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Chitosan

Supplement fiber-like polysaccharide general nutrition
Aka: fat binder, shellfish chitin
Brands seen in Singapore: NOW Foods, Natural Balance, KAL, Nutricology, Absolute Nutrition
Not medical advice. Check with your doctor or pharmacist before you start, stop or change the timing of anything you take.
How to use
What it’s for
Binds some dietary fat; ODS: minimal effect on body weight
When to take
Trials dosed it with the largest meals
Take with
Meals · one trial paired 3 g with 2 g ascorbic acid
Studied for
Trials ran 4 weeks to 6 months
Pros & cons
Pros
  • Cochrane pooled 13 trials: 1.7 kg below placebo
  • 0.24–15 g/day for up to 6 months: few safety flags
  • Reported side effects are minor and gut-related
Cons
  • ODS: minimal effect, probably clinically insignificant
  • Shellfish-derived — a shellfish allergy is a risk
  • Flatulence, bloating, constipation, heartburn
Sources
  1. NIH ODS — Dietary Supplements for Weight Loss (Health Professional), summary table row for chitosan (read via the archive.org capture; ods.od.nih.gov returns 403 to a direct fetch) · read 2026-08-27
    what it says
    “Chitosan … Binds dietary fat in the digestive tract … Minimal effect on body weight … Few safety concerns reported for 0.24–15 g/day for up to 6 months; could cause allergic reactions”
  2. NIH ODS — Dietary Supplements for Weight Loss (Health Professional), chitosan efficacy, Cochrane Review (read via the archive.org capture; ods.od.nih.gov returns 403 to a direct fetch) · read 2026-08-27
    what it says
    “a Cochrane Review that included 13 trials … found that chitosan, when taken for 4 weeks to 6 months, reduced body weight by a mean of 1.7 kg compared with placebo”
  3. NIH ODS — Dietary Supplements for Weight Loss (Health Professional), chitosan efficacy, 8-week trial dosing (read via the archive.org capture; ods.od.nih.gov returns 403 to a direct fetch) · read 2026-08-27
    what it says
    “One clinical trial randomly assigned 59 women with overweight or obesity (BMI 27–40) to receive either chitosan (3 g/day divided between the two largest meals) or placebo for 8 weeks”
  4. NIH ODS — Dietary Supplements for Weight Loss (Health Professional), chitosan efficacy, chitosan plus ascorbic acid (read via the archive.org capture; ods.od.nih.gov returns 403 to a direct fetch) · read 2026-08-27
    what it says
    “The effect of chitosan (3 g/day) with or without ascorbic acid (2 g/day) was evaluated in an 8-week study in women age 20–30 who were overweight”
  5. NIH ODS — Dietary Supplements for Weight Loss (Health Professional), chitosan efficacy, fecal fat excretion study (read via the archive.org capture; ods.od.nih.gov returns 403 to a direct fetch) · read 2026-08-27
    what it says
    “the amount of fat that the chitosan trapped would result in a loss of only 1 lb body fat over about 7 months”
  6. NIH ODS — Dietary Supplements for Weight Loss (Health Professional), chitosan safety (read via the archive.org capture; ods.od.nih.gov returns 403 to a direct fetch) · read 2026-08-27
    what it says
    “The adverse effects of chitosan are minor and primarily involve the gastrointestinal tract. They include flatulence, bloating, mild nausea, constipation, indigestion, and heartburn … people who are allergic to shellfish could theoretically be allergic to chitosan”
  7. HSA — Guidelines on Prohibited and Restricted Ingredients in Health Supplements and Traditional Medicines, GL-CHPB-1-012 Rev. No. 001 (Oct 2025) — Annex A (118 substances, prohibited/restricted) and Annex B (4 substances: caffeine, Camellia sinensis extract, Hypericum perforatum, L-tryptophan) both read in full: chitosan is NOT LISTED in Annex A or Annex B · read 2026-08-27
    what it says
    “The objective of this guideline is to highlight the substances of concern when used in HS and TM and is not meant to be an exhaustive list.”
  8. iHerb Singapore — Chitosan category (default order, "1 - 8 of 8 results") · read 2026-08-27
    what it says
    “NOW Foods, Chitosan plus Chromium … NOW Foods, Chitosan, 240 Veg Capsules … Natural Balance, Super Chitosan 3000 … KAL, Chitosan, 750 mg … Nutricology, MicroChitosan™ … Absolute Nutrition, FBlock™, Fat Absorber”
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Updated 2026-08-29. Every line above traces to a numbered source. Kozen-X is not a medical device and does not give medical advice. It lists what published sources have written down — nothing more. A pair not listed is unrecorded, not cleared. Before you start, stop or re-time anything, talk to your doctor or pharmacist.