Are there side effects of fucoxanthin?

So a couple of years ago, the news broke that two studies demonstrated that Fucoxanthin, brown sea weed extract (aka kelp) helped some rats lose weight.  They were having some confidence problems around their little cubicles at their office, and didn’t get much exercise.  In the experiments, the rats lost weight- specifically BELLY FAT, with fucoxanthin supplements.  So since then there’s been a fucoxanthin supplement craze, with brands like Fucothin taking the natural supplement world by storm. 

 Since not that many people have pet rats, not to mention overweight rats, there is a good chance it is humans taking the fucoxanthin supplements for weight loss. The question is, now in 2008, is there any evidience that Fucoxanthin helps people lose weight?

There are a great many similarities between rats and humans, and fat storage is very similar on both species. But not identical. It is logical to posit that there is a real possibility fucoxanthin would effect humans the same way it did rats. But that is not proof or evidence.  So far, (and please correct me when this is no longer the case) there is not ONE study proving fucoxanthin is effective with human fat cells.  Does this mean it is not effective? No.  Can we assume Fucothin and other fucoxanthin supplements are effective, because it worked for rats? no.

The bottom line is, for now, if you have the money and want to try fucoxanthin for a few months (the rat studies did take several weeks to take effect) then so far all indications are it’s safe and probably has some healthful properties. But don’t blindly only use Fucoxanthin, ESPECIALLY instead of doing other good things to lose weight, because so far, the evidence is pretty minimal.

On a personal note, I tried fucoxanthin faithfully for 2 months (I used Fucothin- twice a day) and noticed no results. However, i was traveling, eating more fast food meals (but exercising a bit more than usual) so because of these variables I can’t draw any conclusions except to say it didn’t dramatically wisk away some extra fat gathering around my belly.  But it may have prevented more fat from accruing- who knows.  I am trying it again now (twice a day) along with trying some other things like exercising more, less sugar, etc.  So even an improvement will not be proof, but it will create some anecdotal evidence.

This entry was posted on Thursday, January 10th, 2008 at 6:26 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.