Objective: Chitosan is a primary ingredient in dietary weight-loss supplements. Its claimed activity is the binding and trapping of dietary fat, leading to fat excretion and weight loss without caloric restriction. We tested the fat-trapping capacity of a chitosan product in men and women.
Design: Participants (12 men, 12 women) were instructed to follow customized diet plans (five meals/day for 12 days). Oral charcoal markers defined two 4-day experimental periods. Two capsules were taken five times per day before each meal during the supplement period (2.5 g chitosan/day) and not during the control period. Feces were collected from day 2 to day 12. Feces from each period were pooled and analyzed for fat content.
Results: For men (mean+/-standard deviation=24.8+/-5.1 years, body mass index [BMI; calculated as kg/m 2 ] 26.6+/-4.5) the average daily was 137+/-31 g fat and 3,256+/-624 kcal. For women (23.3+/-5.0 years, BMI 24.1+/-3.5) average daily 89+/-16 g fat and 2,110+/-195 kcal. Each two-capsule dose was consumed with 28+/-11 g fat in males and 18+/-7 g in females (range =10-76 g/dose). Fecal fat excretion increased with chitosan by 1.8+/-2.4 g/day in males, P =.02, and did not increase with chitosan (0.0+/-1.4 g/day, P =.99) in females.
Conclusions: The fat trapped was clinically insignificant. For men, it would take more than 7 months to lose 1 pound of body fat. For women, no fat was trapped. This product, as with other similar products, fails to meet claims.
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http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jada.2004.10.004 | DOI Listing |
Mol Cancer
January 2025
Department of Radiation Oncology, Peking University Third Hospital, Beijing, 100191, China.
Background: Sorafenib, an FDA-approved drug for advanced hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), faces resistance issues, partly due to myeloid-derived suppressor cells (MDSCs) that enhance immunosuppression in the tumor microenvironment (TME).
Methods: Various murine HCC cell lines and MDSCs were used in a series of in vitro and in vivo experiments. These included subcutaneous tumor models, cell viability assays, flow cytometry, immunohistochemistry, and RNA sequencing.
Cancer Metab
January 2025
Department of Dermatology, Venereology and Allergology, University Medical Center and Medical Faculty Mannheim, Heidelberg University, Theodor-Kutzer-Ufer 1-3, Mannheim, 68167, Germany.
Background: In malignant melanoma, liver metastases significantly reduce survival, even despite highly effective new therapies. Given the increase in metabolic liver diseases such as metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD) and metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis (MASH), this study investigated the impact of liver sinusoidal endothelial cell (LSEC)-specific alterations in MASLD/MASH on hepatic melanoma metastasis.
Methods: Mice were fed a choline-deficient L-amino acid-defined (CDAA) diet for ten weeks to induce MASH-associated liver fibrosis, or a CDAA diet or a high fat diet (HFD) for shorter periods of time to induce early steatosis-associated alterations.
BMC Nutr
January 2025
Department of Community Nutrition, School of Nutrition and Food Sciences, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Razi Blvd, Shiraz, 7153675541, Iran.
Background: The link between obesity and cardiometabolic risk has been well recognized. We investigated the association between body fat percentage (BF%), as an appropriate indicator of obesity, and prevalence of cardiometabolic diseases using baseline data of Fasa PERSIAN cohort study.
Methods: The cross-sectional study was performed on data obtained at the first phase of the Fasa cohort study in Iran (n = 4658: M/F: 2154/2504).
Lipids Health Dis
January 2025
Department of Orthopedics, The 921st Hospital of the People's Liberation Army, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Hunan Normal University, Changsha, 410003, People's Republic of China.
Background: The metabolic score for visceral fat (METS-VF) is a recently identified index for evaluating visceral fat, also referred to as abdominal obesity. The skeletal muscle mass index (SMI) serves as a critical measure for assessing muscle mass and sarcopenia. Both obesity and the reduction of muscle mass can significantly affect human health.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFLipids Health Dis
January 2025
Institute of Health, Oslo New University College, Ullevålsveien 76, Oslo, 0454, Norway.
Evolutionary perspectives have yielded profound insights in health and medical sciences. A fundamental recognition is that modern diet and lifestyle practices are mismatched with the human physiological constitution, shaped over eons in response to environmental selective pressures. This Darwinian angle can help illuminate and resolve issues in nutrition, including the contentious issue of fat consumption.
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