Phase 2 Ingredient May Aid Weight Loss

Wu X et al., “Enhanced weight loss from a dietary supplement containing standardized Phaseolus vulgaris extract in overweight men and women,” Journal of Applied Research, vol. 10, no. 2 (2010): 73-79.

A 60-day, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study investigated the weight-loss effects of Phase 2 Carb Controller, an ingredient by Pharmachem Laboratories (Kearny, NJ) extracted from white kidney bean (Phaseolus vulgaris).

Subjects comprised a 51-person intervention group and a 50-subject placebo group. Intervention subjects consumed a Phase 2 supplement containing 1000 mg of Phaseolus vulgaris, three times daily. Subjects’ body weight, waist and hip circumference, and blood chemistry values were measured at the start of the study, and at 30 and 60 days into the trial.

The results showed that 47 of the 51 subjects in the intervention group lost weight after two months, compared to 31 subjects in the placebo group. The average weight loss in the supplement group was 1.9 kg compared to a 0.4 kg loss in the placebo group.

“The Phase 2 group lost nearly five times more weight than the placebo group,” noted Mitch Skop, senior director of new product development for Pharmachem. “Waist size also decreased significantly more in the supplement group-1.9 cm versus -0.4 cm-another five-fold difference.”

Phase 2’s weight-loss mechanism is attributed to its alpha-amylase-inhibiting activity. Pharmachem says that Phaseolus vulgaris extract has been shown in vitro to inhibit the activity of alpha-amylase and may help promote weight loss by interfering with the digestion of complex carbohydrates to simple, absorbable sugars-thereby potentially reducing carbohydrate-derived calories.