Mulberry Zuccarin Diet

Mulberry extracts have been used in Asian folk medicine for centuries to treat a variety of illnesses, but now a company is marketing a mulberry product it claims can help you lose weight. The maker of Mulberry Zuccarin asserts its supplement can block carbohydrates and sugars, based in part on clinical evidence that mulberry may help treat diabetes. If you're struggling to lose weight and looking to Mulberry Zuccarin for help, you'll need to consider the evidence before trying this unproven product.

Identification

Morus alba is the scientific name of the white mulberry tree, which is native to China. In 2010, the Swedish company New Nordic started selling a weight-loss supplement composed of white mulberry leaf extracts, standardized to one percent 1-Deoxynojirimycin The supplement also contains stabilizers and anti-caking agents including dicalcium phosphate, microcrystalline cellulose, silicon dioxide, magnesium stearate and hydroxypropyl methylcellulose. The supplement is sold in health stores and online drugstores.

Claims

New Nordic claims that Mulberry Zuccarin tablets will help you maintain healthy blood sugar levels by blocking sugar and carbohydrate absorption via the natural substance contained in the leaf, 1-deoxynojirimycin. This compound allegedly reduces the breakdown of sugars to glucose and slows the release of sugar into the blood. The makers add that Mulberry Zuccarin will burn stored fat and help your sugar cravings disappear without any other changes in your diet.

Expert Insight

Several studies have linked mulberry leaf to stabilized blood sugars, including one research project led by Lee Zhong, M.D., Ph.D., at the University of Minnesota and Minneapolis VA Hospital in 2007, which found that mulberry extract significantly reduced an increase in blood glucose in control and type 2 diabetic subjects. Previously, a study published in September 2001 in the "Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry," discovered that alkaloids from mulberry leaves including 1-Deoxynojirimycin were potent inhibitors of mammalian digestive enzymes and may help prevent both diabetes and obesity. In 2009, a team at the Korea Research Institute of Chemical Technology published a study in the March issue of "Ethnopharmacology" demonstrating that morus alba leaves contain a methanol extract with an anti-obesity effect in diet-induced obese mice.

Considerations

Mulberry Zuccarin supplements don't contain lactose, wheat or gluten, making them safe if you suffer from celiac disease or an allergy or intolerance to those ingredients. They are also both vegetarian and vegan. The recommended dose is to take two tablets before each meal for the first 10 days and then one tablet with meals afterward.

Warning

Mulberry extracts including Mulberry Zuccarin haven't been well studied with children or pregnant or breast-feeding women. Due to mulberry's potential effects on blood sugar and insulin, you shouldn't use the supplement if you're diabetic until you've consulted with your health care practitioner.