Are you adventurous when it comes to trying new things? Then I can’t wait to introduce you to one of the hottest and healthiest new food trends.

Imagine a food that has zero calories and zero net carbs. (You’re loving it already, right?) And it’s not some fake food, either. In fact, it comes straight from Mother Nature, and traditional cultures have used it as a healing food for centuries.

This food is KONJAC ROOT, and these days it’s turning up everywhere. It’s taking the place of high-carb pasta, it’s popping up in drinks and jellies and soups (including the meals in my Cleanse Kit), and you can even buy it in supplement form under the name glucomannan.

If you’ve never heard of konjac, it’s an herb that grows in Asia. The bulb of konjac—which is the funky-looking potato-shaped part that grows underground—is where the magic happens.

Konjac root is particularly magical if you’re struggling to eliminate grains from your diet, because in different forms this versatile root can take the place of Asian noodles, substitute for spaghetti or Fettucine, and even stand-in for rice. Marketed under the name shirataki noodles or shirataki rice, these sin-free swaps for grain are delicious, they’re fun, and they can help you say goodbye to those high-carb foods you crave.

Best of all, konjac root is incredibly good for you. Here are just some of its impressive health benefits.

Konjac root helps you lose weight.

If cravings constantly derail your weight loss plans, konjac root is the answer you’ve been searching for. When you eat it, it soaks up as much as fifty times its weight in water, turning into a gel that fills you up and stops your cravings for hours.

(One note here: Because konjac root expands so much when you eat it, a little goes a long way. Also, check with your doctor before using konjac root if you have any history of bowel surgeries or blockage.)

In addition to fighting cravings, konjac root has other weight-loss superpowers. For instance, it slows the absorption of sugar from your digestive tract, supporting healthy blood sugar levels and the more ideal your blood sugar is, the better your body responds to maintaining a healthy weight. In addition, it promotes a healthy gut which can also lead to a better number on the scale. (For more on this, see my blog post here.) The gel formed by konjac root coats and soothes your gut lining, allowing it to heal and become rock-solid so you drop pounds quickly.

Clearly, konjac root is a great addition to any weight-loss plan, but here’s still more good news: It can help you lose weight even if you don’t change your diet. In one study, obese people who took a konjac supplement one hour before each meal, without changing their eating habits at all, lost an average of 5.5 pounds over eight weeks. That’s “free” weight loss… the best kind of all!

Here’s the story. Normally, insulin ferries sugar into your cells, and your cells use this sugar for energy. But if your blood sugar is too high, insulin keeps trying to deliver more sugar to cells that are already stuffed to the brim. Eventually, your cells start to reject insulin and its cargo of sugar, forcing your body to ship that sugar back to the liver for storage as fat. This is insulin resistance, and it’s the first step on the road to diabetes.

Both animal research and human research show that because of its effects on blood sugar and metabolism.

Konjac root can support healthy cholesterol levels.

If your doctor nags you about your cholesterol at every visit, adding konjac root to your diet might just get you off the hook.

Konjac root can support healthy bowel movements.

But once again, konjac root can come to the rescue! Because it’s basically all soluble fiber, konjac root can keep your internal plumbing running smoothly. In fact, one recent study found that a modest daily dose of glucomannan improved bowel movements by 30%, in addition to improving gut health.

Want to know more?

Now that you know why I love konjac root so much, I hope you’ll be inspired to try it yourself. If so, keep an eye out for my next post, where I’ll tell you how to buy konjac root, what forms it comes in, and how to use it. Stay tuned for all the details!

Try it out an let me know what you think,