Can White Bean Extract Help?

You have probably seen the advertisements on television.  For several years now, starch blockers have been offered as a possibility to assist in weight loss.  Doesn’t that idea sound great?  To think, you could just take a pill once or twice daily and eat all the starchy foods you love.  Fresh steamy homemade bread, buttery potatoes and other starchy vegetables, as well pasta with cheesy sauce and hot tortillas are foods that we have had to limit in the past in order to lose weight are no longer off limits.  Just by taking a simple starch blocker, we could once again enjoy these wonderful foods.  One such starch blockers is derived from white kidney beans.  It is very simply called White Bean Extract.  In 2007, two different studies were conducted both that concluded that white bean extract might be a highly effective tool to block the absorption of carbohydrates in the human digestive system and thus prevent weight gain.

What is white bean extract and how does it work?

White bean extract is available in a tablet formula.  It is claimed to block the digestive enzyme alpha Amalase.  This enzyme is a necessity for the digestive tract to break down the long chain starch Amylose.  This long chain starch is found in such carbohydrate rich foods as lentils, rice and kidney beans.  Amylose is a complex carbohydrate found in grains and vegetables.  This long chain carbohydrate the accounts for 23% of potatoes and 35% of peas.  Typically, cereals are 20 to 30 percent amylose.  Both wheat and oats are 25% amylose.

In the human digestive tract, Alpha Amylase is a necessary enzyme used to convert amylose into glucose.  Think of taking a long paper chain and cutting it into short paper chains with scissors.  The longer chains are too large to be absorbed through the small intestine.  The shorter chains, in the form of glucose, can be absorbed.  The whole theory behind the white bean extract is that it blocks the alpha Amylase from breaking down the long chains and that the undigested carbohydrates simply pass through the digestive system.  The undigested carbohydrates would be treated just as fiber or cellulose by the human body and are eliminated through the bowels.

White bean extract was used in a study by Italy in 2007 that showed a significant weight loss while on a 2000 to 2200 calorie high carbohydrate diet of the 30 subjects who took the white bean extract as compared to 30 subjects on a similar diet who did not take the extract.  The subjects in this study were from 11 to 33 pounds overweight.  It should also be noted that although these diets were high in carbohydrates, they were relatively low in fats.  Consumption of cheese and eggs was limited to two times per week.  Lean ham, beef or pork was allowed for dinner.  Lunch consisted of pasta, beans or pizza.

In a similar study at UCLA, significant weight loss was shown for using White Bean Extract and remaining on a high carbohydrate diet.  This study showed that by adding two 1-gram supplements of White Bean Extract two times daily, subjects lost over 8 ½ pounds as compared to those who took a placebo and lost less than two pounds on the average.

Truly, white bean extract is not the miracle pill that was described in the first paragraph of this article.  Even while taking white bean extract, those trying to lose weight must continue to limit the amount of starchy foods that they eat.  The bean extract does cause some gastric disturbances in some people.  One of these studies required the participants to not begin any type of sports or exercise activities while on the study.  It is likely that the results of these studies would have been even greater if the participants had been involved in a regular aerobic and strength training exercise program. The goal is to improve health.  For example, one might lose a large amount of weight by having an ongoing bout with the stomach flu.  When that bout is over you will have lost weight but there is almost a guarantee that you will not be healthier at the end of the illness. There is no miracle pill cause everyone to lose weight without effort.  White bean extract may be useful in your attempt to lose weight but you will want to weight all your options.  If white bean extract does fit into your plan great.  If it does not, then find a plan that will work for you and stick to it.