How effective are carb blockers?

[Swede]

With the holidays here,Christmas dinners,parties etc,I usually gain pounds. Just wondering if this might help keep them off?

[geckosfeet]

1. What are carb blockers? Why not just skip the breads, pastries, potatoes and rice?

[Swede]

2. Gee,thanks for the help!

[geckosfeet]

4. Sorry. I usually follow a low carb diet and never heard of carb blockers.

But I do restrict carb intake. The foods I mentioned are probably 80% of the carbs in the American diet. Sugary sweetened juices and carbonated beverages especially need to go.

[Swede]

5. Well,like I said it is the holiday season.

Dinners and parties are coming up. Resistance is futile.

[Turbineguy]

3. A chain

and a good lock works wonders.



:hide:

[MADem]

6. Roseanne Rosanadanna...is that YOU?

[Turbineguy]

7. Actually ...

it's a serious question that does not deserve a snarky response like I gave.

[MADem]

8. I'm sure someone who knows what they are will chime in, eventually.

I don't know what they are, either.

I always thought a "carb blocker" was someone who nagged you to not take too many of the mashed potatoes....

[tridim]

9. Your body needs carbohydrates to function.

It also needs fats.

Don't block them, just eat a bit less.

[geckosfeet]

10. No, not really. Ask the eskimos. No plants, breads or carbonated beverages.

Your body needs fats and proteins.

[Odin2005]

15. Hey, you must have read Dr. Atkin's mentioning of the Inuit, too!

:hi:

[Odin2005]

14. No it doesn't. It can make all the glucose it needs from protein and fat.

[TexasProgresive]

11. I would avoid them

Starch blockers and fat blockers slow or prevent the normal digestion of these foods which go into the colon were the normal bacteria have a field day resulting in diarrhea (some times explosive) flatulence and in the case of fat blockers anal leakage (UGH!).

Go ahead and risk being the death of the parties.

[salvorhardin]

12. It's an interesting idea but...

The idea is that taking an enzyme derived from beans that blocks the body's ability to metabolize starches into sugars will lead to lower glycemic load. You can eat your cake, and not worry about spiking insulin too. But does it work? Maybe. They're sold as supplements, unregulated and don't require testing to get on the market. Thus there haven't been a whole lot of trials done. The small limited studies that have been done are overall inconclusive.

Which leads to the second question -- are they safe? Well, if they do in fact block the digestion of starches then that means raw, undigested starch winds up in your large intestine where it ferments, produces gas, bloating, diarrhea, and possibly pain. I don't know of anyone exploding from using starch blockers and eating a high carb diet, but intestinal discomfort, the runs and stinky farts are not generally anything anyone welcomes with open arms -- or your partner would be happy about in bed.

If you really want to help yourself eat less carbs, eat more fiber instead. You'll feel fuller faster, for longer, and consume less overall carbs as a part of your meal. Why pay for the promise of magic pills when you can pay for yummy broccoli or asparagus instead?

[saras]

13. Some little bit, but not usually worth it.

The most common, best studied one is a white bean extract that blocks alpha-amylase, an enzyme in saliva and pancreatic excretions that breaks down complex carbohydrates. So they pass through, undigested by you. Unfortunately they aren't always undigested by your resident bacterial community. A couple of more obscure ones have health questions. Google gives poor results, with one marginally useful result per twenty or thirty sales sites.

Appetite suppressants are a different approach - do you want to not eat, or eat and not gain weight?

The "best written" summary I found, - most others agree in principle - is actually just a guy from a mixed martial arts forum: "They work but NOWHERE near as how they are advertised. and you are going to be getting NASTY bloats and shits and you stomach aches just to block a few grams of carbs"

If you don't digest them, they ferment in your gut. If you eat a massive quantity of them because it's the holidays, and you don't digest them... kaboom. Results vary widely, based largely on intestinal flora. The worst results are spectacular, in a way that you really don't want to be. But some people seem to have no trouble.

Personally I think you'd get as good results from eating really fast, which means that saliva doesn't contribute, and using something like Metamucil to keep it all moving through really fast. But if you're going to be eating for a whole month, I don't think there's any avoiding gaining weight except not eating it, or working it off. It's a great time of year for hiking - the weather is spectacular and the cold burns up more calories.

One thing that works, demonstrated by thousands of studies, and was widely prescribed in the seventies for weight loss, is amphetamines. Little white diet pills. Speed. Any form, from meth to Benzedrine to Adderall. It all works the same. There are side effects, though.