Chitosan Weight Loss Experiment Update

My second chitosan weight loss experiment shows that humans really can achieve the same spectacular weight loss results as the animal chitosan studies! But what would Sun Tzu (author of "The Art Of War") think about using this radical weight loss method to win the war against obesity?

Contents

Page 1
Background weight loss information.
<rant>.
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Page 2
The extended chitosan weight loss experiment.
Calculating the energy deficit.
Page 3
Closing remarks.

Quality chitosan & vitamin C is available at very competitive prices at WebVitamins:

Natrol Chitosan: 360 capsules (500 mg).

Twinlab C-1000: 250 capsules (1000 mg).

Note: This is an update to my Chitosan Versus Xenical weight loss post. If you haven't read it yet, it's probably a good idea to check it out, since this post is an update to an experiment that I described in Chitosan Versus Xenical.

I must say that I am amazed at the weight loss power of the properly formulated chitosan/vitamin C combination that I described in Chitosan Versus Xenical. After losing 37 stubborn pounds without dieting (I ate as much as my appetite dictated) at a rate of about 3 pounds a week, I'm convinced that humans really can achieve the same spectacular weight loss results as the animal chitosan studies -- IF they take an adequate amount of a properly formulated combination of chitosan/vitamin C.

Background Weight Loss Information

To understand the importance of the results of this chitosan experiment, you need to know a bit of my weight loss history. A long time ago, I started taking ECA and I effortlessly lost a LOT of weight. It was amazing. After a lifetime of failure, I was elated to find obesity scientists like Dulloo and Miller were not exaggerating when they wrote about ECA "normalizing" one of the main defects that cause obesity.

But the day eventually came when my weight loss slowed and then stopped. In fact, after a while, my weight started creeping up. It was beginning to look like an old nightmare that everyone who has battled obesity is probably all too familiar with: you get just enough success to get your hopes up, and then you are dealt a crushing defeat.

But this time I was too close to victory to give up. This setback began what could be described as a fanatical search to find every last piece of information on ANYTHING that could short-circuit the thermogenic effect of ECA. Of course, I tried all the obvious stuff like cycling, etc. But it didn't help a bit.

The weight gain continued and I was frantic. However, eventually, enough pieces of the puzzle fell into place to make the answer fairly obvious. By this time, I was gaining weight at a frightening rate, I felt like a zombie and I started getting horrible leg cramps. It sounded like hypothyroidism to me. I was right.

Beating obesity is hard enough, but it can become an absolute nightmare when you have to deal with the medical industry. There are an amazing amount of cookie-cutter doctors out there who are completely brainwashed into prescribing Synthroid. You tell them you want Armour thyroid and they act like you're uttering some kind of blasphemy. The problem is Synthroid just didn't cut it for me: I felt like a semi-zombie and I was still gaining weight. The weight gain was not as fast as before, but it was clear that I needed Armour.

Life Extension Magazine exposed the fact that 350 cancer treatments await FDA approval and expressed similar frustration with our current system:

"The most advanced drugs in the world are right here in the United States, but remained bogged down in the FDA's approval quagmire . . . A better approach would be to allow pharmaceutical companies to sell drugs before they are all officially "approved." This change would result in a renaissance of new medications becoming available at far lower prices. Those doctors and people who desire FDA protection could use only FDA approved drugs, while individuals who think the FDA moves too slow could gain immediate access to medications they believe could help them. Wouldn't it be wonderful if nonprofit groups competed to provide unbiased advice about unapproved drugs that could save lives? Those who argue against this libertarian concept are endorsing FDA dictatorship over scientific democracy."

<rant>

I simply cannot resist the urge to insert a rant here. If you read the newsgroups you will find that this is a rather common problem. There are lots of people who can't get a doctor to prescribe Armour thyroid. You will also find lots of fat people who can't get a doctor to prescribe phentermine. I could go on and on. This type of problem is so common that pharmacy websites sprang up offering online consultations so people can get these drugs -- if they can afford the prices. Of course, the prices reflect the possibility of Big Brother business hassles.

These pharmacies are a natural free market response to the situation. That's cool, but I can't help but wonder why more people don't fight to CHANGE this absurd authoritarian/paternalistic system? Is it not demeaning for an adult to be forced to get a prescription? Don't you resent being treated like a child that needs a note from mother? If you disagree with the doctor, who should have the final say? Shouldn't adults be able to walk into a pharmacy and buy whatever they want without all this nanny-state BS?

Is it not YOUR body?

I had juvenile-onset morbid obesity and suffice it to say that this disease has taken a lot from me. So imagine how I felt gaining weight -- and wasting precious time -- trying to find a doctor that would give me *permission* to take Armour thyroid.

Another frustration is when I read about a promising drug in the medical journals and realize -- under the current system -- I will have to sit around for years (or decades even!) waiting for a bunch bureaucrats to "approve" it.

If MY analysis of the medical research is that the drug has an excellent risk/reward profile for MY condition, shouldn't I be able to buy it RIGHT NOW! After all, I'm an adult and I would happily assume FULL responsibility for my actions -- I'd even sign a waiver stating that I realize the drug is still considered experimental, yadda, yadda, yadda.

Surely, no bureaucrat should have the power to deny me a drug that can help me live a longer, happier life.

I can't think of a single good reason why anyone should have veto power over my pursuit of health and happiness.

</rant>

At any rate, it took a long time, but I finally found an excellent doctor who agreed to prescribe Armour thyroid. This stopped the weight gain, but losing weight was still very difficult. The days of effortless weight loss seemed to be a thing of the past. I've heard this from a number of people with hypothyroidism. Apparently, when your thyroid poops out, something changes that makes it very difficult to lose weight -- even after you optimize your thyroid replacement therapy. I still haven't been able to figure out exactly why this occurs.

But it left me with a difficult problem: since I already make reasonably healthy food choices and get as much exercise as possible, how can I find a sustainable way to induce a caloric deficit? Trying to go hungry the rest of my life is certainly not a good solution. Who can do that? But what else can you do?

Why not take chitosan/vitamin C and ABSORB less of what you eat? Surely, this makes more sense than trying to fight your genetically/biochemically determined appetite FOR THE REST OF YOUR LIFE. I mean, really! Isn't that, like, THE definition of fighting a losing battle? Lets take a look at my second chitosan experiment.

Chitosan Weight Loss Experiment Update

Background Weight Loss Information

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References