Can lecithin break down visceral fat? Help with weight loss? Lowering blood lipids ≠ lowering body fat! Nutrition experts say

Speaking of losing weight, I believe most people are familiar with the word "fat reduction". In fact, obesity refers to the phenomenon that the body fat exceeds the standard. Therefore, losing weight cannot only reduce weight, but also reduce body fat to a normal range to be considered a successful weight loss! Recently, a rumor has been circulating on the Internet that "Lecithin has the property of emulsifying fat. Moderate consumption can promote the metabolism of excess body fat in the human body, break down visceral fat, and aid in weight loss," which has attracted the attention of netizens. But what exactly is lecithin? Does it really have such magical effects?

Lecithin is known as the "blood vessel scavenger" and can help lower blood lipids and reduce the "bad" cholesterol content in the blood.

Professor Wang Jinkun from the Department of Nutrition at Sun Yat-sen University of Medical Sciences said that before discussing whether lecithin supplementation is helpful for weight loss, it is helpful to first understand what lecithin is? In fact, lecithin is a complex nutrient composed of multiple ingredients such as phosphoric acid, choline, glycerol, glycolipids, fatty acids, phospholipids, etc. It is also one of the main components of human cell membranes.

In recent years, clinical studies have also found that the human body's intake of an appropriate amount of lecithin can indeed play a role in lowering blood lipids, that is, reducing the level of "bad" cholesterol (low-density lipoprotein, LDL) in the blood. This is why lecithin has the reputation of being a "scavenger in blood vessels." In addition, lecithin is a bisexual nutrient that is soluble in water and oil, and has the property of helping to emulsify and decompose fats. Therefore, lecithin is often used as an emulsifier in food processing.

Lowering blood lipids ≠ lowering body fat! Experts emphasize: Supplementing lecithin is not very helpful for weight loss

Seeing this, I believe many people will want to ask, since lecithin can help emulsify and break down fats, and moderate consumption can help lower blood lipids, doesn’t it mean that the argument on the Internet that "appropriate supplementation of lecithin can promote the body's metabolism of excess fat and help break down visceral fat" is true? In this regard, Professor Wang Jinkun emphasized that lowering blood lipids does not equal lowering body fat!

Lecithin is found in soybeans such as edamame, soybeans, and black beans.

Whether blood lipids are normal (bad cholesterol and triglyceride levels are normal) represents the risk of cardiovascular disease in the human body; body fat refers to the fat tissue in the human body. If you want to reduce body fat, you can only start by reducing dietary calories. The two cannot be confused. What's more, at this stage, no evidence has been found in relevant nutritional research that lecithin supplementation can help reduce body fat and lose weight. Therefore, the discussions on the Internet about taking lecithin to help metabolize body fat and visceral fat and help lose weight are all exaggerated.

Not only lowers blood lipids! Supplementing lecithin in moderation has four benefits for the human body, including promoting digestion and maintaining brain health.

Although lecithin supplementation is not very helpful for people to lose weight, Professor Wang Jinkun also emphasized that lecithin is still necessary to maintain the normal functioning of human physiological functions. In recent years, many studies have also found that lecithin, when taken in moderation, also has the following benefits:

Benefit 1 / Lowering blood fat:

Lecithin has the properties of an emulsifier, which can help the human body remove bad fats such as bad cholesterol from the blood, excrete them out of the body, and reduce the accumulation of the above harmful ingredients in the liver and blood vessels.

Benefit 2／Helps digestion and absorption:

Lecithin is one of the important components of the gastrointestinal mucosa. Moderate supplementation can help maintain the health of the intestinal mucosa, promote gastrointestinal blood circulation and peristalsis, and help reduce the occurrence of problems such as abdominal distension, indigestion, and constipation.

The yolk of eggs is very rich in lecithin.

Benefit 3: Promote brain growth and development

Lecithin is one of the important nutrients that make up brain cells and nerves. Therefore, taking an appropriate amount of lecithin in your daily diet can help repair damaged brain cells and nerves and make the brain function more smoothly. Especially for developing children, it has the benefit of helping the brain and central nervous system grow more completely.

Benefit 4 / Make breastfeeding process smoother:

The emulsifying effect of lecithin can make the milk secretion of postpartum mothers smoother, avoiding blockage of the mammary glands and causing milk blockage.

Excessive intake of lecithin may cause obesity and genetic modification. Large-scale clinical epidemiological studies suggest that the intake should not exceed 5 grams per day.

Therefore, although consuming lecithin does not help with weight loss, based on the above reasons, Professor Wang Jinkun emphasized that he does not oppose people supplementing their daily diet with lecithin. The only thing to note is that you must be moderate in the amount you consume! As for people supplementing with lecithin, why must they be careful not to overdose?

Professor Wang Jinkun explained that this is because natural lecithin is mostly found in parts of food that are particularly rich in fat. When people consume it, they tend to consume too much fat and calories, which increases the burden on the body and even causes obesity. Moreover, most commercially available lecithin nutritional supplements source their lecithin from soybeans, and 90% of the soybeans on the market are genetically modified. Currently, the scientific community has not yet clarified the impact of genetically modified foods on human health.

In fact, lecithin is found in many natural foods, such as egg yolks, chicken, beef, animal offal, seafood, sunflower seeds, and soybeans such as edamame, soybeans, and black beans.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has also recommended that people get lecithin through natural foods. In addition, according to the data from large-scale international clinical epidemiological studies, the daily intake of lecithin by the human body should not exceed 5 grams. Therefore, he suggested that people should still take a moderate amount of lecithin supplementation.

Lecithin is found in natural foods. Eating eggs, soybeans, seafood and other ingredients wisely can help supplement it.

In addition to reminding everyone to pay more attention to the dosage and source when supplementing lecithin, Professor Wang Jinkun also emphasized that lecithin is actually found in many natural foods such as egg yolks, chicken, beef, animal offal, seafood, sunflower seeds, and soybeans such as edamame, soybeans, and black beans.

Therefore, as long as people develop the habit of a balanced diet in their daily lives, most people will theoretically not have problems with lecithin deficiency. However, if people really want to increase their lecithin supplementation, they might as well try to eat the above-mentioned ingredients in moderation while maintaining a balanced diet. This is a good way to help increase lecithin intake.

【Expert Tips】:

Finally, Professor Wang Jinkun also reminded that before people decide to supplement specific nutrients or nutritional supplements, they must carefully verify whether the statements they see are credible, and seek assistance from professional medical personnel to clarify whether they are suitable for their physical condition. Do not believe in rumors of unknown origin or try things rashly, otherwise you may end up harming your health instead of replenishing your body.