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| Posted: 15 July 2007 at 11:20pm | IP Logged
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Bean that excess weight away
Sunday July 15, 2007
By BRIGITTE ROZARIO
A patented extract of white kidney beans is being touted for weight loss and glycemic control.
Pharmacist and author Sherry Torkos ... ‘It is by no means any kind of a magic pill, but what it does is work just in the intestines, neutralising the digestion of starch so it doesn’t go into the bloodstream, heart, kidney or liver ...’
EVERYBODY wants to lose weight, even the skinniest of models. So far, there is no magic pill and no instant remedy. Either you do things the hard way – watch what you eat and drink, live a healthy lifestyle and exercise – or you pile on the kilograms.
Sometimes, even with a modest diet, a healthy lifestyle and moderate exercise, some people might still need just that little bit of help to control their weight or achieve the weight that they want.
That’s where a patented extract of white kidney beans comes in, says Canadian pharmacist and author Sherry Torkos.
“It’s a branded ingredient which is the subject of numerous clinical studies. It’s been studied for its effectiveness for weight loss and glycemic control.
“It is a patented extract of white kidney beans, so it’s different from the generic white kidney beans in the way it is produced, clinically tested and standardised. A proprietary technology has been used to develop the component so that it survives the stomach acids. Then it is purified to remove anything that may cause gastrointestinal upset,” she says.
According to Torkos, although it is made from white kidney bean extract, you can’t gain the benefits of weight control from just eating white kidney beans.
“If you eat a lot of beans, you get a lot of gas and stomach discomfort. This is a special extract of the white kidney bean where the lectins, which can cause a lot of gastrointestinal discomfort, have been removed from the beans,” says Torkos.
How it works
Torkos explains that there’s an enzyme that’s secreted from the pancreas called alpha amylase. Alpha amylase normally breaks down starchy food into sugar and then the sugar is absorbed through the intestinal wall into the bloodstream.
What the supplement does is neutralise the action of that enzyme. By stopping the digestion of starch, the body doesn’t get to break the starch down into sugar. Instead of getting absorbed into the bloodstream the starch then gets eliminated from the body and is passed out with the stools.
“It doesn’t cause diarrhoea, but what people do notice is that they have a larger stool volume,” explains Torkos.
However, she advises those wanting to lose weight not to rely solely on the the supplement.
“It helps, yes. But as a pharmacist, I want people to understand that for healthy weight loss and to maintain your results, it’s best to exercise every day, eat a healthy diet with lots of vegetables, proteins and fat, and if you’re taking a supplement, then take it to complement what you are doing in your diet,” she adds.
Side effects
Torkos admits that some weight loss supplements are a cause for concern because of the side effects such as diarrhoea and the leakage of stools unexpectedly. This has caused some people to resort to wearing adult diapers. Some stimulants may even cause rapid heartbeat.
However, she says that there are no side effects with the use of the patented extract of white kidney beans.
“It is by no means any kind of a magic pill, but what it does is work just in the intestines, neutralising the digestion of starch so it doesn’t go into the bloodstream, heart, kidney or liver; it’s not accessing any organ systems. It works just specifically in the intestinal tract. And it doesn’t block 100% so people still have to eat a healthy diet.
“You can’t expect to take the supplement and to lose lots of weight and not do anything yourself. If you have, for example, a big bowl of noodles or rice, it will neutralise up to about 66% of those calories.
“So, if you were to sit down and eat four bowls of white rice, you’re still going to get excess calories and you’ll still gain weight. But if you have a modest diet, any kind of starchy carbohydrate, it will neutralise about 66% of those starch calories,” says Torkos.
Blood matters
According to her, there are over eight human trials on the patented extract of white kidney beans showing weight loss, some of them were done completely independent of the manufacturer. In the United States, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has reviewed the data on it and allowed it to be sold with weight control claims.
“It is currently the only weight loss supplement in North America that has the FDA’s approval to be sold with those claims,” says Torkos.
During the course of studies into the effectiveness of the patented extract of white kidney beans as a starch blocker, researchers also discovered its impact on blood sugar levels.
According to Torkos, some of the early research was done at the University of Scranton in Pennsylvania. The researchers fed subjects a large dose of starch – four slices of white bread – and they either gave them the supplement or a placebo. The rise in the subjects’ blood sugar levels after the meal was then measured.
Torkos says that the people who were given the supplement had a much lower increase in blood sugar compared with the people who were given the placebo.
This is because starch is broken down into sugar and that raises the body’s blood sugar level. If the patented extract of white kidney beans blocks some of that starch, then there will be less starch that is then turned into sugar by the body.
In another study, a group of Italian researchers in a clinical study found that the people who were given the supplement lost an average of 10% of body fat, or about 3kg in 30 days. In this study, the researchers also measured the subjects’ waist, thigh and hip circumference. The study found that people taking the supplement lost a statistically significant amount of fat from those areas, informs Torkos.
Healthy lifestyle
Ideally, Torkos recommends people to try to lose weight through having a balanced and healthy diet while also exercising regularly. However, she says, practically speaking, some people need something to help support them.
“I find that if you take a supplement it can often help increase the results that you get. I’m not saying that you should take this over the long term, but just to reach your weight loss goals,” she says.
While the supplement might help some people lose weight, there is no risk of rebound weight gain if you stop taking it, informs Torkos.
“If you make lifestyle changes while you are taking the supplement, you can maintain the result. But, if you lay on the sofa to watch TV, overeat and take the supplement, yes it’s going to help you reduce calories. But if you stop taking it and you continue to overeat, you will gain weight back but it’s not because of the supplement; it’s because of your lifestyle.
“So, basically, I encourage people to look at this as a tool to help them but in order to maintain weight loss you have to be reasonable and do your part, which is exercising. It doesn’t have to be a lot of exercise. You can do an effective workout in 30 minutes a day.
“The supplement only neutralises starch and it’s temporary so you have to take it with each starchy meal. If you take it for a month, lose weight, stop taking it and continue to overeat, you will likely gain weight back. So, you want to take this as a tool to help you get to your weight loss goal and hopefully at that point you’ve made lifestyle changes, you’re exercising and you’re eating better.
“You can still have some white rice, but also for better glycemic control it’s good to mix your carbohydrates with proteins and fat. For example, if you’re having white rice, have it with fish or chicken because the protein will slow down the rate of digestion, so it will cause your blood sugar level to be more stabilised compared with if you just ate white rice on its own.
“If you just ate white rice, your blood sugar level would go up really high, your insulin would get high and then it drops down. With healthy protein and fat you get more of a stable affect,” she says.
“My final point – don’t rely only on a supplement; you’ve got to do your part,” advises Torkos.
# Note: For more information, you can visit www.phase2info.com.
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Topic: White Kidney Beans for Weight Loss
