Help... There's Fiber In My Fat Burner!

Fiber is an understated but effective weapon in the battle of the bulge. Why? Basically, it fills you up without adding much in the way of calories and slows the release of glucose into the body... thus slowing the release of insulin. Unfortunately, fiber doesn't have much sex appeal and rarely gains the attention it merits. Too bad... Nancy Howarth, a nutritionist from Tuft's University in Boston, suggests people who add an extra 14 grams per day to their diet could expect to lose 4 pounds and decrease food intake by 10% in 4 months. This is actually quite easy to do (just add a serving of Kellogg's All Bran Buds to your daily routine), since the typical low quality North American diet does contain nearly enough fiber. The average North American consumes 15 grams of fiber daily -- 10 grams less than the minimum recommended amount of 25 mg.

It not surprising therefore, that an exciting new fiber supplement is turning up more and more on the labels of top selling fat burners. That fiber supplement is called glucomannan. Glucomannan is an unabsorbable polysaccharide derived from the konjac root. Several clinical studies validate glucomannan's ability to lower LDL cholesterol and blood lipid levels -- as well as blood sugar levels. There also appears to be some preliminary evidence that 1 gram of glucomannan, taken with 8 oz. of water one hour prior to meals, has a significant influence on weight loss (one study showed almost 6 pounds of fat lost in two months -- with no changes in eating habits).

While consuming a fat burner containing glucomannan won't end your weight loss woes (and certainly is not an alternative to consumer high fiber fruits and vegetables), it is an option worth looking into, especially if a specifically hectic lifestyle makes it difficult to consume properly structured meals rich in fat-busting fiber.