The Lipozene Clinical Studies

I admit that I love to find the holes in TV fitness products. Being a pharmacist and having over 5 years experience with clinical trials, I decided that Lipozene needed some investigating by The FunFit Blog.

Lipozene claims their product:

• helps reduce weight
• helps reduce body fat
• is safe and effective

Let's see if their product lives up to their claims. First, what is in Lipozene and what is this active ingredient that has been studied? According to the Lipozene site, their product contains Amorphophallus konjac. According to the Wikipedia entry on Amorphophallus konjac, "The dried corm of the konjac plant contains around 40% glucomannan". Glucomannan is a fiber supplement. Now we're getting somewhere! I performed a medical literature search for glucomannan and weight loss using the OVID journal database.

I reviewed 6 articles from medical journals on glucomannan and weight loss.

Here's a summary of clinical articles:

• One well-designed, large study with 200 overweight people found NO statistical difference between glucomannan and sugar pill for weight loss.
• A small study with 42 people found that glucomannan statistically improved body fat WHEN both resistance and endurance exercise was added.
• A clinical review article concluded that "Further investigation ....is needed to determine whether glucomannan can help to decrease the high prevalence of overweight and obesity..."
• In a study with 176 people, glucomannan induced a body weight reduction of 1.76 pounds a week WHEN given with a 1,200 kcal diet for 5 weeks
• In a small study with 25 people, glucomannan WITH a low-calorie diet produced more significant weight loss compared to the group on a low calorie diet alone
• In another small study of 20 people, glucomannan produced an average weight loss of 5.5 pounds over an 8-week period.

Now that we know some things about the active ingredient of Lipozene, let's review Lipozene's claims again:

• helps reduce weight - With a consistent low-calorie diet and regular exercise, you MIGHT lose over a pound a week for 5 to 8 weeks
• helps reduce body fat - One small study showed an improvement in body fat WITH exercise.
• is safe and effective - Many of the studies suggest that the Lipozene active ingredient is safe, but NONE of the studies state that it's effective

So to RECAP, for Lipozene

• You need to seriously diet and exercise to see any weight loss
• There's LITTLE scientific evidence that it reduces body fat
• It seems safe but there really isn't any proof that Lipozene is effective

It's strange that the Lipozene commercials NEVER mention that for Lipozene to work you need to diet and exercise. Perhaps this information would be bad for sales?

A few of the journal articles do suggest that Lipozene can lower the bad cholesterol (LDL). But since Lipozene isn't making this claim, I'm not going to address this here.

Should you take Lipozene?

• Any glucomannan product will do. So you can go with the cheapest glucomannan product.
• If you don't plan to diet and exercise, don't bother taking Lipozene.
• If you're serious about weight loss, exercise, and diet, then go for it! It may give you that edge you need.

There is no such thing as a magic weight loss pill. If you're very lucky with Lipozene, you might see about 1.8 pounds of weight loss per week, but the studies only ran for up to 2 months. So there's no scientific proof that Lipozene can help keep the weight off in the long-term. And in the end, isn't that what everyone wants, to keep the weight off in the long-term?

Exercise and diet are very important for weight loss. If you're looking for ideas to help stay fit, read the archives of the FunFit blog.

Have Fun, Be Fit!
"Functional Marc" 

References:

British Journal of Nutrition. 99(6):1380-7, 2008 Jun.
Metabolism: Clinical & Experimental. 56(8):1149-58, 2007 Aug.
Alternative Therapies in Health & Medicine. 11(6):30-4, 2005 Nov-Dec.
Medical Science Monitor. 11(1):PI5-8, 2005 Jan.
Minerva Medica. 83(3):135-9, 1992 Mar.
International Journal of Obesity. 8(4):289-93, 1984.

Comments

[Shelley]

Interesting Marc, and so typical. The diet and weight loss industry is huge, and few people will research like you did before they buy! I love the info on your blog! I'll be back.

Many Blessings,
Shelley
http://www.benaturallywell.com/blog/add-your-blog/
http://www.benaturallywell.com/forums/