Yesteday I appeared on CTV News at Noon in Ottawa, and I mentioned a new weight loss supplement that’s been receiving a lot of attention from the science community over the last little while. It’s also been all the rage with opportunistic supplement companies, of course, who are very quick to market with anything that shows promise in burning blubber from our bellies.
The supplement is called fucoxanthin, a natural carotenoid derived from a species of Japanese brown seaweed. It’s a common ingredient consumed for centuries in the Asian diet. (You’ll find it in Miso.) Marine vegetables, in general, have a lot of good-for-you stuff in them. But scientists have discovered that this one, fucoxanthin, seems to boost metabolism a lot without stimulating the central nervous system. Most “diet” pills have stimulant effects and can cause heart palpitations, jitters, anxiety and sleep disturbances. Apparently, this doesn’t happen with fucoxanthin, and this, according to scientists, is exciting because it means it has potential for long-term weight management. Plus, it seems to target visceral fat, belly fat that surrounds organs, which can be a dangerous type of fat.
If you google fucoxanthin, you’ll find lots of info, both good and bad. The biggest controversy and concern right now is that most of the research has been done on rodents and not humans. That’s a big deal, in my opinion. Until further studies on humans are conducted, I might be a bit hesitant to jump on the brown algae bandwagon. (Watch out–that could be a little slippery!) But if I had a pot-bellied hamster, I’d get on it now! I’ve been reading some of the scientific research, and the info from people with credibility in the medical community, and I have to admit, it does sound intriguing and promising. I would just want to make sure that there are no weirdo side effects, (or if it really does work at all), and only with more human studies will they find that out. (Caution: Because seaweed is a rich source of iodine, anyone with sensitivity to iodine or thyroid issues should avoid it. Please, please consult with your doctor before you take any diet supplement!)
I don’t have any first-hand experience with the supplement, so I can’t comment personally on it. Just doing my duty as a “nutritional news” reporter here. To find out more, you can go to lifeextension.com or mercola.com (for opinions from doctors), or you can google “fucoxanthin” and get general information. I’m sure we’ll be hearing a lot more about this adipose-burning algae as time goes on.
2 responses so far ↓
1 Curtis Penner // Jun 29, 2008 at 8:56 pm
Whether it works as hoped or not, don’t you think the bigger issue is the dependency it would breed?
If you take it and lose weight without getting the basics - a healthy diet and regular exercise - down first, what happens if your supply of this stuff dries up, so to speak?
You could have millions of people believing they can’t maintain their weight without popping seaweed.
This leaves them ripe for the picking for the next diet delusion. And so the cycle continues. Nothing changed.
Just my .02.
2 Janet // Jul 2, 2008 at 10:16 am
Yes, Curtis, I agree with you. It could be a slippery slope. Everyone’s looking for that “magic” pill or “don’t-lift-a-finger” solution instead of realizing that eating whole, natural foods and getting up off the couch is the best solution for long-term, healthy weight maintenance. And it’s not just about weight. What about overall health? You can’t eat potato chips, burgers, soda, donuts and hot dogs day in and day out, then pop a pill and hope it negates not only the impact on your fat cells, but all of the effects on your heart, liver, gallbladder, pancreas, colon, etc. It just doesn’t work that way. Nope. It’s good ol’ movement combined with eating healthfully at least 80% of the time.
For those who are obese and need to jump-start their weight loss, however, I think that fucoxanthin may offer some promise–as long as a healthy overall diet is followed alongside it. It’ll be interesting to see how it all pans out.
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