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Are Chitosan Claims True?

Chitosan has taken on a miracle status as the great fat burner and fat blocker of this century. We can all be svelte and skinny with chitosan or so it is claimed. We believe and buy chitosan, hoping for a miracle. Are all these claims true? What sorts of tests were done and by whom? Were human tests done in addition to animal testing? Questions like these are popping up everywhere. Chitosan has been in use for at least thirty years. Though many people say that it works, others are positively contradicting these claims, saying that chitosan does not work. Let’s take a quick look at studies that support the theory that chitosan works and studies that contradict the chitosan claims.

Chitosan product manufacturers and marketers most often cite the 1994 ARS Medicina Report published in Helsinki. According to this study, test subjects reduced their cholesterol by 32% and their body fat by 8 % during four weeks of testing. Several studies on chitosan exist that show chitosan use lowers triglycerides and plasma cholesterol, while increasing the HDL cholesterol level.

These two statements are convincing enough as to the truth of chitosan’s claims. Going a bit further and taking into consideration the way the studies were designed and conducted, the conclusions are not quite as straightforward as they might seem.

The Helsinki report and other reports that support chitosan were designed in a way that do not appear to follow the strict norms of controlled studies. The evidence in the research appears to be anecdotal and from uncontrolled studies. The evidence of lower cholesterol, triglycerides etc. is again not accurate as the studies were done on broiler chickens, canines, mice and guinea pigs. Properly designed studies of chitosan on humans are lacking.

There is one published, well designed chitosan study involving human subjects. In 1999, the European Journal of Clinical Nutrition published a study where chitosan supplements fared as well as placebos in weight loss. 34 over weight persons were divided equally into treatment and placebo groups and studied for 28 days. The treatment group received four chitosan capsules twice a day while the placebo group got four placebos twice a day. The treatment results showed no significant change between the two groups in serum cholesterol, triglycerides, beta-carotene levels, Vitamins E, A, D or body mass index. This serious study has led weight loss experts to conclude that chitosan does not work.

Several more studies have definitely shown that chitosan does not block fat. In addition, chitosan has been found to block out certain minerals and vitamins. Properly designed and controlled studies by serious researchers or universities involving a large number of people to provide the concrete evidence on the effectiveness of chitosan has yet to be done. Advertising along with all our hopes for a painless, miracle, fat absorber has made us believe what we want to believe, hoping it will work. The search for a truly miraculous dietary supplement goes on.