Dietitians warn against quick-fix weight loss pill
September 7th 2003
By AMIE RICHARDSON

A revolutionary pill said to block 70% of starch calories and a third of total diet calories is about to hit the market but Kiwi dietitians are warning against it.

The Starch Stopper dietary supplement, containing phaseolus vulgaris, the herbal extract from the white kidney bean, is said to neutralize starch by binding with the enzyme that digests carbohydrates.

Starch passes through the system without releasing up to a third of the usual amount of calories.

Auckland dietitian Jeni Pearce warned against the pill, saying pregnant women should not use it: "If it does what it says it does, then that's a huge loss of starch. What happens to it? Where does it go? Would B vitamins that are often locked to starch molecules also be lost?"

American doctor Steven Rosenblatt, co-author of The Starch Blocker Diet book and program founder, said the potential use of the extract for weight loss came from 30 years of scientific research.

"I don't want to present this as the magic pill that does everything (but) it's for those people who have tried all diets."

Auckland dietitian Brenda Tallentire was skeptical the pill, available next week, would provide any kind of quick fix to losing weight.

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