Chitosan and Weight Loss :: Health Diet Essays

Chitosan and Weight Loss Just What They Want To Hear Everyone enjoys a good fatty meal from McDonald's, KFC, or any other fast food restaurant from time to time. Or maybe just a bag of chips, a candy bar, or an ice cream cone. All of these are food items which people consume on a regular basis and are full of fat. For years, the public has worried about the intake of fat from items such as these and has almost obsessed over weight, figures, and fat. With all the hype about liquid diets, diet pills, diet programs, etc. who wouldn't jump at the idea of an all natural solution. The makers of this product has certainly done their share of work to create an image truly appealing to any and all that dream of losing that extra fat. This probable solution is called chitosan and is simply a fat inhibitor which appears to work miracles for those in search of a safe way to lose that body fat. The information surrounding this product is extremely impressive and appears to justify a revolutionary new discovery. However, is this truly wh at it is dressed up to be or is it yet another gimmick? Chitosan: Where did it come from? Regardless of chitosan's miraculous overview, it is a very simple substance which has been around for ages. It is taken from chitin, a polysaccharide found in the exoskeletons of crustaceans. It is processed by removing the shells from shellfish such as shrimp, lobster, and crabs. The shells are then ground into a pulverous powder. This powder is then deacetylated, or basically stripped of specific chemical groups which allows the compound to thus actively "soak up fats." Or so this is what the producers claim. It has been used in the past in the process of detoxifying water. It was simply spread over the surface of water, where it would immediately absorb any toxic substances such as greases, oils, or dangerous heavy metals. The process is so complete that a scum forms over the surface of water and is then easily removed. For this reason, chitosan is extremely popular all over the world in water purification plants. The present form of chitosan has just been introduced recently as a