Glucomannan For Weight Loss, Gut Health, & More

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Today’s 30-Second Summary

If you don’t have time to read the whole email today, here are some key takeaways:

• Glucomannan is a popular weight loss supplement—but does it really work?

  • Today’s main feature covers the (mostly quite simple) science of how it indeed does work, as well as extra benefits one can expect, such as for one’s gut health and various blood metrics.

• How’s your hydration looking today? For most people, at any given time, it’s not great. But it doesn’t have to be that way!

  • Today's sponsor NativePath is offering a 365-day money-back guarantee on their range of electrolyte and amino acid drink mixes, which are great for your kidneys, bladder, and pelvic floor muscles.

• Today’s featured recipe is for a superfood pesto pizza—not only is it full of foods that punch above their weight healthwise, there’s no kneading and no waiting when it comes to the base, either. Homemade pizzas made easy!

Read on to learn more about these things, or click here to visit our archive

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Research Review Monday

Glucomannan For Weight Loss, Gut Health, & More

Glucomannan is a water-soluble dietary fiber found in the root of the konjac plant.

If you’ve had konjac noodles, also called shirataki, that’s what those are mostly made of, and it’s why they have next-to-no calories.

You may be wondering: if it’s water-soluble, how do the noodles not dissolve in water? And the answer is that the noodle-making process involves making a gel out of the fiber and water, which is then extruded into noodle shapes. In this gelatinous form, they’re fairly stable (it’s one of the most viscous dietary fibers), but yes, if you were to boil them for a long time, they would indeed turn the entire liquid contents of the saucepan into gel.

How it works for weight loss

Because of its viscosity, adding even a small amount of powdered* glucomannan to a glass of water will turn the whole thing into gel in seconds. This means that if you take glucomannan capsules with a glass of water, then so far as your stomach is concerned, you just ate a cup of gel, and the water is now processed as food, staying longer in the stomach than it otherwise would, and promoting feelings of fullness.

*i.e. dry powder, not in a gelatinous form like the noodles

As for its efficacy in weight loss, see for example:

Read more: Glucomannan and obesity: a critical review 

So, that covers the basic requirements, but may be wondering: does it have other benefits? And the answer is yes, it does:

Read more: Effect of glucomannan on plasma lipid and glucose concentrations, body weight, and blood pressure: systematic review and meta-analysis 

To further corroborate that and comment on safety…

Read more: Effect of glucomannan on obese patients: a clinical study 

As to whether other gel-making agents work the same way, the answer is no, they don’t seem to:

Read more: Experiences with three different fiber supplements in weight reduction

How it works for gut health

In the words of Dr. Yu Li et al.,

Read in full: Effects of Konjaku Flour on the Gut Microbiota of Obese Patients

This has extra positive knock-on effects too:

Glucomannan promotes Bacteroides ovatus to improve intestinal barrier function and ameliorate insulin resistance

Want to try some?

We don’t sell it, but here for your convenience are example products on Amazon:

Konjac noodles | Glucomannan capsules

Enjoy!

Our Sponsors Make This Publication Possible

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Recipes Worth Sharing

Superfood Pesto Pizza

Not only is this pizza full of foods that punch above their weight healthwise, there’s no kneading and no waiting when it comes to the base, either. Homemade pizzas made easy!

Click below for our full recipe, and learn its secrets:

Penny For Your Thoughts?

Wishing you the most well-informed start to the week,

The 10almonds Team