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"I confess...when I first heard of yacon syrup, I thought it might have something to do with bacon. I don&amp;#x27;t know; maybe like a yam-bacon hybrid. Could I have been more wrong? Yacon syrup is made by extracting juice from the roots of the yacon plant, which grows in South America (it&amp;#x27;s been used for helping diabetes and kidney and digestive disorders in the area for centuries). The result is sweet-tasting and thick; sort of like molasses but clocking in at just 20 calories per tablespoon (a tablespoon of sugar is nearly 50 calories). The syrup contains about 40 to 50 percent fructooligosaccharides&amp;amp;#8212;low-calorie carbohydrates that your taste buds notice but your body does not digest. Research has found that bacteria in the gut consume these fructooligosaccharides, producing fatty acids that may help prevent obesity, as well as lower the levels of ghrelin&amp;amp;#8212;a hunger hormone&amp;amp;#8212;which could help reduce your appetite. OK! So, in practice...what does that mean? Dr. Mehmet Oz undertook an experiment where 60 women (40 of whom completed the project) ate one teaspoon of 100 percent pure yacon syrup with, or before, each meal for one month. Their diets and exercise habits remained the same. The results: 73 percent lost weight; 14 women lost 5 or more pounds (average weight loss was 2.9 pounds); the average waist-size reduction was 1.9 inches. Meanwhile, other research have suggested that yacon syrup may be a helpful weight-loss tool. One study instructed 55 obese Argentine women to take 3 to 4 teaspoons of yacon syrup daily (while also slightly reducing their calorie intake and going for 45-minute walks twice a week). After 120 days, the women who consumed yacon lost an average of 33 pounds and 4 inches of waist circumference. (They also experienced other health effects, such as improved insulin levels, a reduction in &amp;quot;bad&amp;quot; cholesterol, and&amp;amp;#8212;well, OK!&amp;amp;#8212;more frequent bowel movements. Another confession: I&amp;#x27;ve never tried yacon syrup! Have you? Or would you? "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.glamour.com/health-fitness/blogs/vitamin-g/2014/05/yacon-syrup-weight-loss>