Veg Capsule
Glucomannan
Weight Loss Support
$48.00
$1.60 a day · 30-day supply
Glucomannan is a viscous soluble fiber from konjac. A viscous gel takes up room and leaves the stomach slowly, which supports the ordinary feeling of fullness.
In depth
About this supplement
What Is Glucomannan?
Glucomannan is the storage carbohydrate of the konjac corm, the swollen underground stem of a southeast Asian plant that Japan turns into konnyaku and shirataki noodles. It is a soluble fiber: human enzymes cannot break it down. A serving is three capsules, 1,725 mg per serving.
How It Works in the Body
The chain is two sugars end to end: mostly mannose, with the glucose molecule familiar from starch making up the rest. Scattered acetyl groups and a great many hydroxyls make the chain thirsty. It holds many times its weight in water and sets into a gel, and that gel is most of the story. It thickens the contents of the stomach, slows how fast they leave, and gets in the way of mixing further down.
What It Supports
- A full feeling: A viscous gel takes up room and leaves the stomach slowly, which supports the ordinary feeling of fullness.
- Regularity: Soluble fiber holds water in the gut, and this one holds a great deal, which supports regularity.
- Bile acids: Viscous fiber carries bile acids out of the gut and the liver spends cholesterol replacing them, which supports cholesterol levels already within the normal range.
- Gut bacteria: Fiber that reaches the lower intestine is fermented, so it supports the bacteria living on it.
Who It May Suit
People whose eating is light on beans, oats and vegetables, where soluble fiber usually comes from, and anyone who wants fiber without a powder to stir. A serving is three capsules, and no ingredient is animal-derived.
Good To Know
Glucomannan swells the moment it meets water, so it has to go down with a full glass of liquid, or capsules can swell before they arrive. Talk with your healthcare provider before use if swallowing is difficult for you, if you have had any narrowing of the gut, or if you take medicine by mouth, since a fiber gel can slow how much of it is absorbed.
FAQ
Common questions
What is glucomannan?
A soluble fiber from the corm of Amorphophallus konjac, a plant grown in southeast Asia for food as much as for fiber. In Japan the same material becomes konnyaku and shirataki noodles. Here it is milled to a powder and capsuled, at 1,725 mg per serving.
How does it work?
By physics more than chemistry. The chain is studded with hydroxyl groups, so it binds water and swells into a viscous gel our enzymes cannot digest. That gel thickens what is in the stomach and slows its exit, and whatever reaches the lower intestine is fermented by gut bacteria.
What makes this fiber different?
Viscosity. Weight for weight, glucomannan builds a far thicker gel than most dietary fibers, which is why the amount here is modest next to a scoop of psyllium or bran. It comes as capsules rather than a powder, with nothing in them but the fiber itself.
Who is it for?
People adding soluble fiber to eating that is light on beans, oats, barley and vegetables, and anyone who would rather swallow capsules than stir a powder into water. The capsules are plant cellulose, so vegetarian and vegan eating is covered.
What should I know before taking it?
Always with plenty of water: the fiber swells fast, and capsules that do not go down cleanly can swell where they stop. Talk with your healthcare provider before use if you have any difficulty swallowing, if you have had a narrowing or blockage of the gut, or if you take medicine by mouth, since fiber gels can slow absorption.
Ingredients
What is in it
Every ingredient, as listed on the label.
Supplement Facts
Serving Size 3 veg capsules
Calories 5
| Ingredient | Amount Per Serving | % DV |
|---|---|---|
| Total Carbohydrate | 2 g | <1%* |
| Dietary Fiber | 2 g | 7%* |
| Glucomannan (from Konjac Root) (Amorphophallus konjac) | 1725 mg | † |
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet.
† Daily Value not established.
Other Ingredients: Hypromellose (cellulose capsule), Hydroxypropyl Cellulose, Silicon Dioxide, Microcrystalline Cellulose, Stearic Acid (vegetable source).
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