Lately, several of my clients have been asking me about products or herbs to assist in weight loss. Usually my answer is, "in order to loose weight you need to establish healthy eating habits along with exercise." It’s simple mathematics, you need to subtract 500 kcal a day in order to loose weight. This can be done two ways, burn an extra 500 kcal a day through exercise and or reduce your kcal by 500 a day. Doing both will help you loose 2 pounds a week. The total amount of kcal you need to burn in order to loose a pound is 3500 kcal a week. That still is my answer and I’m sticking to it however, there has been a study that was done on the herb glucomannan. The study showed a good amount of weight loss in the individuals who participated. Here is a briefing on glucomannan. Glucomannan is a polysaccharide, which is a form of carbohydrates. Glucomannan is a fiber that is water-soluble which means it absorbs water. Glucomannan has been used as a thickener or emulsifier. But when used in weight loss, it causes a reduction in appetite, meaning you fill fuller, thus eat less.
The study that was done showed some benefits regarding weight loss in obese patients. The double blind study was done over an 8-week period with 20 obese patients. In the study, the subjects were given 2, 500mg capsules with 8 fluid ounces of water prior to each three meals. The patients were asked not to change their diets or exercise patterns. The results was a loss in weight of 5.5 lbs. The study also concluded a drop in cholesterol levels.
In my opinion, it would not hurt to add this to a healthy eating plan, along with exercise. Glucomannan is a safer alternative compared to some of the fad supplements that seem to be popular these days and it cost less. I would caution that it is a soluble fiber and drinking adequate fluids is vital. You should be drinking an 8 oz glass of water with each dose. If you would like to read more about the study, you can visit, http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubm d/6096282
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