Chitosan is extracted from the shells of crustaceans, such as shrimp and crab. Chitosan is not digestible but may have beneficial effects on the gastrointestinal tract. Chitosan appears to reduce the absorption of bile acids or cholesterol; either of these effects may cause a lowering of blood cholesterol, however studies regarding chitosan's ability to lower cholesterol have been mixed. A study published in Finland did not show chitosan to have much of an effect on cholesterol levels, whereas another chitosan study conducted in Argentina showed diabetics who ate bread containing chitosan had lower cholesterol levels. It's frustrating when researchers come to opposite conclusions. If you would like an all natural diet pill, consider Diet Rx.

Source Naturals - Diet Chitosan, 500 mg, 240 Caps

Chitosan, a fiber derived from chitin in shell-fish, is a nondigestible aminopolysaccharide. Chitosan is synthesized by removing acetyl groups from chitin, through a process called deacetylation. This process enhances the activity of chitosan by improving its solubility in the acidic environment of the stomach.

Chitosan Supplement Facts:
Chitosan (minimum 90% deacetylated chitin) 1 g +
FREE Diet Rx sample bottle
Suggested Use: Two chitosan capsules before lunch and two capsules before dinner. Drink at least 4 glasses of fluid daily.
* Chitosan daily value not established
Click here to buy Chitosan supplement, get a FREE Diet Rx sample bottle, or to sign up to a FREE newsletter

Subscribe to a FREE Supplement Research Update newsletter. Twice a month we email a brief abstract of several studies on various supplements and natural medicine topics - including chitosan - and their practical interpretation by Ray Sahelian, M.D.

We will mention chitosan research when available.
 

Diet Rx does not have chitosan
If you would like to eat less, consider a product called Diet Rx. This natural appetite suppressant works without stimulants. Diet Rx has no added caffeine, ephedra, ephedrine alkaloids, synephrine, hormones, guarana, ginseng, or stimulating amino acids.

Benefits of Diet Rx
All natural appetite suppressant, decreases appetite so you eat less
Helps you maintain healthy blood sugar levels
Helps you maintain healthy cholesterol and lipid levels
Provides a variety of antioxidant from two dozen herbs and nutrients
Provides healthy fiber
Improves energy
Balances mood
Improves mental concentration and focus
Improves will power and choice of food selection

Dr. Sahelian's Chitosan Summary
There is some evidence that chitosan is more effective than placebo in the short-term treatment of overweight and obesity. However, many trials to date have been of poor quality and results have been variable. Results obtained from high quality trials indicate that the effect of chitosan on body weight is mild. A nutrient that can limit appetite is 5-HTP. Acetylcarnitine may also be helpful in some users.
     Studies evaluating the role of chitosan in weight loss and cholesterol reduction have produced mixed results. I'm not ready to endorse the use of chitosan for weight loss at this time, but perhaps chitosan may be a useful addition to cholesterol reduction. Time will tell. If you wish to reduce body weight or maintain healthy cholesterol levels, see other options provided on these web pages: weight loss and cholesterol.

Chitosan side effects
I am not aware of any significant side effects with chitosan.

High Quality products formulated by a medical doctor
Mind Power Rx for better mental focus, concentration, and mood; Diet Rx which helps you eat less. It really does curb appetite; Good Night Rx for better sleep; Eyesight Rx for better vision, often within days; MultiVit Rx, a daily comprehensive multivitamin for more energy and vitality; Joint Power Rx for healthy joints; Prostate Power Rx for a healthy prostate gland; and Passion Rx for sexual enhancement, better libido, and improved performance and stamina in men and women.

Chitosan and Weight Loss
Evaluating efficacy of a chitosan product using a double-blinded, placebo-controlled protocol.
J Am Coll Nutr. 2006 Oct;25(5):389-94. Kaats GR, Michalek JE, Preuss HG. Health and Medical Research Center, 4940 Broadway, Suite 201, San Antonio, TX
To examine the safety and efficacy of a chitosan dietary supplement on body composition under free-living conditions. In a randomized, double-blinded, placebo-controlled dietary intervention protocol, subjects were assigned to a chitosan treatment group, a placebo group (PLA) and a control group (CTL). A total of 150 overweight adults enrolled; 134 (89%) completed the study; 111 (82%) were women who were similarly distributed in the three groups. The chitosan treatment group took six 500 mg chitosan capsules per day and both chitosan treatment and PLA groups wore pedometers during their waking hours and recorded daily step totals. The CTL group followed weight loss programs of their choice, and took the same baseline and ending tests. Outcome measures were Dual Energy X-ray Absorptiometry tests, fasting blood chemistries, and self-reported daily activity levels and caloric intakes. Compared to the control group, the chitosan treatment group lost more weight (-2.8 lbs vs. +0.8 lbs) and fat mass (-2.6 lbs vs. +0.1 lbs). Compared to PLA, the chitosan treatment group lost more weight (-2.8 lbs. vs. -0.6 lbs), % fat (-0.8% vs. +0.4%), fat mass (-2.6 lbs vs. +0.6 lbs). These data provide evidence for the efficacy of a chitosan compound to facilitate the depletion of excess body fat under free-living conditions with minimal loss of fat-free or lean body mass.

Chitosan, drug deliver, and absorption
The absorption enhancing effects of chitosan and its derivatives have been intensively studied in recent years. It has been shown that these compounds are potent absorption enhancers. Chitosan is only soluble in acidic environments and is therefore incapable of enhancing absorption in the small intestine, the main absorption area in the gastrointestinal tract.
     Chitosan has great potential for pharmaceutical applications due to its biocompatibility, high charge density, non-toxicity and mucoadhesion. It has been shown that chitosan improves the dissolution of poorly soluble drugs. Gel formation can be obtained by interactions of chitosans with low molecular counterions such as polyphosphates, sulphates and crosslinking with glutaraldehyde. This gelling property of chitosan allows a wide range of applications such as coating of pharmaceuticals and food products, gel entrapment of biochemicals, plant embryo, whole cells, microorganism and algae.
     Besides its low toxicity and good ocular tolerance, chitosan exhibits favourable biological behaviour, such as bioadhesion- and permeability-enhancing properties, and also interesting physico-chemical characteristics, which make it a unique material for the design of ocular drug delivery vehicles.

The Varied uses of Chitosan
Chitosan is a partially deacetylated polymer obtained from the alkaline deacetylation of chitin. Chitosan exhibits a variety of physicochemical and biological properties resulting in numerous applications in fields such as waste and water treatment, agriculture, fabric and textiles, cosmetics, nutritional enhancement, and food processing. In addition to its lack of toxicity and allergenicity, and its biocompatibility, biodegradability and bioactivity make it a very attractive substance for diverse applications as a biomaterial in pharmaceutical and medical fields, where it has been used for systemic and local delivery of drugs and vaccines. Research indicates that chitosan can increase crop yields, and clean and clear up pools. Chitosan has been known to aid plants' immune systems while they are growing. When placed on a seed, it induces protective measured within the growing plant.

Chitosan Research Update
The effect of the dietary supplement, Chitosan, on body weight: a randomised controlled trial in 250 overweight and obese adults.
Int J Obes Relat Metab Disord. 2004 Sep;28(9):1149-56.
Chitosan, a deacetylated chitin, is a widely available dietary supplement purported to decrease body weight and serum lipids through gastrointestinal fat binding. Although evaluated in a number of trials, its efficacy remains in dispute. To evaluate the efficacy of chitosan for weight loss in overweight and obese adults, a 24-week randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial was conducted at the University of Auckland. A total of 250 participants (82% women; mean (s.d.) body mass index, 35.5 (5.1) kg/m(2); mean age, 48 (12) y)were randomly assigned to receive 3 g chitosan/day (n=125) or placebo (n=125). All participants received standardised dietary and lifestyle advice for weight loss. Adherence was monitored by capsule counts. RESULTS: In an intention-to-treat analysis with the last observation carried forward, the chitosan group lost more body weight than the placebo group during the 24-week intervention, but effects were small. Similar small changes occurred in circulating total and LDL cholesterol, and glucose. There were no significant differences between groups for any of the other measured outcomes. CONCLUSION: In this 24-week trial, chitosan treatment did not result in a clinically significant loss of body weight compared with placebo.

Improvement of HDL- and LDL-cholesterol levels in diabetic subjects by feeding bread containing chitosan.
J Med Food. 2003 Winter;6(4):397-9.
In this work we evaluated the efficacy and safety of a bread formulation containing chitosan in dyslipidemic type 2 diabetic subjects. For this purpose a total of 18 patients were allowed to incorporate to their habitual diets 120 g/day of bread containing 2% (wt/wt) chitosan (chitosan group, n= 9) or standard bread (control group, n= 9). Before the study and after 12 weeks on the modified diet, the following parameters were evaluated: body weight, plasma cholesterol, high-density lipoprotein (HDL)-cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein (LDL)-cholesterol, triglyceride, and hemoglobin A(1c) (HbA(1c)). Compared with the control group, the patients receiving chitosan-containing bread decreased their mean levels of LDL-cholesterol and significantly increased their mean levels of HDL-cholesterol at the end of the study. There were no significant differences in the body weight, serum triglyceride, and HbA(1c). These results suggest that chitosan incorporated into bread formulations could improve the lipoprotein balance similar to typical biliary salts trappers, increasing the HDL- and lowering the LDL-cholesterol, without changing the triglyceride levels. These chitosan results warrant further studies over a longer period of time to evaluate if a persistent improvement in levels of lipoproteins can be attained with this strategy.

The effect of long-term microcrystalline chitosan therapy on plasma lipids and glucose concentrations in subjects with increased plasma total cholesterol: a randomised placebo-controlled double-blind crossover trial in healthy men and women.
Tampere University Hospital, Tampere, Finland.
OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the long-term effect of microcrystalline chitosan on plasma lipids, especially the concentration of low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol, in subjects with a moderately increased concentration of plasma total cholesterol. METHODS: A total of 130 middle-aged men and women without severe disease and with a total cholesterol of 4.8-6.8 mmol/l and triglycerides below 3.0 mmol/l were randomised into two treatment groups. At the beginning of the 10-month trial, all participants received placebo 1.2 g twice daily during a 1-month run-in period. Subsequently, group 1 first received 1.2 g placebo twice daily for 3 months and then 1.2 g chitosan twice daily for 3 months. Correspondingly, group 2 received 1.2 g chitosan twice daily during the first and 1.2 g placebo twice daily during the second 3-month period. During the final 3-month follow-up period, both groups received chitosan. Altogether, 83 participants completed the study. RESULTS: No difference was detected in the change in the LDL-cholesterol concentration between the treatments during the crossover trial. In an otherwise similar analysis, no differences were detected between the treatments in the concentrations of total cholesterol, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, triglycerides and glucose. CONCLUSIONS: Treatment with chitosan had no effect on the concentrations of plasma lipids or glucose in healthy middle-aged men and women with moderately increased plasma cholesterol concentrations.

Efficacy of a novel chitosan formulation on fecal fat excretion: a double-blind, crossover, placebo-controlled study.
J Med. 2002;33(1-4):209-25.
The ability of a novel chitosan formulation to influence gastrointestinal fat absorption in vivo was examined in a double-blind, placebo-controlled, crossover study by determining the content of total fat in feces in two groups of subjects. Twenty-nine normal healthy subjects were recruited for the study. Twenty-four participants completed the test period with the chitosan formulation, and 21 completed the placebo phase of study. During the placebo and the test periods, the subjects were administered six capsules three times daily 10 minutes before meals for three days and for the two days of the stool collection. A daily serving of six tablets of the test compound contained 2100 mg chitosan and 300 mg psyllium husk seeds. In respect to the baseline period, the test compound increased fat excretion significantly whether the test period preceded or proceeded the placebo period (p<0.02 and p<0.05 respectively). In contrast, essentially no changes were seen during the placebo loading periods. Compared to the difference between placebo period and its baseline period, a statistically significant increase in fecal fat excretion was observed over baseline following oral supplementation of a novel formulation of chitosan and psyllium husk seeds. The average daily increase in fecal fat of 3-4 grams over control could account for a decrease in calorie consumption of 30-40 kcal per day. A total of 19 subjects completed both parts of the study. Examining the data from these 19 subjects by ANOVA, it was found that the period when the test compounds were given was statistically significantly different from the placebo baseline, placebo experimental, and test baseline periods. Using multiple comparisons, it was ascertained that the novel formulation containing chitosan plus psyllium husk seeds increases fecal fat excretion.

Effect of chitosan in complex management of obesity [Article in Polish]
Zahorska-Markiewicz B. Katedra Patofizjologii Sl. AM w Katowicach.
The aim of the present study was to verify the effect of chitosan as a possible adjuvant in the complex management of obesity. METHOD: Fifty obese women (22-59 years, BMI > 30) participated in the study. A six months program consisted of 2-hour meetings with a physician, psychologist and dietitian, in a group of about 20 persons, every two weeks. Low calorie diet (1000 kcal/day), physical activity and behaviour modification were recommended. Supplementation with chitosan was evaluated in a randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blind study. In the chitosan group, participants received ChitininN (Primex Ingredients ASA, Avaldsnes, Norway) i.e. 750 mg pure chitosan per tablet, two tablets three times daily before each main meal. The placebo group received identical placebo tablets. RESULTS: Significantly higher body weight loss was noted in the chitosan-supplemented group (15.9 kg) than in the placebo group (10.9 kg) Also a greater decrease of systolic and diastolic blood pressure was observed in the chitosan group. There was no difference between the groups in the decrease of LDL and total cholesterol. No adverse effects were noted but the number of drop-outs was higher in the placebo group than in the chitosan group. CONCLUSION: Chitosan can be used as a valuable and safe adjuvant in long-term dietary treatment of obesity. Chitosan seems to accentuate the reduction of blood pressure associated with weight reduction.

Randomized, double-blind trial of chitosan for body weight reduction.
Pittler MH. University of Exeter, United Kingdom. Eur J Clin Nutr 1999 May;53(5):379-81
BACKGROUND: Overweight and obesity is a prevalent and costly threat to public health. Compelling evidence links overweight and obesity with serious disorders such as cardiovascular diseases and diabetes. Dietary regimen are notoriously burdened with poor compliance. Chitosan is promoted in the US and other countries as an oral remedy to reduce fat absorption and has now been incorporated as a major constituent into several over-the-counter remedies. The primary aim of this study is to investigate the clinical effectiveness of oral chitosan for body weight reduction. METHODS: Thirty-four overweight volunteers were included in a randomized placebo-controlled double-blind trial. Subjects were assigned to receive either four capsules of chitosan or indistinguishable placebo twice daily for 28 consecutive days. Measurements were taken at baseline, after 14 and 28d of treatment. Subjects maintained their normal diet and documented the type and amount of food consumed. Adverse effects were assessed and compliance monitored. RESULTS: Data from 30 subjects were entered into an intention-to-treat analysis. After four weeks of treatment, body mass index, serum cholesterol, triglycerides, vitamin A, D, E and beta-carotene were not significantly different in subjects receiving chitosan compared to those receiving placebo. Vitamin K was significantly increased after four weeks in the chitosan group compared with placebo (P<0.05). Compliance was 91.5% and 96.0% for chitosan and placebo groups respectively. The above data suggest that chitosan in the administered dosage, without dietary alterations, does not reduce body weight in overweight subjects. No serious adverse effects were reported.

Recent advances on chitosan-based micro- and nanoparticles in drug delivery.
J Control Release. 2004 Nov 5;100(1):5-28.
Considerable research efforts have been directed towards developing safe and efficient chitosan-based particulate drug delivery systems. The present review outlines the major new findings on the pharmaceutical applications of chitosan-based micro/nanoparticulate drug delivery systems published over the past decade. Methods of their preparation, drug loading, release characteristics, and applications are covered. Chemically modified chitosan or its derivatives used in drug delivery research are discussed critically to evaluate the usefulness of these systems in delivering the bioactive molecules. From a literature survey, it is realized that research activities on chitosan micro/nanoparticulate systems containing various drugs for different therapeutic applications have increased at the rapid rate.

Chitosan questions
Q. Is a chitosan pill necessary if a person is taking Diet Rx?
   A. Diet Rx works very well, there would not be a need to take chitosan.

This Chitosan page was last updated February 2008

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