A Weight-Loss Supplement The FDA Says Might Really Work

Government regulatory agencies are usually not big fans of weight-loss supplements. In January 2007, for example, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) fined four supplement companies a total of $25 million for making what the FTC said were unscientific claims about their weight-loss products.

I’m sensitive to such a slight (even if I think the FTC was right in this case) because I’m the co-author of a book about science-backed vitamin and herbal supplements that can aid weight loss, The Natural Fat-Loss Pharmacy (Broadway, 2007).

I wrote the book with Harry Preuss, MD, a professor at Georgetown University Medical Center, a researcher with more than 300 scientific studies to his credit, a nutritionist, and a world-class expert in using natural remedies for weight-loss.

Dr. Preuss and I were very careful to present only the vitamins, herbs and food factors that study after study shows can safely and effectively help you lose weight—by gently boosting metabolism…or slowing the body’s fat-making machinery…or reducing appetite…or building calorie-burning muscle…or blocking the absorption of fats and carbohydrates.

The natural remedies featured in the book include (get ready for a barrage of acronyms):

• EGCG (green tea extract)
• CLA (conjugated linoleic acid)
• HCA (hydroxycitric acid)
• MCT (medium-chain triglycerides)
• Chromium
• Chitosan and other soluble fibers
• 5-HTP (5-hydroxy-L-tryptophan)
• HMB

And there’s one more weight-loss remedy on that list. It’s a natural substance so effective, that the FDA has given permission for products containing it to include on their labels the fact that the supplement works.

The ingredient is a carbohydrate digestive enzyme inhibitor, or what is more commonly known as a starch-blocker.

Extracted from white kidney beans, it works by blocking the action of alpha amylase, the digestive enzyme that breaks down starch in the intestines. The result: it prevents a portion of the carbohydrates in any high-carb food (like pasta, bread or potatoes) from being absorbed.

And that’s a good thing if your diet includes lots of refined carbohydrates from white bread and white flour, which are often stored in the body as fat. With carb-blockers, you can have your cake (or at least an occasional slice) and eat it too.

In 2005, Dr. Preuss helped conduct a 1-month Italian study on carb-blockers. The researchers gave either starch-blockers or a placebo to 60 overweight but healthy people, aged 25 to 45, who ate a carbohydrate-rich diet of 2000- to 2500-calories a day. Their weight was measured at the beginning and end of the 1-month study.

The people taking the starch blockers lost 10 times more weight than the people taking the placebo—6.6 pounds, compared to 0.6.

A year earlier, researchers at the UCLA School of Medicine found that dieters taking a starch-blocker lost twice as much weight as people taking a placebo.

In both cases, the researchers were studying Phase 2, a starch-blocker ingredient used in many brands, like Carb Intercept from Natrol, Carb Shredder from Vitamin Shoppe, Carbo Tame from Jarrow Formulas, Phase 2 from Now, and Starch Blocker from CVS.

In November 2006, the FDA told the manufacturers of Phase 2, Pharmachem Laboratories, Inc., they could use the following two statements on products containing Phase 2:

May assist in weight control when used in conjunction with a sensible diet and exercise program, and

May reduce the enzymatic digestion of dietary starches.

If you decide to take a carb-blocker, here are a few helpful tips from Dr. Preuss. Take it with 8-ounces of water to help absorb the supplement. Take it with a meal, either right before or right after. And follow the dosage recommendation on the label.

And remember that carb-blockers are not miracle pills. (There are no miracle diet pills.) You can’t eat a couple of doughnuts every day and take carb-blockers and not gain weight.

If you’d like to know more about carb-blockers or any of the weight-loss supplements mentioned in this article, please take a look at my book, The Natural Fat-Loss Pharmacy. You can find out more about it—and my other books on health and healing—at www.drugfreehealing.com.