Lipozene: What You Need to Know

Lipozene has only one important ingredient: glucomannan. Glucomannan is a natural fiber that comes from the konjac root, which is a plant found in Asia. Asians have long been hip to the helpful properties of glucomannan, and it's used for everything from skin care to a thickening agent in China and Japan.

As a weight loss tool, glucomannan works because it's an especially water soluble fiber. Most of the fiber we consume throughout the day, including from vegetables and whole wheat products, is insoluble fiber, which means that it passes through our digestive system more or less intact. These products speed digestion. When soluble fibers mix with water, however, they form a kind of gel or paste in the digestive tract that slows down the process of digestion. Soluble fibers are found in oat bran, fruit and some nuts. Both kinds of fiber are considered important to a healthy diet.

Glucomannan is much stronger than these other soluble fibers, though. When it's mixed with water, it forms a thick and expansive goo in the digestive system. In this way, glucomannan is very much like a sponge, or the nutritional equivalent of those toys that can grow to 600 percent their original size. Glucomannan isn't quite that impressive, but it does swell to about 17 percent of its original size [source: Natural & Alternative Treatments].

The theory is that if the glucomannan has swelled in your stomach, you'll no longer be hungry. Since you feel full, you won't want to snack on cookies or dine on steak, thus reducing your overall caloric intake. That principle has been proven in several studies involving glucomannan, but all of the participants in these studies combined the supplement with regular diet and exercise [source: Leamy]. In one study that took place in Norway, participants adhered to a very strict diet of 1,200 calories a day [source: Woolsten]. These restrictions are a far cry from the promises made in the Lipozene advertisement.

It's also important to note that these studies all dealt with glucomannan, rather than the product Lipozene. While the advertisement for Lipozene makes reference to a major clinical trial, the Los Angeles Times was unable to find this trial in a 2008 investigation. Nor could it find a trial for just glucomannan that produced the same results.

While the research may be tenuous, plenty of people who are frustrated with their bodies may turn to Lipozene. Find out more about its use on the next page.