A. Very simply, FBCx works. Here are a couple of references from respected scientific journals that address the effectiveness of various components of dietary supplements:

Pittler MH, Ernst E. Dietary supplements for body-weight reduction: a systematic review. Am. J. Clin. Nutr. 2004;79:529-36 Click Here

Egger G, Cameron-Smith D, Stanton R. The effectiveness of popular, non-prescription weight loss supplements. Med. J. Australia 1999;171:604-8 Click Here.

We are new to the market so that neither FBCx® nor its active ingredient is mentioned in any of these references. Elsewhere on this site you can read about our published and on-going studies.

Q. Are you conducting any more studies?
A. Yes we are. We have begun another two clinical trials, one in Michigan and the other at a major medical center on the west coast; we hope to begin another clinical trial in early 2008. In addition, we are planning some animal studies to be conducted at the National Heart Lung and Blood Institute of the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

Q. Do I have to change my diet?
A. Not necessarily. We are proponents of the same healthy diet that is recommended by the Food and Nutrition Board of the Institute of Medicine. If you are on a low-fat diet, you are not likely to see much weight loss with FBCx, although there may be some improvement in your blood lipid, insulin and leptin levels.

Q. How does FBCx® work?
A. Our in vitro or test tube studies show that FBCx forms a very stable complex or emulsion with fat. This stable complex appears to prevent the digestive enzyme lipase from breaking down dietary fat in the small intestine, thus preventing it from being absorbed into the blood stream. This, in turn, reduces the number of calories that are absorbed and lowers your blood lipid (fat) levels.

Q. Will I get diarrhea?
A. Unlike some medications FBCx binds to the dietary fat in such a way that it does not cause diarrhea as it passes through the digestive tract.  We have had reports of a transient intestinal upset that lasts from one to three days from a few of our customers. We believe that this is because these people have historically had a low fiber diet, and the sudden addition of six grams of fiber per day requires some getting used to by the gut. Persons who have a low fiber diet should start slow with FBCx taking half doses or one tablet per meal for the first few days to a week until their digestive system adjusts to the increased fiber intake.  In five years we have only had two customers report that they stopped taking FBCx because of this upset. Conversely, many of our customers have told us that the chronic diarrhea that they have endured for years following the removal of their gall bladders, from irritable bowel syndrome or chronic pancreatitis goes away when they take FBCx with their fat-containing meals. Just as FBCx prevents lipase action in the small intestine, we believe that the complexed fat prevents or significantly reduces microbial action in the large intestine thus preventing the chronic diarrhea that these customers endured prior to taking FBCx.

Q. Is FBCx® safe?
A. The active ingredient in FBCx (α-cyclodextrin) has GRAS (Generally Recognized As Safe) status in the USA. The World Health Organization has given it an allowable daily intake of “not specified”, suggesting that there is no unsafe level. It has Natural Product status in Japan; is Food Approved in Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay and Venezuela; has Novel Food status in New Zealand and Australia; approved as a dietary supplement in South Korea; is Food Approved in the Philippines; is approved as a dietary food supplement in Jordan and Hong Kong and is approved as a Dietary Supplement in Taiwan. Our seventy-five day pre-market notification for FBCx has been accepted by the FDA. Additional approvals are pending in much of the rest of the world.

Q. What are the negative side effects of FBCx?
A. FBCx is a soluble dietary fiber; by definition, soluble dietary fibers are metabolized in the large intestine and because of this, FBCx may cause gas production. However, when taken with fat, you should experience no unpleasant side effects.

Q. I just paid twice as much for another product, so it must be twice as good as FBCx right?
A. Not likely is it as good as FBCx. In fact, whether you pay twice or half as much as you would for FBCx, it is very unlikely that you will be satisfied with the results. But hey, don't believe us, send us the product name and the list of ingredients from the side of the bottle, and we will do our best to find the literature that will tell us what that product will and will not do. Then we will send back to you the information complete with links to the scientific literature so that you can judge for yourself.

Q. Why should I believe you? I've heard that the medical community conspires to hide the truth from the public?
A. You've been reading the tabloids again. In order for us or anybody else in the medical/scientific community to publish an article in a reputable journal, the manuscript must first be subjected to what is referred to as the "peer review process". This means that at least two, and usually more, experts read the manuscript in search of both errors and merit. Once the reviewers accept the manuscript, which usually requires at least one revision, the manuscript is published at the discretion of the editor. This process can easily take a year from start to finish. Once published it is available to everybody to read and critique. If an article has been out for a year or two and nobody has criticized its merit, the chances are pretty good that you can believe what the authors had to say. In order for a cover-up or for a conspiracy to occur, you pretty much have to include the population of the world in that conspiracy, which of course is somewhat counterproductive if you are trying to hide the truth. Of course if you are the guy that Joe saw driving the van with "DNA + Alien = Human" on the side of it, we are probably wasting our time trying to explain this.

Q. Can I take FBCx when I am pregnant or nursing?
A. You should gain 25 to 40 lbs during a normal pregnancy in order to assure that your baby has an adequate birth weight. Pregnancy is never a good time to try to lose weight. Your unborn baby will require your body fat reserves for energy towards the end of your pregnancy, and you will need those fat reserves for milk production after delivery. We recommend that you do not take FBCx during either pregnancy and/or lactation. Breast feeding itself is a great way to help you to lose the fat gained during pregnancy and to return you to your pre-pregnancy weight.

Q. Can I take too much FBCx?
A. We recommend two tablets (two grams) per fat-containing meal or six tablets per day. It is essential that you have some fat in your diet; if you do not take it with fat or if you take too much FBCx. you will very likely feel bloated and produce enough gas to offend friends, family and co-workers. So unless you want to be left alone for a few hours, don't take it without the fat.

Q. What if I don't eat much fat in one of my meals?
A. If you eat one low-fat meal per day we want you to divide your six tablets per day between your other two meals. In order to remove 54 grams of fat, the equivalent of about 500 kilocalories, from your diet you need to take the six tablets per day.

Q. If I cheat and snack on a fatty food can I take extra FBCx® to clear my conscience?
A. Yes and no. FBCx will block some if not all of the fat in the "fatty" snack, depending on the amount consumed. Remember, however, that many fatty snacks are also loaded with simple carbohydrates (sugar), and we cannot do anything about those calories.

Q. If FBCx is, in effect, reducing my caloric intake by 25-30%, am I going to be hungry all the time?
A. Not necessarily. We have found in our animal studies that the hormone leptin is significantly decreased when FBCx is consumed. This is the hormone that tells the brain to stop eating. Unfortunately, obese individuals have elevated leptin levels and reduced sensitivity to it. In some manner, FBCx reduces blood leptin levels, and appears to increase the brain's sensitivity to leptin, thus increasing satiety and decreasing appetite.

Q. Will FBCx prevent me from getting diabetes?
A. We would really like to say yes, but we cannot. However, our animals that were fed FBCx appeared to have lower blood insulin levels, consistent with increased insulin sensitivity and therefore lower risk of developing type 2 diabetes. Our first clinical trial with obese patients with type 2 diabetes showed that their blood adiponectin levels were increased after taking FBCx, indicating increased insulin sensitivity.

Q. So, can I lose 74 pounds overnight while eating a pizza in my sleep?
A. Only in the supermarket tabloids. By eating a healthy diet and taking six tablets per day - two tablets per fat-containing meal - you may lose 1-1½ pounds per week. Please note that individual results may vary; we have had customers lose 60 pounds in 3 months. We have also had customers gain 3 pounds in the first week because they started eating more calories than they were removing with their FBCx. FBCx is NOT a license to over eat.

Q. Will I become deficient in fat soluble vitamins?
A. We do not believe so, as we are not suggesting that you take enough FBCx to complex all of your dietary fat. Volunteers who have been taking FBCx for over five years are showing no ill effects. We monitored the fat-soluble vitamin D in our clinical trials and found no difference in the levels between the test and placebo subjects.

Q. Will FBCx affect the fish oil supplement that I am taking?
A. Probably. FBCx has demonstrated a clear preference to trans and saturated fat removal but the operative word there is “preference”. If there is little or no trans or saturated fat present, then the FBCx will bind whatever is and you are wasting those good omega-3 fats. We recommend that if you usually take your fish oil supplement with your meals, you may wish to take it at bedtime or two hours away from taking FBCx.

Q. I am taking medication for my high blood pressure, is it safe to take FBCx?
A. It is recognized that as you lose weight your blood pressure will decrease, your physician has probably been harping on you about this. As you are likely to lose weight while taking FBCx your blood pressure is likely to decrease, so you should monitor it on a regular basis.

Q. I am taking medication for my high cholesterol, is it safe to take FBCx?
A. It would appear, from all of our initial data, that FBCx significantly decreases elevated blood cholesterol and triglyceride levels, and that these decreases are on top of whatever you have accomplished with lipid lowering medication.

Q. Will FBCx affect the efficacy of other medications I am taking?
A. From our first clinical trial, we did not observe of any adverse effects from taking FBCx with prescription medications.

Neither the FDA nor the FTC evaluated these statements. This product is not intended to diagnose, cure, treat or prevent any disease. Regular exercise & proper nutrition remain fundamentally beneficial for achieving your weight-loss goals. Individuals have been remunerated. Results not typical. As individuals vary, so will results.