Glucomannan - A weight loss supplement that works

Many people need to lose weight.

Unfortunately it is not always easy to get, and the long-term success is rare.

All sorts of things are supposed to help ... diets, potions and pills that are supposed to make things easier.

One of them is called glucomannan, a natural fiber that is claimed, a supplement for effective weight loss.

This article takes out a detailed report on the science behind glucomannan, and if it's something that you should take.

What is Glucomannan?

Glucomannan is a soluble fiber derived from natural water elephant yam, also known as Konjac ^[1] .

It is available as a supplement in mixtures of food and drinks will also be added, such as pasta and flour.

Glucomannan has 40% of the dry weight of the elephant yam, which is native to Southeast Asia. It has a long history of use in herbal blends and traditional foods such as tofu, noodles and konjac jelly.

After the fiber from the plant, which looks like this were extracted:

Besides the use sold as a dietary supplement, it will be used as a food additive, especially as a thickener and emulsifier to designated E number E425-II.

Glucomannan has an extraordinary ability to absorb water ^[2] and is one of the most viscous dietary fibers known.

Is so slimy, that when glucomannan was empty capsule in a small glass of water, is the whole thing a gel. These unique properties are thought to mediate the effect of weight loss .
^[3]

Conclusion: Glucomannan is a water-soluble dietary fiber that is extracted from the roots of the elephant yam. It has recently been considerable attention drawn as an effective supplement for weight loss.

How does glucomannan help me lose weight?

Glucomannan is a water-soluble dietary fiber ^[4] .

Like other soluble fibers, it is believed that weight loss through various mechanisms (promotion 1 ):

• It has a very low caloric content ^[5] content.
• Occupied space in the stomach and promotes a feeling of fullness (satiety), thereby reducing food intake at a later meal.
• Delayed gastric emptying, which helps increase the sense of satiety ( 2 ).
• Like other soluble fibers reduce the absorption of proteins and fats ( 3 ).

Good bacteria are also in the intestines, which feeds into short chain fatty acids, such as transformed butyrate, ^[6] , which are shown to protect against fat accumulation in some animal studies ( 4 , 5 ).

Can feed intestinal bacteria also other advantages, and some studies have shown a link between altered intestinal bacteria and body weight ( 6 , 7 ).

These mechanisms are as similar to the effect of soluble fibers in the other weight loss.

However, glucomannan is other soluble fibers, since it is viscous, which is particularly effective.

Conclusion: As with other soluble fiber glucomannan absorbs water in the stomach and helps satiety. You can also promote reducing caloric intake and weight loss by other mechanisms.

Does it Really Work?

Be investigated mechanisms is always interesting ... but what we really want to know is if this kind of thing leads to actual pounds lost.

Fortunately, we have several randomized controlled trials of glucomannan. Such studies are the "gold standard" of scientific experiments on humans.

In the largest, 176 obese people were randomly assigned to be in good health to either a supplement containing glucomannan or placebo (dummy pill), during (taking on a reduced calorie diet 8 ).

Three different glucomannan supplements were tested with different doses. Other fibers they added.

These are the results after 5 weeks:

As you can see, the weight loss in the groups of glucomannan was significantly higher.

Agree with several other studies. Glucomannan causes modest weight loss in overweight and obesity in regular before a meal (taken 9 , 10 , 11 ).

It is particularly effective when. Combined in conjunction with a weight reduction diet that is at all weight loss methods ... that work best

Conclusion: When taken before meals, glucomannan can lead to modest weight loss in overweight people, in particular by creating a feeling of satiety and reduces energy consumption.

Other health benefits

In addition to promoting weight loss, glucomannan can improve a number of risk factors for heart disease.

After a systematic review of 14 studies, glucomannan can ( 10 )

• Total cholesterol below 19 mg / dl (0.5 mmol / L).
• LDL cholesterol 16 mg / dl (0.4 mmol / L).
• Reduce triglycerides 11 mg / dl (0.12 mmol / L).
• Fasting glucose 7.4 mg / dL (0.4 mmol / L).

The primary mechanism by which reduces cholesterol in blood decreases the absorption of cholesterol in the intestine.

After these studies, glucomannan may allow you to reduce your diet the risk of heart disease and type 2 diabetes.

As water-soluble fiber is glucomannan has also been used successfully to treat constipation ( 12 , 13 ).

In short, glucomannan might lead to improvements in several important risk factors, including total cholesterol, LDL-cholesterol, triglycerides and fasting glucose.

Dosage, side effects and where to buy

To lose weight, a dose of 1 g three times a day is sufficient (as 14 ).

In contact with water, it expands and glucomannan may be up to 50 times its weight absorb. Therefore, the recommended dose of glucomannan low compared to other fiber supplements.

Glucomannan has no effect on weight loss, unless it is taken before a meal. Calendar recommendations ranging from 15 minutes to 1 hour before meals ( 14 , 8 ).

Glucomannan is well tolerated and generally safe.

However, if glucomannan developed before reaching the stomach, it can cause choking or obstruction of the throat and esophagus (the tube that carries food from the mouth to the stomach leads).

To avoid this, glucomannan should be washed with 1-2 glasses (8 oz / 250 ml) of water or other liquid.

Some people may be mild side effects such as bloating, flatulence, loose stools or diarrhea, but this is usually rare.

Glucomannan may also absorption of oral drugs such as sulfonylurea ^[7] , a drug against diabetes. This can be avoided by taking the medication at least 4 hours before or one hour after taking glucomannan.

If you want to try glucomannan, then there is a good selection on Amazon ^[8] with a lot of customer feedback.

You should try glucomannan?

The proof is an addition to glucomannan effective weight loss. But not to work well with almost any weight loss strategy in a vacuum.

The only known way to lose weight in the long-term average is to make a permanent change in your lifestyle.

Glucomannan can help make it easier, but it will not work miracles alone.

Credentials

1. ^{^} Konjac (en.wikipedia.org)
2. ^{^} water (authoritynutrition.com)
3. ^{^} weight loss (authoritynutrition.com)
4. ^{^} fiber (authoritynutrition.com)
5. ^{^} calories (authoritynutrition.com)
6. ^{^} butyrate (wholehealthsource.blogspot.com)
7. ^{^} sulfonylurea (en.wikipedia.org)
8. ^{^} good selection on Amazon (www.amazon.com)