Home Remedy to Block Carbs

Low-carbohydrate diets remain in the spotlight because of their effectiveness for quick weight loss. If you're on a low-carbohydrate diet, you lose weight rapidly due to ketosis, a state your body goes into when carbohydrates are restricted. According to an article from the "Archives of Neurology" medical journal, ketotic (low carbohydrate) diets work because your body burns carbohydrates for energy first; after the carbohydrates are burnt up, the body resorts to burning fat. Therefore, by limiting your carbohydrate intake, you force your body to use more stored fat for energy. Supplementing with natural products can help support a low-carbohydrate lifestyle.

Salacia Oblonga

• According to a 2009 article in "Muscle and Fitness" magazine, this Indian herb can block carbohydrates. The article says, "Salacia blocks the body's ability to digest and absorb carbohydrates by inhibiting the alpha-glucosidase enzyme, which normally breaks down carbohydrates in the digestive tract. If the carbohydrates can't be broken down, they can't be digested, and they pass right through you."

White Kidney Bean Extract

• Similarly to salacia oblonga, white kidney bean extract's active ingredient, phaseolus vulgaris, stops the breakdown of carbohydrates to sugars. If carbohydrates are not being transformed into sugar, then they aren't absorbed into your bloodstream and stored as fat in your body.

Chromium Picolinate

• Supplementing with chromium picolinate daily has been shown to support healthy blood-sugar levels. This supplement slightly reduces they body's carbohydrate absorption, as well as helps raise they body's basal metabolic rate.

Chitosan

• Chitosan is in shellfish like crab and lobster. It has been shown not only to block carbohydrate absorption but fat absorption as well.