What Is a Carb Blocker / Starch Blocker?
Supplements sold as ‘starch blockers’ or ‘carb blockers’ are really starch-enzyme blockers; they inhibit the body’s production of the starch-digesting enzyme, alpha-amylase. With lessened amounts of alpha-amylase, the body is less able to break down starches (carbohydrates) into sugar (glucose) for further digestion. That’s how starch blockers work – at least on a theoretical level. Phaseolamin Phase 2™ (Phaseolus vulgaris extract) starch blocker is an alpha-amylase inhibitor. Do Starch Blockers / Carb Blockers Work? Scientists have been aware of various alpha-amylase inhibitors for decades, but up until recent studies of Phase 2 starch blocker, these products have not been shown to work all that well. A number of factors may have explained why: there was not enough alpha-amylase-blocking activity from these products, they did not work well in the body, they contained endogenous alpha-amylase in sufficient quantity to overcome their alpha-amylase-inhibiting effects, or another enzyme,
