Dr Oz is always trying to find the next big thing in weight loss. The team at The Dr. Oz Show asked several viewers interested in weight loss to try yacon syrup for 28 days.
Dr Oz had 60 women take one teaspoon of yacon syrup with or before each meal (breakfast, lunch and dinner) for four weeks. They were told not to change their diets or exercise habits. Forty of the 60 women completed the project and of those 40 women:
- 29 (73%) of the women lost weight
- 14 women lost five pounds or more
- Average weight loss was 2.9 pounds
- Average reduction in waist size was 1.9 inches
- Total weight lost among all the women was 153 pounds
- 27 (68%) recommended yacon as a weight loss tool
Dr Oz revealed that in a 2009 study done by Susana Genta and colleagues using a yacon extract in a group of overweight women, found a 33-pound (16 kg) average weight loss in four months, which is about two pounds per week. LDL (“bad”) cholesterol also fell significantly.
What is Yacon Syrup and the health benefits?
Yacon is a South American tuber (from the Asteraceae family) that looks sort of like a potato, but tastes like an apple. Yacon’s health benefits and pleasant taste have been appreciated by native Peruvian cultures for thousands of years. Yacon Syrup can add sweetness to your diet without the negative effects of cane sugar or high fructose corn syrup.
Yacon Syrup is a low-glycemic sweetener that tastes like molasses. With half the calories of sugar and a high concentration of indigestible inulin, yacon is a great alternative sweetener for diabetics and those wanting to reduce their sugar intake. Use it like any other sweet syrup for baked goods, smoothies, desserts, sauces and dressings.
The yacon syrup, distilled from the Peruvian tuber yacon, contains up to 50 percent fructooligosacharides or FOS.
According to the Dr Oz website, “If you want to try yacon syrup for weight loss, take one teaspoon of 100% pure yacon syrup before or with each meal. Or you can use it as a sugar substitute. You can purchase yacon syrup at health food stores or online. Because of yacon syrup’s bowel movement-promoting properties, you may want to limit daily consumption to no more than 1-2 tablespoons.” Using the yacon in recipes to incorporate it into your diet is fine, but keep in mind that heating yacon syrup to a high temperatures (as in baking) can affect some of its beneficial properties. To maximize the benefits, don’t heat it above 70° C, although you can add it to hot drinks like coffee or tea.
Consuming Yacon syrup also increases absorption of dietary minerals, and may make calcium more bioavailable. Dr Oz says studies have shown this could help increase bone density and delay the progression of osteoporosis. Studies also show that neutraceuticals, especially fructans such as yacon, may increase the efficiency of the immune system, lower infection risk and reduce digestive allergies.
3 Best Sugar AlternativesAs a side note, yacon root and root extracts are to be used, not the leaves, which may be potentially toxic. If you don’t like the idea of taking the yacon extract, fructooligosaccharides can also be found in onions, garlic, asparagus, bananas, artichokes and chicory.
Yacon is a sweetener extracted from the tuberous root of the Yacon plant native to the Andes mountains. Peruvians eat Yacon for its nutritional value and low sugar levels not to mention lower calories. The leaves of the plant are sometimes boiled by Brazilians to make a tea which is said to have anti-diabetic properties. Yacon is comprised of 50% fructooligosacharides which don’t raise blood glucose.
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