Medical Studies On Chitosan

Chitosan is a form of fiber chemically processed from the shells and bones of crustaceans like crabs, lobsters, and shrimps. It is a form of fiber that is not well-digested by the human body. Studies have noted that as chitosan passes through the digestive tract, it tends to bond with the ingested fat and carry it out in the stool. It is for this reason actually that chitosan has been tried as an agent for lowering cholesterol and reducing weight. However, almost all of the conducted medical studies on chitosan have revealed results that have been more negative than positive.

There are basically two major claims maintained and studied by medical researchers. These include the belief that chitosan improves cholesterol profile, and aids for weight loss. Let’s talk about these claims one by one.

High Cholesterol Profile

Most of the medical studies on chitosan were conducted to find out if chitosan really does improve the cholesterol profile. According to two out of three double-blind, placebo controlled medical studies on chitosan, the compound can modestly improve cholesterol profile.

There is also an 8-week double-blind placebo controlled medical trial done on 51 women which found that the use of chitosan at a dose of 1,200 mg twice a day slightly reduced the bad cholesterol or the LDL as compared to placebo. However, according to conducted medical study, such intake of chitosan does not actually affect the total or HDL (good) cholesterol levels. Aside from this, another 8-week trial enrolling 84 people found modest benefits.

However, one of the most successful medical studies on chitosan, a 4-mont double-blind and placebo controlled trial of 88 individuals, found no significant improvement in cholesterol with 1,000 mg three times a day of a different chitosan-based product. The results of this study were supported by the following 10-month double-blind and placebo controlled study which employed a special microcrystalline form of the compound at a dose of 1200 mg twice a day. Based on these two medical studies on chitosan, the substance failed to improve the cholesterol profile.

Experts then said that these contradictory results suggest that if chitosan actually improves the cholesterol profile, it only does so to a slight extent.

Weight Loss

As you may know, chitosan has long been advocated as a weight loss supplement. It is even dubbed as the “fat magnet” on the basis of its supposed ability to bind fat in the digestive tract. Nevertheless, despite of a number of positive results in small preliminary medical studies, the largest and by far best designed trial conducted to prove the weight loss claims failed to find benefit. This well-known study is actually a 6-month double-blind and placebo controlled study involving 250 overweight people who were required to use chitosan at a dose of 3 grams a day. The results of this trial, however, failed to improve weight loss to any meaningful extent as compared to placebo. There are also other medical studies on chitosan that support this result.

Taken together, it is clear that chitosan has not been proven to help a person lose weight, increase their HDL cholesterol or decrease the LDL cholesterol. And, although companies selling chitosan claim that it is very effective and even claim to have medical research about how well their product works, the medical studies on chitosan still suggest to better be careful when considering chitosan-based products.