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Does Chitosan Help Weight Loss?

It’s been a while now since people have become more conscious about their fat intake especially the meals at places like KFC and McDonald’s, ice cream cones, candy bars or chips. People are getting more concerned about being overweight and maintaining their figures. Well, with all you hear about diet pills and weight loss programs, it is perhaps best to choose a remedy that is more natural. This natural solution which is the latest diet craze that seems to be catching the eye of one and all who dream of becoming slim and svelte is chitosan.

What is chitosan? It is a fat inhibitor that is said to work miracles and is very safe for people who are in search of ways and means to lose weight. It’s something that has been around for a while. It is got from chitin, a polysaccharide present in the shells of shrimps, crabs and lobsters.

How does chitosan work? There are various questions that have arisen regarding the claims about the effectiveness of chitosan for weight loss. The question here is how does chitosan actually help to lose weight? Here is how it happens. Chitosan is a fiber that works to absorb six to ten times its own weight in oils and fats. It is very similar in composition to cellulose. However, its function in the body is completely different when compared to the function of cellulose. The manufacturers of chitosan claim that it has special substances that bind the fat and oil molecules that you eat and convert them into a substance or form that cannot be absorbed by the human body.

How chitosan works in weight reduction depends on the fact that it acts on the fat in the body before it gets to the stomach and is absorbed by the body. The fat here is not given a chance to metabolize. The special fiber that is present in chitosan prevents absorption and the storage of fat by making the fat into a gel which blocks and traps the fat. Chitosan makes a ‘grease ball’ from the extra fat so it is too large to be absorbed. The ‘complexed’ fat turns into an inert substance that is then excreted in the stools.

Unlike other forms of fiber, chitosan has a positive ionic charge. The fats, bile acids, liquids all have negative charges, thus they bond chemically very well and attract each other very naturally. This is one reason why chitosan is considered a ‘fat magnet’.

However whether chitosan is effective or safe as a weight loss dietary supplement is still controversial. There have been several studies that have been conducted to know how chitosan functions to help weight loss, but not one study has been able to give evidence that is reliable though a lot of research is still in progress.