Chitosan
- The Fat Blocker Miracle?
Chitosan,
the favorite fat blocker of late night television advertisements, has graced
the shelves of health stores for some time now. It's even spawned
a book (The Fat Blocker Diet, by Arnold Fox and Brenda Adderly),
trumpeting its wondrous fat-burning powers. Chitosan, as you may
know by now, is a fiber supplement derived from the shells of crustaceans.
Apparently, Chitosan had the amazing ability to bind with fat (we've
all seen the demonstrations on the infomercials), and prevent it
from being absorbed into the body.Once
again, it appeared like the miracle weight loss drug had been discovered.
Eat what you want, and lose all the weight you want... the dieter's
dream, right? Well, there's a catch. The initial studies on the
effectiveness of chitosan were performed on animals. In all fairness,
they did seem to indicate a fat-absorbing tendency. But as we've
seen many times before, making the jump from animals to humans without
adequate testing and verification does not always prove fruitful.
And therein lies the rub...Smelling
the truckloads of dollars waiting to be harvested, numerous manufacturers
began producing and advertising this "fat blocker supplement",
without any corroboration of beneficial effects in humans. They
also began to seriously exaggerate the claims of their product's
effectiveness. Before long, this got them into hot water with the
U.S. Federal Trade Commission (The FTC has since taken action against
several big-name manufacturers). In
the wake of this, obesity researcher Dr. Judy Stern (cofounder
of American Obesity Association, member of the obesity task force
of the National Institutes of Health), from the University of California,
Davis was recruited to do a study into the effectiveness of this
controversial supplement.What
did she find?Contrary
to results garnered in animal studies, Dr. Stern concluded Chitosan
didn't block fat absorption... not even a tiny little bit. The study
was the most intensive ever conducted. Carefully documenting what
went into and what came out of the test subjects (that's putting
it delicately, this was not a pleasant task!), Dr. Davis was able
to establish that Chitosan had NO ability to bind with fat and eliminate
it from the body.Of
course, lawyers for the manufacturers of Chitosan-based products
are contesting the study's results. Unfortunately for them, Dr.
Stern's credibility as a researcher means there's little hope they'll
be successful. What Does Other Research Say About Chitosan Fat Blockers? Despite the largely negative results from Dr. Stern, other studies seem to indicate that Chitosan's fat blocker power is diminished by its ability to positively effect cholesterol -- it seems to have a positive effect on raising "good" (HDL) cholesterol levels, while lowering the undesirable LDL levels. Smaller previous studies also indicate a small improvement in weight loss success for those study participants who used a chitosan based fat blocker. Nonetheless, Chitosan based fat blockers can hardly be described as a rip-roaring success. And despite what you may think, a pill that indiscriminately blocks fat is not necessarily a good idea. Certain vitamins (E,A,D,F,K) are fat-soluble, and extended Chitosan use could lead to deficiencies in them. Fat too, of course, is required for optimum bodily health, especially the Omega 3-6-9 fatty acids. Again, if Chitosan is a viable fat blocker (and I have my doubts), it would block these vital fats as well.
Final Recommendation:Although I don't expect you'll see much in the way of results, Chitosan is cheap enough if you really feel you have to experiment. Use it only before *highly* fatty meals, and not on a regular basis -- if it is effective, it will also prevent essential vitamins and fatty acids from being absorbed into your body.
Natrol Chitosan 500mg at Ultimatefatburner-store.com
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