Konjac (Amorphophallus konjac) for Weight Management

My younger brother's feeble beer-damaged brain could not sustain consciousness fairly early last evening after I had tuned in an episode of one of the series we watch through the assistance of our T9 Android 8.1 TV Box, so I bailed on him for the evening.

I have grown intolerant of this display by him.

And after I came here upstairs to my computer and saw that he seemed solidly passed out, I went back downstairs and turned off the T.V.

I used to leave him with the news channel playing softly ─ the only news channel that we can receive through our basic cable package; but I decided late this week that he may actually have been thinking after all these months that no one else in the household is any the wiser that his weakened brain folded up.

Well, finding himself in the darkened living room with the T.V. off ought to start making him aware that he's got a huge problem.

I believe that I was to bed before it was yet 9:30 p.m., even though sleep didn't seem anywhere near.

Around two hours later, however, I found myself feeling somewhat revived ─ and it did not feel as if I had been lying there in bed consciously for two full hours.

So perhaps I did lapse into some sleep.

Whatever the case, I now found myself essentially wide awake, and my brother was still downstairs watching T.V. and swilling his beer all by himself.

Around midnight I had gotten dressed, and I was killing time just lying atop my bed as I anxiously awaited my brother's chosen bedtime. I wanted to get to work on the day's content assignment for the post I am putting together at one of my six hosted websites ─ these daily content assignments typically take me at least three hours.

My computer is kept in a small room immediately next to my bedroom, whereas my brother's bedroom is directly across the way from mine ─ he would have to walk past the room housing my computer in order to get to his bedroom, and I wanted nothing further to do with him until he had slept off his inebriation.

Thus, I waited sleeplessly.

Fortunately, he sought his bedroom by about 12:15 a.m. ─ I had heard him first say goodnight to one of my two stepsons who was still up and in the boys' den area and probably seated at their computer.

With my way clear, I was here at my computer and soon at work.

Whomever it was that was still awake downstairs did not remain up for too very much longer, and anon I was the only one in the house with a light on.

Approximately halfway through the work, I took a break to try to revitalize myself ─ I performed a three-minute plank, and then did 51 flat-footed partial squats.

That was enough to get me through.

It was around 4:15 a.m. by the time I was back in bed.

Of course I was to sleep, but only in broken fashion. And reasonably soon after 8:00 a.m. I was too awake to sleep further.

It appears that today is to be a rainy day ─ it is raining quite hard as I type these words at 9:50 a.m.

oooooooooooooo

I have managed to accumulate more padding across my abdomen than I care to see deposited there, but I know that if I was more active ─ alas, I hardly ever get out and walk anymore ─ it would soon and easily enough pare right down.

Just recently I read of an Asian plant called ─ among several other names ─ konjac (Amorphophallus konjac) that has some reputation for assisting with appetite control and weight loss.

The article came to me via E-mail back on May 16, but it does not seem to have been made available at its source website (HSIonline.com).

Perhaps too much that could not be substantiated was claimed in the article concerning the plant. Nevertheless, I am going to reproduce the article in full here right now:

BANISH hunger... and MELT excess pounds... with this Japanese 'miracle'

 It's the one thing we all dream of...

Imagine being able to finally feel FULL - without putting on A POUND.

You'd NEVER have to focus on what NOT to eat... only on eating just the RIGHT thing!

It sounds like "the impossible dream."

But it's MORE than just possible... it's a DAILY reality on the other side of the globe.

The Japanese NEVER gain any weight - and it's not because of "good genes."

They eat the most fiber-rich diet you can find ANYWHERE!

Here's the "noodle trick" that keeps the citizens of Japan so slender.

The slender secret

One of the lowest rates of obesity in the world can be found in Japan.

And one of the highest can be found right here in the U.S.

What do the Japanese know that we don't?

The answer is the konjac plant (Amorphophallus konjac).

The people of Japan have known about its medicinal value since the 6th century... especially the edible part known as its "corm."

This swollen part of the stem is where the plant stores most of its nutrients.

Miraculously, it contains almost NO calories... but is LOADED in dietary fiber.

That's why the Japanese make noodles from konjac, called "shirataki"... and why they consider them "miracle noodles."

They contain ZERO carbs... ZERO gluten... and ZERO fat... but they "bulk up" any meal.

And they can do the same for your belly... and your bowels.

These translucent noodles ("shirataki" in Japanese means "white waterfall") are largely composed of water and a dietary fiber from konjac called glucomannan.

When dried, the konjac plant's corm contains around 40% glucomannan.

Your stomach can't digest this type of fiber...

But because glucomannan is water-soluble, ANY contact with water makes it expand exponentially -- up to 17 times its original size!

You'll feel full and satisfied after a meal... with NO overeating.

Study participants have lost as much as 5.5 pounds by taking glucomannan over the course of just FOUR WEEKS...

And that's even WITHOUT changing their diet OR exercise routine.

This "bloated" version of glucomannan passes out of your stomach and through your upper GI tract... until it reaches your colon, where it becomes fermented.

The fermentation process creates probiotics -- including specific strains like Lactobacillus - that help promote a healthy colon.

Your poop will be healthier and bulkier... and you'll become more "regular."

Because it feeds the good bugs in your belly, glucomannan is considered a "prebiotic" fiber - and prebiotics have been associated with a lower risk of obesity.

You can find 100% pure glucomannan powder at your local health food store or online... and add it to smoothies.

But the easiest... cheapest... and most convenient way to get your daily fix of this bulk-forming fiber is by eating shirataki noodles, just like the Japanese do.

I certainly do like the sound of this plant and its benefits!

Nevertheless, my financial situation does not allow me to branch out into any expenditures relating to it even if I feel that I did have a weight problem that needed addressing.

However, I made an Amazon search using the botanical name "Amorphophallus konjac" at the top of this blog post, and another search beneath this post using the term "glucomannan" if you are at all curious about what products are available in the marketplace ─ and of course, what their prices might be.

And here are some other articles about the plant ─ please note that the last one cautions against buying glucomannan in tablet form due to how rapidly the substance can expand once it is wet after it has been swallowed:

• Healthline.com: Glucomannan — Is It an Effective Weight Loss Supplement?
• LiveStrong.com: Konjac Root and Weight Loss
• WebMD.com: Glucomannan: Uses, Side Effects, Interactions, Dosage, and Warning
• DrAxe.com: Glucomannan Powder & Konjac Root Benefits & Side Effects

At least a couple of those articles warn of the hazard presented by how dramatically glucomannan can swell. Careless people have choked and died because of this, and there have of course also been cases of internal damage.

Consequently, it makes sense not to be ingesting the dry powder or any of the tablets. Instead, allow glucomannan to do its swelling harmlessly outside of your body first, and then ingest it. 

Or just stick to the cooked and prepared noodles.

And be wary of ridiculous product claims about unbelievable weight loss results! This article gives some advice concerning the truth-stretching that goes with some of the advertising:

• McGill.ca: Konjac and Weight Loss

But back to me and today.

My youngest stepson must have had to work today ─ late in the morning I heard him zipping up at the front door as he braced to meet the rain.

He works a mile or so from here, so he may or may not have walked. If not, then someone was waiting outside to give him a ride; or else he would catch a bus.

I sought a nap just before the noon-hour because my younger brother was again watching T.V. and I didn't want to get drawn into operating the Android TV Box that he is too unfamiliar with to use himself.

I doubt I was in bed much beyond an hour, and rose to find that my brother was finally shut up in his bedroom, resting up before he would be taking off for the afternoon to eventually end up drinking ─ probably at the small bar his girlfriend Bev works at.

Normally I like to have some time to limber up and otherwise gear myself into it, but I decided to pretty much get right at it ─ the day's scheduled backyard toolshed exercises.

That rain was cold!

I had weighed myself dressed precisely as I was going to be for those exercises, since the opening ones are pull-ups: I registered as weighing at least 193 pounds (at something over five feet and 10 inches in height).

Keep in mind that I'm also 69 years old.

I don't shoot for numbers, although I do have a minimum that I expect of myself. Rather, I do my best to perform full-range pull-ups ─ that is, all the way down to a hang, and then all the way back up.

Finishing the exercises freed me up to have my first meal of the day.

Anon my brother reappeared and readied himself to head off. I enquired if he was going to be returning this evening with his girlfriend Bev ─ he has done so now for the previous three consecutive Saturday evenings (she doesn't have to work on Sundays).

He didn't know what was to befall.

I am considering doing something rather different with my Saturday. I want to get out during the latter afternoon and head on over to do some shopping at Save-On-Foods (Google map) in Whalley ─ the store is a distance of probably at least 1¼ miles from my home.

Since I do not drive, I will have to walk.

So what is so unusual about this on a Saturday afternoon, you may wonder?

Well, since possibly as far back as my teens, I have never been comfortable about conducting financial business on Saturdays because I am one of those who believes that Saturday is probably the true Sabbath.

But I forsook tithing ─ possibly in the early 1980s when I was in my early 30s. Consequently, I can't see why I should continue feeling such wretched guilt about shopping on a Saturday ─ it can not be any worse than not tithing.

I seem destined for destruction as it now stands anyway ─ God cares nothing for me, judging by how my life has turned out. The only lesson I can see that is being demonstrated in my life is that ─ time and again ─ I have only been proving that I am worthless in God's eyes, and utterly without any potential.

Otherwise, would He not have lifted me from the mire I have been hopelessly trapped in since retiring a little over nine years ago? 

And now I suddenly feel like drinking ─ I hate getting into this topic.

It is 2:39 p.m. as I type these words. I am going to take another break and have a good rest and see if I can resurrect the drive I need to involve myself in that errand.

oooooooooooooo

It is now 6:32 p.m., and I got back here no more than 10 minutes ago ─ I made the hike.

The rain must have ceased by mid-afternoon at latest; and before it was yet 4:30 p.m., I saw some brilliant sunshine out there. However, when I left home at 4:54 p.m., there were no sunny breaks the entire time I was gone ─ roughly 1½ hours.

I didn't really need anything. I just needed an excuse to force me to get out and walk in the daylight, for I have always shunned the public. I can find no pleasure in just walking ─ where I live, there are nothing but traffic-filled streets, endless homes and other buildings, and an utter absence of any privacy and peace.

From the time I leave home until I am back indoors, not once would I have been out of the potential view of someone ─ whether from a window somewhere, a passing vehicle, or other people on foot. 

Reflection is impossible.

I had a couple of scratch lottery tickets that I needed to confirm were losers, so I got that done, too. 

My eldest stepson was here when I left, and still here when I returned.

I have some supper slow-cooking on a stove element. I will proofread this post and then publish it, and get back downstairs and watch some T.V. As said earlier in this post, my younger brother may show up to have his girlfriend Bev spend the night.

Gosh, I still feel so much like drinking....