Obesity is a serious problem affecting billions worldwide. Increased body weight takes away your looks and makes you prone to a multitude of physical, mental, and psychological ailments as well. So you need to address this issue right away!
What are your options? One way or another, eating a balanced diet and being involved in physical activity are the only long term solutions. But if you are looking for a quick fix, you might consider taking things to the next level with a weight loss supplement.
While the market is flooded with weight loss supplements, finding the one that really helps is a great hustle. One supplement that might help is XLS medical. It is a fat binder manufactured by InQpharm Europe Ltd. The manufacturer claims that you lose weight 3 times faster with XLS medical compared to dieting alone (1).
So what’s the truth? Let’s discuss the nitty-gritty details of XLS medical and see what science says about its effectiveness. Let’s get started!
XLS Medical- A Potent Fat Binder
When it comes to weight loss supplements, they essentially fall in one of the following five categories:
Fat binders
Appetite suppressants
Metabolism boosters
Carbohydrate blockers
Diet plans
As for XLS medical, it is mainly a fat binder and an appetite suppressant too. Here is what XLS medical contains (2):
LitramineTM: LitramineTM is a patented blend of soluble fiber coming from Opuntia ficus-indica, which is species of cacti native to Mexico. LitramineTM is a soluble fiber and represents a blend of mucilage, pectin, hemicellulose, and gum (3).
Vitamins: In addition to LitramineTM, XLS medical represents a blend of fat-soluble vitamins including vitamin A (133.33 mcg), vitamin E (1.67 mcg), and vitamin D (0.87 mcg) (2).
3 Ways XLS Medical Might Help You Lose Weight
When it comes to XLS medical, the LitramineTM does most of the hard work. Here are some ways XLS medical might help you lose weight.
# 1: LitramineTM Reduces Fat Uptake
Scientists are still working to find out what-exactly- causes weight gain? While we don’t have a clear answer yet but there are several variables at play when it comes to body weight regulation.
Among these factors, your dietary habits seem to be the most important. When it comes to weight gain, two things do the most damage: dietary fat and sugar (4). Fat gets absorbed from your gut quite easily and make way to your fat stores readily. But when it comes to the burning of fat, things get real complicated. You see, our bodies are naturally designed to store fat, not to waste it! That’s why losing fat is so difficult.
One logical way to reduce fat deposition in the body is to decrease its uptake from the gut. That is particularly effective because the western diet is getting abundant in fats. Thanks to the junk and fried food, the daily fat intake in the western-styled diet has increased to 42%-45% of the total caloric intake, which is 10% higher than the recommended daily fat intake (5).
OK, reducing fat uptake is one solution but how to accomplish that? The answer is fiber! Researchers have long known that eating a fiber-rich diet can reduce fat uptake (6). In more recent studies, researchers have found that for every 1 gram of fiber in the diet, the weight reduces by 0.25 kg and fat content in the body reduces by 0.25% (7).
But how does fiber help reduce fat uptake? Your body cannot digest the fiber you eat. So while it is in your gut, it binds with the fat and hinders with its digestion and absorption. As a result, the fat remains undigested and gets excreted out of your body when you poop.
Since LitramineTM is a blend of a variety of fibers, it blocks the absorption of fat. No fat uptake means a decrease in the fat deposition as well. That’s how LitramineTM works!
# 2: LitramineTM May Have Additional Appetite Suppressing Effects
Fiber has appetite suppressing effects as well. When you eat a fiber-rich diet, it swells up in your stomach and signals your brain that now is the time to stop eating. This way, you end eating significantly less.
In addition, fiber influences the levels of appetite-regulating hormones as well. Researchers at the Université de Montréal, Canada found that eating a fiber-rich diet can reduce ghrelin levels by 26%– ghrelin is the major appetite-promoting hormone (8).
Different fibers have variable satiety-promoting effect. The main feature of a fiber that determines its ability to promote satiety is its nature, that is, whether it is soluble or insoluble.
Researchers at the University of Leeds, UK compared the appetite suppressing effect of soluble and insoluble dietary fiber. They noted that soluble fiber is superior to insoluble fiber when it comes to appetite suppression (9).
Since LitramineTM is a soluble fiber blend, you can expect a reduction in your appetite following its consumption.
# 3: The Vitamin Profile May Have Additional Benefits
The healthy vitamin profile of XLS medical may provide you with additional weight loss benefits.
Among the vitamins in XLS medical, vitamin E promotes weight loss, as suggested by research (10).
Are There Any Clinical Studies To Back The Claims of XLS Medical?
The claims XLS medical make sound quite fascinating, at least on the paper. Is there any real-life clinical evidence showing that XLS medical really works?
Well, there is no clinical study based on the use of the product itself, but there are quite a number of studies based on the active ingredient of XLS medical (LitramineTM).
Study # 1
The study titled, ‘A Natural Fiber Complex Reduces Body Weight in the Overweight and Obese: A Double-Blind, Randomized, Placebo-Controlled Study’ made use of LitramineTM (11).
The study included 125 overweight or obese men and women that were randomly divided into two groups. One group received a 3 g Litramine based supplement per day while the other received a placebo. The participants were given these supplements for the duration of 12-weeks in addition to a hypocaloric diet.
At the end of 12 weeks, the study participants were assessed for their change in weight. The Litramine group lost up to 6 kg weight compared to the placebo group, which lost up to 4 kg weight. Also, the Litramine group lost significantly more body fat and showed improvement in waist circumference compared to the placebo group.
Study # 2
In this study, the ability of Litramine to bind to the fat in the gut was evaluated. For that, the fecal content of fat was measured (12).
The participants received 2.14 g Litramine or placebo and fecal fat content was measured after 3 days.
Researchers observed around 6-folds increase in the fecal fat content in the Litramine group compared to the placebo in which the fecal fat content did not change significantly.
Study # 3
In another study, a group of 49 participants was inducted. The participants of this study had already lost weight following a successful weight loss plan. So no other changes were made in their routine except the addition of Litramine supplement. The participants were divided into two groups- whether or not they received the supplement.
The Litramine group lost significantly lost more weight upon follow-up and lost more body fat compared to the placebo group (12).
Added Benefits of XLS Medical
The only additional benefit with the use of XLS medical seems to be a reduction in blood sugar levels.
Researchers at the Western Illinois University studied the effects of Litramine on blood sugar levels. After 16 weeks of supplementation of 200 mg Litramine, researchers concluded the following (13):
Litramine causes an acute decline in the blood sugar levels.
It is also suitable for improving the long-term blood sugar levels.
However, there is no change in body parameters like blood cholesterol, blood lipid profile, blood pressure or other parameters with the use of Litramine (12).
Is XLS Medical Safe to Use?
Well, the individual response to any supplement may vary. For some, the supplement might be perfectly safe; while for others, the side effects might be serious.
As per research, the safety profile of the active ingredients of XLS is quite good. The users of Litramine do not experience side effects of any sort following the use of Litramine-based products. You can take up to 3 gram of Litramine for as much as 24 months without significant side effects (14).
However, since XLS medical is a fiber-based supplement, you may experience the side effects commonly associated with increased fiber intake. These side effects may include:
Bloating
Abdominal cramps
Nausea
Vomiting
Diarrhea
Constipation, especially if you are not drinking enough water with the supplement
Do People Use XLS Medical? What are Their Reviews?
The manufacturers have really put a good deal of thought and research and making this supplement. The supplement is based on research-backed ingredients and it is not a half-cooked good-for-nothing supplement.
The supplement also seems to be quite popular, especially in the European countries. Looking at the review, the users have mixed reviews on different platforms.
On Amazon, XLS medical has 1,612 reviews and has a rating of 2.8/5. Unfortunately for the supplement, most of the people don’t seem to like it. There are more 1-star reviews (557) compared to 5-stars (440) or 4-stars (177). The most common complaint of the customers is that it did not meet their expectations and produced minimal or no results at all.
On the contrary, the picture on Ebay is quite different. On Ebay, it seems to enjoy a much better repute with 88% customers recommending the product.
Final Verdict
Is XLS medical helpful in promoting weight loss? Probably yes.
Should you experience dramatic changes with its use? Definitely not. The results come in quite slow.
Is it worth your money? It is quite expensive when compared to similar supplements in the market.
So is it a yes or a no? Considering the limited benefit versus higher cost and a lot of negative customer reviews, XLS medical is perhaps not as magical as the manufacture’s claim.
So our final verdict is against this product.
References
https://xlsmedical.co.uk/our-products/xls-medical-fat-binder/xls-medical-fat-binder-clinical-study
https://www.xlsmedical.co.uk/our-products/xls-medical-fat-binder/xls-medical-fat-binder-faq
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4164135/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2914537/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4164135/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9109608/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19158230/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19369431
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9093551
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15362483
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/oby.20244/pdf
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4164135/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20621660/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23505169/
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