Advanced nutrition: absorbing Stuff from team FLEX

Flex, August, 2002

Chamomile tea is effective at relieving mild anxiety, tension or insomnia. It is a great before-bedtime drink.

Ginger tea can be used to ease nausea or indigestion and help assuage cramping.

Ginseng tea promotes circulation and can be used preworkout to boost energy or postworkout to counter fatigue.

Green tea has a high level of antioxidants, and it contains substances that have thermogenic properties and promote fat burning.

Peppermint tea is a good weapon against indigestion. It has a calming effect on the entire digestive system and can help stop flatulence, making it a good afterdinner drink.

Carrie Curtis

FAT BLOCKERS

Q: I'm in a shredding phase, and I'm wondering if I should use a fat blocker. Can you give me some in formation on these supplements and their use for bodybuilders?

A: Recently, supplements and . prescription drugs aimed at reducing the absorption of fat have been marketed for obesity and weight loss. The prototype, Xenical (orlistat), was approved in 1998 by the Food and Drug Administration as a prescription drug. According to research, Xenical reduces fat absorption by as much as 30%. Chitosan, another fat blocker touted for fat loss, has proved less effective -- trials in humans have failed to find a fat-loss effect. That doesn't necessarily mean these products do or don't work, or will work for bodybuilders.

Xenical works by preventing the digestion and absorption of fat. As a result, taking Xenical causes a large wad of dietary fat to pass through your system unabsorbed, to be excreted the next time you go to the bathroom. If you consume too much fat, this can also happen at any time due to "anal seepage," a side effect that is generally glossed over in polite company.

Poor fat digestion is considered a mixed blessing where fat-soluble vitamin absorption is concerned. Xenical reduces absorption of these nutrients as well as fat-soluble fruit-and vegetable-source antioxidants such as lycopene. Nonetheless, scientists have found that fat-soluble vitamin levels remain in the normal range even in people taking Xenical long-term.

Because Xenical interferes with the absorption of all fats, including beneficial omega-3s, and because bodybuilders eat little fat to begin with, Xenical is not on our nutritional radar screen. It's also expensive and available by prescription only. As a result, although Xenical is definitely safe and effective, its use is best left to those eating junk food and struggling with long-term fat loss.

Although human testing of chitosan, made from the shells of shrimp, failed to find a fat-loss effect, some supplement industry research suggests that different forms of chitosan may confer some fat-loss benefits. But chitosan needs better positive research before it can be recommended. As with Xenical, side effects or toxicity are unlikely by dint of chitosan's lack of absorption into the bloodstream.

Keep in mind that bodybuilders need a certain amount of dietary fat for optimal gains and good health. If you haven't been able to shed all the bodyfat you've wanted to, you might get better results by being more rigorous with your diet and your training than you would with quick-fix fat blockers, which may or may not be all that effective in the first place.