Another type of weight loss pills being marketed are starch blockers. Starch blockers appeared in the market in 1980s. Starch blockers has been a craze since their appearance in the market. Starch blockers also have been marketed as calorie blockers. There are lots of starch blocking preparations available in the market commercially. Lot of money is being invested to promote them and lot of revenue is being earned from this advertisement.

What are starch blockers?

For our understanding lets dig out what starch blockers in actual are. As one can guess by name they block starch. Starch is a component of normal diet which is taken in food and it is broken down into the simple sugars to be utilized by the body. The excess of starch is stored in the body after its conversion into the fat in the fat storing cells. The starch blockers block the conversion of the starch into useable sugars hence preventing its breakdown.

How starch blockers work?

First starch blocker worked out was a protein isolated from the kidney bean. On further research this protein was found as alpha amylase inhibitor. Alpha amylase is a enzyme which is protein in nature and which causes the digestion of starch in the human body. After digestion starch is converted into simple sugar like glucose which is absorbed into the blood and is utilized for energy production in the cells of body. If a substance causes the inhibition of alpha amylase then it can be a starch, as there will be no digestion of the starch in the bowel and all of starch will be pass unabsorbed from the bowel in the feaces. So a starch blocker is this kind of substance and it works in the narrated manner.

Are they beneficial?

This is a tricky question to answer. When we consider starch blockers on theoretical grounds it seems quite convincing that a potential chemical substance can be there which can block starch. But practically it has been seen that weight loss effect of starch blockers is not as potent as seems theoretically. Different experiments have shown that starch blockers do block starch in animals up to some extent. But in humans this effect of starch blockers is not much viable.