Are Chitosan Fat Blockers Effective for Weight Loss?

If you haven’t yet heard of Chitosan, you will probably start hearing plenty about it over the next few years.

While it is a substance that has been around for a long time, it is only in recent years that it is getting more attention.

The reason for all this attention – Chitosan is now being marketed as a miraculous product that can aid in weight loss.

So, the question is, does Chitosan really work?

What is Chitosan?

Chitosan is made from chitin, which is a polysaccharide that is found in the exoskeletons of shrimp and other sea crustaceans.

The process involves removing the shells from the shellfish and grinding them into a powder.

This powder is then de-acetylated, which involves removing some chemical groups from the powder.

It is this process that makes Chitosan into the substance that supporters claim makes it capable of “soaking up” fats.

Chitosan is often called a natural dietary fiber that has the ability to absorb six to ten times its weight in fats.

This binding to the fat is said to take place prior to the fat reaching the stomach, thus preventing it from being metabolized and absorbed into the body.

 

Chitosan as a Fat Blocker

Chitosan is not a weight loss product on its own, but rather a popular ingredient in many products on the market today.

It is billed as the ingredient that works as a fat blocker by stopping the fats consumed from being absorbed into the digestive system and converted to calories.

Various makers of diet pills containing Chitosan claim that the product is so effective in blocking the body’s absorption of fat that it allows the dieter to eat a fairly normal diet and not worry about converting the fat calories into actual body fat.

Some even claim that a person can continue to eat their normal diet, take a diet pill containing Chitosan, and still lose weight.

 

Is Chitosan Effective for Weight Loss?

The answer to this question really depends on who is giving it.

The many companies who include Chitosan in their weight loss pills and powders certainly claim that it is a key ingredient to the success of their products.

These products push the concept that the fat blocking capabilities of Chitosan are what make a person lose weight.

The claims are that the Chitosan binds to the fat that is consumed and prevents it from being digested, and instead causes it to pass through the body as waste.

However, since the mechanism of how Chitosan and fat actually interact is not well understood, it is hard to know whether this binding really happens as claimed. And since it has not been clinically proven yet, there is reason for skepticism.

In fact, there are no credible scientific studies that support the claims that Chitosan is a miracle diet aid.

While there have been some small studies that have shown some patients did lose some weight while taking a product containing Chitosan, their weight loss was not significantly different from that experienced by the control group that took a placebo.

 

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Is Chitosan Safe?

This is uncertain.

Chitosan is a natural product. In substance it is very similar to the plant fiber cellulose.

But, the FDA has had concerns in the past about products containing Chitosan. It obviously needs to have some scientific studies behind it for consumers to be sure.

However, what is important to keep in mind is that there is a difference between being safe and being effective. Chitosan may be safe to consume, but that does not mean that it will do anything towards helping a person lose weight.

 

Chitosan Review: The Bottom Line

While Chitosan may look and act like a dietary fiber and may even bind to fat, there is no hard evidence that it has any significant effect on weight loss.

It is contained in many diet products, and while it will probably not hurt someone who takes it, there is little evidence that it will help much either.

Keep in mind when considering a product that uses Chitosan as a fat blocker that most of these products are sold as dietary supplements, and are thus not regulated.

However, the FDA has reprimanded multiple companies who have claimed the miraculous weight loss characteristics of products containing Chitosan.

In addition, the Federal Trade Commission has filed charges against companies who have made outlandish claims about the fat binding capabilities of their various products containing Chitosan. And in the United Kingdom, the British Advertising Standards Authority has upheld consumer complaints against several marketers of Chitosan based products.

So, back to the question from the beginning, “Does it really work?” Maybe it does and maybe it doesn’t.

The point is, there are better options that have science behind them.