerides fell and HDL cholesterol rose. The trial reported no clinically significant changes in metabolic markers, liver and muscle enzymes, heart rate, blood pressure or adverse effects.

Two things are worth weighing. Two of its four authors work in the research and development department of a herbal extract company, and the paper has already been corrected by an erratum. Neither makes the result wrong; both are reasons to want an independent trial before leaning on it.

The three trials side by side

Put in one table, the split is easy to see, and so are the differences in who was studied and how.

Gelatide: forskohlii root beside five other ingredients

The root extract sits with capsicum, green tea and guarana in one daily dropper. Take it as the label directs, and keep 60 days from the date of purchase to decide.

6 bottles $294 · 3 bottles $207 · 2 bottles $158 + $9.99 shipping

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Why small trials split like this

Three trials of the same plant, three different answers. That is common in supplement research, and the reasons are mostly about size and design rather than anyone being wrong.

• Tiny groups. Seven women on the extract is too few to detect a modest change in fat mass. A real effect can hide in the noise of a small trial, and a chance result can look like an effect.
• Different people. Men with obesity, mildly overweight women and mixed adults of 20 to 70 are different starting points.
• Different measures. Fat mass on a scan, weight on a scale and waist on a tape answer different questions.
• Different extracts. A standardised 10 percent extract and a branded product need not deliver the same forskolin.
• Different design. Full randomisation guards against hidden differences between groups; quasi-randomisation guards less.
• What people ate. The women’s trial kept four-day food records and found no difference in calories between its groups, which rules out one easy explanation for its result. The abstracts of the other two do not report intake.

Reviews of the wider field reach the same caution. A 2020 meta-analysis of herbal medicines found most trials small, short, commonly 12 weeks or less, and poorly reported, and concluded there was not enough evidence to recommend any herbal medicine it covered for weight. A 2021 systematic review of 315 supplement trials judged only 52 to be at low risk of bias with enough data to support a conclusion.

What none of the three trials covers

Even taken together, the three trials leave large parts of the question untouched, and each gap matters for a drop like this one.

• Beyond twelve weeks. No trial ran longer, so nothing is known from them about months of daily use.
• Combinations. Each trial tested Coleus forskohlii on its own. None tested it alongside caffeine-bearing guarana and green tea, or with capsicum, which is how it arrives in a multi-ingredient drop.
• Liquid form. The extracts were given as supplements, not as a liquid drop, and a different form can change how a compound is absorbed.
• Independence. The largest of the three was run partly by researchers working for an extract company.

A trial that closed those gaps would be fully randomised, independently funded, larger than 60 people, longer than twelve weeks, and would report both fat mass on a scan and weight on a scale. None has been published yet.

What it means for the Gelatide label

The 2005 trials used 250 mg of a 10 percent extract twice a day. Ten percent of 250 mg is 25 mg of forskolin a dose, or 50 mg a day. To compare, read what the Gelatide Supplement Facts panel declares for a serving and set it beside those figures, noting whether a forskolin percentage is given.

Two more points are worth carrying. The label line here is Boosts Fat Metabolism, a statement about a normal body process, and forskolin’s link to cyclic AMP is why it is studied for that process. And twelve weeks is as far as any of the three trials’ safety records reach.

If forskolin is the ingredient you are buying Gelatide for, the three-bottle pack is the one that matches the length of the research, and the 60-day guarantee covers the first two months of it. The ingredients page keeps the forskohlii research beside the other five, and the pricing page sets out all three packs.

The bottom line

One trial found less body fat in men, one found no fat change in women, and one, partly from a herbal extract company’s own researchers, found about 1.9 kg more weight lost. That is an honest split, not a verdict. Coleus forskohlii is a plausible ingredient with a thin, mixed record, and in Gelatide it is one named extract of six.

The way to use that is modest: buy the drops for the whole label and the routine, not for forskolin alone, and judge them over a stretch as long as the trials. The eight-point checklist shows how this desk scores a label like this one, gaps included.