Does Chitosan Work? What are some Chitosan Benefits?
If you're thinking of trying Chitosan to lose
some weight, read this article carefully, and you might just change your mind afterwards. Chitosan makes grand promises of 'absorbing'
fat and preventing it from getting into your body - it's the ultimate
'fat blocker' - or is it? Far from it. Thorough clinical studies
on humans have show that Chitosan does NOT work! Let me explain...
Initial Chitosan research were done on lab animals,
not humans. These studies did show some effectiveness, and did
show some fat-absorbing properties; however, studies involving human subjects found little evidence to support its weight loss claims. Some studies find little support, while other studies find no support at all for chitosan as a fat loss supplement. We'll very briefly describe several human studies done using chitosan products below.
In a research paper that reviewed 15 different studies involving 1219 subjects, the researchers looked and analyzed these different studies. They found that some of the results indicated some benefits of chitosan for helping with weight loss and cholesterol reduction, however, they commented that many studies had sub-optimal quality, and that while there appears to be some limited evidence to support Chitosan for treatment of obesity, the results they found from high-quality trials indicate that Chitosan effects on body weight was minimal. [1]
To be fair and present supporting evidence on both sides, we have also found some studies that supports the use of Chitosan for weight control. In one study involving 150 overweight adults, treatment group took six 500mg chitosan capsules a day. The study results found that the treatment group lost on average 2.6lbs more fat compared to the placebo group, and had experienced a better body composition improvement. This provided some support for using chitosan to reduce excess body fat without negatively affecting lean body mass. [2]
But that's about as far as I could go with supporting human studies (without resorting to animal studies). Another study involving human subjects had this conclusion: "The fat trapped was clinically insignificant. For men, it would take more than 7 months to lose 1 pound of body fat. For women, no fat was trapped. This product, as with other similar products, fails to meet claims." [3] In another study with 250 participants lasting 24 weeks, the chitosan treated group lost minimally more weight compared to the control group, leading the researchers to conclude that Chitosan supplements did not result in clinically significant loss of body weight when compared to placebo. [4]
Chitosan Benefits & Chitosan Side Effects
Okay, so now you know why you shouldn't waste
your money on Chitosan as a fat loss supplement, but you should know that Chitosan
does have some benefits, although not weight loss benefits. Studies
have shown Chitosan to have cholesterol lowering abilities. One
study had shown that 3 to 6 grams of Chitosan a day for 2 weeks
lowered LDL(bad) cholesterol by 6% and increase HDL (good) cholesterol
by 10%. Another study stated that Chitosan could decrease total cholesterol levels and improve lipid metabolism. [5] However, please note that these studies were done using lab animals and not humans. Again when it came to human trials, studies find little evidence to support chitosan for having an effect on cholesterol. [7] Although this study did find the consumption of Chitosan to be safe with no side effects.
From the many studies we looked at, several had made brief mentions on how the human subjects reacted in terms of adverse side effects, and it will be good to note here that none of the studies had reported any chitosan side effects. However, one concern that we want to point out here is that it appears that although Chitosan may be able to block some fats, it may also block and affect beneficial nutrients as well. One study stated that it may also interact with other molecules in the body, and evaluated how it would affect vitamin B12. Their results found that Chitosan modified the photophysical properties of vitamin B12 and that it could eliminate vitamin B12 - hence, prolonged chitosan supplementation is cautioned. [6]
As you can see, there's much more evidence against the use of chitosan products as a fat loss and weight control supplement. Most studies found little to no evidence supporting its claims. However, if you're still keen on trying it out, you can find some with the links below:
>> Click here for Now Foods Chitosan
>> Click here for Optimum Nutrition Chitosan
Looking for an effective weight loss solution, support and motivation? See below to learn the true method of long term, healthy weight loss that will lead to permanent weight loss results.
>> Achieve long term weight loss. Click here for Burn the Fat Feed the Muscle program.
|
