| Carb
Blockers - Are They Worth the Money? Do They Work?
by Ian Mason
As we all know, there is a tremendous
amount of pressure put on by society to look good. One
may try to eat right and exercise to the best of their
ability, but it’s still not providing the desired
results until one day, when you come across somethings
online called carb blockers and fat blockers. What do
they do? Are they worth buying? If I were the person’s
conscience, then I’d politely scream, “No!”
Carb blocker products are actually
formulated from white kidney beans or wheat germ and
claim to help inhibit a digestive enzyme called alpha
amylase. It is claimed that as much as 30 to 45 grams
of carbohydrates can be prevented from being absorbed
from the usage of these pills. Sounds great, right?
However, when these products first hit the market in
the 80’s, consumers quickly began to realize the
side effects of these pills, such as diarrhea, nausea,
vomiting, gas, bloating. To make matters even worse,
these pills were not cheap. And after numerous studies
conducted by the FDA, it was concluded that they were
actually ineffective and really were responsible for
reported side effects. So, they were removed from the
market.
Unfortunately, these products are
now experiencing somewhat of a revival, but they remain
just as ineffective and expensive. Today, the pills
will typically cost $20 to $25 for a package of 120
capsules. Although it may not seem like a lot, just
remember that it is ultimately money thrown down the
drain. There have been studies conducted by the Mayo
Clinic that have stated that the bean and wheat germ
extracts found in carb blockers do actually slow carbohydrate
ingestion, but only at dosages far higher than what
is sold to the public. It took 4,000 to 6,000 milligrams
of the white kidney bean and 4,000 milligrams of wheat
germ to produce the desired effect. At most, the average
carb blocking product only provides 500 or so milligrams.
Not nearly enough to have any sort of desired effect.
As for fat blockers, they are even
more detrimental to your health and, in my opinion,
even dangerous. Their active ingredient is one called
chitosan, which shares some similarities with dietary
fiber but is actually derived from shellfish. Like fiber,
the chitosan is passed rather quickly through the digestive
tract as it allegedly absorbs as much as 10 times its
weight in fat. This of course is all eliminated as waste.
Luckily, Dr. Judy Stern, cofounder of the American Obesity
Association and professor at the University of California
looked into chitosan and arrived at the conclusion that
chitosan actually has no fat binding abilities but did
seem to have an effect on raising the “good”
HDL cholesterol levels.
My main concern is that if there
is a fat binding capability of chitosan or any other
concoction that could be coming our way in the near
future that it needs to be avoided. This is largely
because of the fact that only certain vitamins can be
dissolved in fat and are otherwise rendered useless.
Vitamins such as E,A,D, K, and F are all fat soluble
vitamins that are crucial to cardiovascular and orthopedic
health.
Furthermore, any fat binding substance
would also rid the body of the heart friendly omega-3
and omega-6 fatty acids. In the meantime, more research
needs to be done in order to reach an ultimate conclusion
about the nature and effectiveness of these products,
Personally speaking, replacing fat blockers and carb
blockers with a well-managed diet and bouts of regular
exercise would prove to be the best “carb blocking”
and “fat blocking” prescription once could
ever ask for. It takes patience and determination which
not everyone is willing to invest, but pills like these
should definitely not be the answer.
Learn more about carb blockers and
find out which is the best way to achieve permanent
weight loss at PhenForum.com,
the place to learn about Phentermine
online and safe weight loss methods! Join our support
group and meet a weight loss buddy for maximum weight
loss.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Ian_Mason
|
