As we all know, there is a tremendous amount of pressure put on by society to look good. One may try to eat right and exercise to the best of their ability, but it’s still not providing the desired results until one day, when you come across somethings online called  carb blockers and fat blockers. What do they do? Are they worth buying? If I were the person’s conscience, then I’d politely scream, “No!”

Carb blocker products are actually formulated from white kidney beans or wheat germ and claim to help inhibit a digestive enzyme called alpha amylase. It is claimed that as much as 30 to 45 grams of carbohydrates can be prevented from being absorbed from the usage of these pills. Sounds great, right? However, when these products first hit the market in the 80’s, consumers quickly began to realize the side effects of these pills, such as diarrhea, nausea, vomiting, gas, bloating. To make matters even worse, these pills were not cheap. And after numerous studies conducted by the FDA, it was concluded that they were actually ineffective and really were responsible for reported side effects. So, they were removed from the market.

Unfortunately, these products are now experiencing somewhat of a revival, but they remain just as ineffective and expensive. Today, the pills will typically cost $20 to $25 for a package of 120 capsules. Although it may not seem like a lot, just remember that it is ultimately money thrown down the drain. There have been studies conducted by the Mayo Clinic that have stated that the bean and wheat germ extracts found in carb blockers do actually slow carbohydrate ingestion, but only at dosages far higher than what is sold to the public. It took 4,000 to 6,000 milligrams of the white kidney bean and 4,000 milligrams of wheat germ to produce the desired effect. At most, the average carb blocking product only provides 500 or so milligrams. Not nearly enough to have any sort of desired effect.

As for fat blockers, they are even more detrimental to your helth and, in my opinion, even dangerous. Their active ingredient is one called chitosan, which shares some similarities with dietary fiber but is actually derived from shellfish. Like fiber, the chitosan is passed rather quickly through the digestive tract as it allegedly absorbs as much as 10 times its weight in fat. This of course is all eliminated as waste. Luckily, Dr. Judy Stern, cofounder of the American Obesity Association and professor at the University of California looked into chitosan and arrived at the conclusion that chitosan actually has no fat binding abilities but did seem to have an effect on raising the “good” HDL cholesterol levels. My main concern is that if there is a fat binding capability of chitosan or any other concoction that could be coming our way in the near future that it needs to be avoided. This is largely because of the fact that only certain vitamins can be dissolved in fat and are otherwise rendered useless. Vitamins such as E,A,D, K, and F are all fat soluble vitamins that are crucial to cardiovascular and orthopedic health. Furthermore, any fat binding substance would also rid the body of the heart friendly omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids. In the meantime, more research needs to be done in order to reach an ultimate conclusion about the nature and effectiveness of these products, Personally speaking, replacing fat blockers and carb blockers with a well-managed diet and bouts of regular exercise would prove to be the best “carb blocking” and “fat blocking” prescription once could ever ask for. It takes patience and determination which not everyone is willing to invest, but pills like these should definitely not be the answer.