Lipozene, marketed as a weight-loss supplement, claims to help you shed pounds without the help of diet or exercise. Although these claims may sound perfect to someone with a busy lifestyle, the chances that the product delivers safe, consistent or reliable results are very slim.
Identification
Lipozene is the brand name for a weight-loss capsule manufactured and sold by a company called Obesity Research Institute. The Lipozene product website claims the pills are safe and effective, offering weight loss with no lifestyle alterations. The website also claims that 78 percent of each pound you will lose will be body fat; the company notes "multiple clinical studies" support this claim, but no information on those clinical studies is offered on the website.
Dosage
Each Lipozene capsule contains approximately 750 mg of a substance called glucomannan, a plant fiber. The manufacturer recommends you may take up to six Lipozene capsules per day, up to two before each meal. When you follow this dosage pattern, the product website claims there are no known side effects.
Methodology
The makers of Lipozene claim that the glucomannan fiber in each capsule makes you feel fuller faster, presumably limiting the amount of food you eat and the number of calories you take in. Glucomannan fiber comes from an Asian plant called "konjac," or "elephant yam." When mixed with water and digestive juices in your stomach, the glucomannan fiber forms a thick, gel-like paste. This purportedly causes a full feeling in your stomach.
Efficacy
According to the University of Michigan Health System, glucomannan is likely to be effective for treating constipation and reducing high blood cholesterol, thanks to its fibrous bulk. When it comes to obesity, however, the information on glucomanann's efficacy is described as "contradictory and insufficient." Vladimir Vuksan, a professor at the University of Toronto, notes that in order to cause noticeable weight loss, you'd have to ingest so much glucomannan that you would undoubtedly suffer from severe stomach discomfort. Professor Roger Clemens of the University of Southern California adds that serious scientists no longer even study glucomanann. No single ingredient, he notes, can cause such dramatic weight loss.
FTC Status
Lipozene's parent company, Obesity Research Institute, has been involved in a settlement with the Federal Trade Commission. Two of the company's prior products, also glucomannan-based weight-loss supplements, were found to use marketing claims that the FTC deemed "false and misleading." In 2005, the company agreed to spend $1.5 million reimbursing its customers. Because the company makes similar claims for Lipozene without offering details of the clinical studies that supposedly prove the product's efficiency, it's likely these claims are similarly false and misleading.
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