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>.
</rant>.
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).

Closing Remarks

Remarkably, this 37 pound loss was achieved without dieting! When I say "without dieting" I mean I didn't try to eat less than my appetite dictated. For the record, I would describe myself as a moderate health nut: I take lots of supplements, exercise as much as possible, and most of the time I make healthy food choices. But I'm not fanatical about it. I have experienced WAY too much deprivation in my life to even consider such methods. Besides, practically my entire life experience shows that -- for me at least -- deprivation does not work in the long run.

I decided against posting my blood test results because my supplement intake declined dramatically due to taking so many chitosan pills and trying to time everything to take the supplements separate from the chitosan. Thus, a before and after comparison of my blood tests would be meaningless. I finally settled into a pattern of taking my supplements (on an empty stomach) first thing in the morning and right before going to bed. During the day, I take ECA and wait at least an hour before taking chitosan/vitamin C. A typical day followed this pattern:

Supplements > Food & chitosan > Protein shake > Food & chitosan > Supplements

I generally take the chitosan/vitamin C about 30 minutes before each meal. But occasionally it was a bit more or less because trying to take it exactly 30 minutes before eating can be difficult.

There is a new, allegedly "quick dissolving" form of chitosan called Chitosol. It would be nice to not have to wait 30 minutes before eating. However, the claims about this product are absolutely mind-boggling: the advertisements say it can bind up to 28 grams of fat per serving. After a good deal of searching, I managed to find one medical article (2-NA) on this stuff in a journal called "J Am Nutraceut Assn." I could not find it on PubMed, and unfortunately our medical library does not have this journal.

I'm going to order a copy of the article from the publisher and write a post on chitosol. It would be nice to find an effective fat blocker that does not require so many pills, although I wonder if a lower dose would have much of an appetite suppressing effect. At any rate, as discussed in my Chitosan Versus Xenical post, the claims surrounding chitosan products have been greatly exaggerated, so personally I wouldn't spend money on Chitosol until I get a chance to examine this study. Hopefully, I'll be pleasantly surprised.

At any rate, the chitosan/vitamin C combination is extremely good news for people with large appetites and people who get only modest results from ECA. The importance of being able to adjust BOTH sides of the energy balance equation cannot be overemphasized. As I discussed in "Body Weight And Set Point," appetite is tightly controlled by genetic/biochemical factors. Our fat burning ability (thermogenic responsiveness) is also controlled by genetic/biochemical factors. These variables determine our body weight set point, and science is our only real hope of permanently altering these variables.

Indeed, since both of these variables (both sides of the energy balance equation) are under tight genetic/biochemical control, a pragmatist might limit "behavior modification" to eliminating (or attenuating) the most dangerous health habits. After all, we live in an age where food is plentiful -- and we are going to have to figure out how to deal with it. Think about it: Fish thrive underwater, but if a human has to stay underwater, do you tell him to try to hold his breath for an hour, or do you acknowledge reality and give him scuba gear? Does it really make sense to tell people with genetic obesity to hold their breath for the rest of their lives?

I realize I'm thinking way outside the box here. But considering the failure rate of conventional weight loss methods, I feel VERY comfortable thinking outside that particular box, thank you.

I think the chitosan/vitamin C combination can help a lot of people. By reducing the amount of food absorbed by your body (and reducing your appetite!), the effect is pretty much the same as "dieting" -- but you are not fighting your genetically/biochemically determined appetite. It is important to take a thermogenic supplement to prevent your metabolism from slowing down in response to the reduced energy intake/absorption. This, of course, is true with conventional dieting also. See my Thermogenic FAQ and Green Tea And Thermogenesis for more information.

After so many years of struggling with torturous diets that I could not possibly have followed for the rest of my life, I was reluctant to even look into anything that addresses the energy intake side of the equation. But as the saying goes, "necessity is the mother of invention." In my opinion, ECA combined with chitosan/vitamin C is the current state of the art approach to weight loss. People who cannot obtain ECA may find that green tea alone is enough to prevent their metabolism from slowing down in response to the caloric deficit induced by chitosan/vitamin C. It would certainly help. If you try this approach, please let me know how it works for you.

If you do a PubMed search for medical articles on morbid obesity, you will find a lot of articles on surgery designed to reduce energy intake (food intake or absorption); however, they routinely ignore the thermogenic defect. Given the fact that there is HUGE amount of research documenting the fact that the thermogenic defect is an important cause of obesity, it defies logic to think that the optimal treatment of morbid obesity could be achieved without normalizing thermogenic responses. I would like to see some research on the simultaneous use of ephedrine/caffeine and chitosan/vitamin C as a treatment for morbid obesity. Unlike conventional treatments, this approach addresses BOTH sides of the energy balance equation. I believe it could help a lot of people.

Sun Tzu
"The Art of War"

In closing, I think the important lesson from my chitosan/vitamin C experiment is that winning the war against obesity does not require willpower -- it requires brainpower (science) and a willingness to adapt to new situations and information. Sun Tzu said it well:

"Now an army may be likened to water, for just as flowing water avoids the heights and hastens to the lowlands, so an army avoids strength and strikes weakness . . . Thus, one able to gain victory by modifying his tactics in accordance with the enemy situation may be said to be divine." -- Sun Tzu "The Art of War"

Perhaps conventional weight loss methods fail because they do not "strike weakness." Think about it. Conventional weight loss methods use a relatively weak weapon (willpower) against one of the strongest human drives that is hardwired at the genetic level. A drive that is even programmed like a computer to exert more force whenever you reduce your food intake.

My guess is Sun Tzu would tell the medical community to pinpoint and attack every area (weakness) where we can make the obese persons body function more like those lucky individuals who can eat whatever they want and not get fat. It seems to me, it is highly unlikely that a reliable path to victory could involve a lifetime of food deprivation. Of course, prejudiced minds will probably object to the idea of using supplements and/or drugs to alter multiple variables with the goal of achieving effortless weight loss. But it sure sounds like that is exactly the way Sun Tzu would attack obesity:

"Anciently those called skilled in war conquered an enemy easily conquered. And therefore the victories won by a master of war gain him neither reputation for wisdom nor merit for valor. For he wins his victories without erring. Without erring means that whatever he does insures his victory; he conquers an enemy already defeated . . . Those skilled in war cultivate the Tao and preserve the laws and are therefore able to formulate victorious policies . . . Thus a victorious army is as a hundredweight balanced against a grain; a defeated army as a grain balanced against a hundredweight." -- Sun Tzu "The Art of War"

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Chitosan Weight Loss Experiment Update

Closing Remarks

References