Carb blockers for fat loss

Men's Fitness, August, 2003

How do carb blockers work, and are they safe?--L.Y., INDIANAPOLIS, IN

Okay, get your Sony Clie out. The active ingredient in many carb-blocking products is a protein called phaseolamin that's extracted from white kidney beans. The protein attaches to carbohydrates, preventing them from breaking down, thus prohibiting them from being absorbed into the body during digestion.

However, regardless of what's contained in carb blockers, it's what you don't put in your mouth that helps keep your weight in check. So says Melinda Safir, R.D., L.D., staff nutritionist with the Cooper Clinic in Dallas. "If carbohydrate blockers were the magic bullet for achieving weight loss, the epidemic of obesity would never have become the problem that it is today," she says. "The ability to choose what foods move from your plate into mouth is the most powerful carbohydrate blocker and weight-loss aid on the market. Every product touted as a weight-loss miracle pales in comparison to our own ability to control food selection and intake amount."