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72 Comments
- AmyVernon, on 06/30/2009, -0/+19Yeah, delusional mind always says, "sure, have that 12th martini!" while the rational mind, by that point is just saying, "jsdlkjafealsd"
- kaniz, on 06/30/2009, -0/+17I've had minor success with supplements in the past - but only when used in conjunction with a healthy diet and working out. In the end though, the gains I got using the supplements vs without was not worth the side-effects that some of them gave.
I assume this was due to something causing high blood pressure - but last time I used one, my nose started to bleed heavily while doing cardio. I didn't notice until after my workout and went to get a drink of water and noticed my reflection in the mirror. Made me wonder "how long was my nose bleeding? and why didn't anyone tell me?"
- Eat a healthy/high fiber breakfast that will keep you full until lunch
- Drink lots water
- Snack on healthy foods
- Eat smaller meals more frequently
- Get in even a small amount of physical activity
Its kind of funny - on most infomercials you see for weight pills / magic machines that will give you a 6-pack : they also usually offer you a "diet and workout guide" - umm - chances are if you did the diet/workout and not the magic-bullet they are selling - you'd see the results anyways. - pingpants, on 06/30/2009, -1/+18Don't fancy names, like Zantrex-3, usually just mean a crapload of caffeine.
- pinkflyingpig, on 06/30/2009, -0/+16Let's go for traditional method - eat less and exercise!
- SexyGeekGirl, on 06/30/2009, -0/+16dugg for Hydroxy-Wot
- rwbrinso, on 06/30/2009, -0/+15Adderrall is a much easier (and faster!) answer.
- janjamm, on 06/30/2009, -0/+14I am always so attracted to these products! I want to believe. I want to lose weight and build muscle effortlessly. My rational mind says, 'No!" My delusional mind says, "Yes!" So far the rational mind has won out. This article has given my rational mind a nice, boost of smugness. But, delusion mind is so much more fun.
- janjamm, on 06/30/2009, -1/+13You have a magnificent superego. Totally agree. But it is so hard in a culture that is always shoveling food into its big collective mouth, while watching TV. Small portions, lots of movement. It must be done.
- atlasdugged, on 06/30/2009, -0/+10I heard the 12 Martini diet is the latest fad. Drink 12. throw up. Eat. Start again.
Olives are the vegetable. - janjamm, on 06/30/2009, -0/+8That is the joy of drinking.
- ricksite, on 06/30/2009, -0/+8Another tactic I have heard on the radio is when they warn, "Do not take this unless you are severely overweight." It makes the pills sound more powerful.
- deff, on 06/30/2009, -0/+8You don't necessarily want to eat less, but the goal is to eat better.
Starving yourself (IE taking in less calories then your body needs) causes the body to cannibalize its protein sources (ie muscles) and store most of the food you do ingest into body fat.
The best way to lose the weight is to exercise and eat many small meals that are high in protein. So instead of eating 3 large meals, eat 5 or 6 small meals throughout the day. - walker4bc, on 06/30/2009, -0/+8With all of those chemicals in them, these have to be good for you, don't they?
- Skishy101, on 06/30/2009, -1/+8For those who just want the list without clicking through the pages:
1. Caffeine
2. Bitter orange
3. Hydroxycitric acid
4. Conjugated linoleic acid
5. Cortisol blockers
6. Antioxidants
7. Chitosan
8. Hoodia
9. Aristolochic acid - Sideshowslob, on 06/30/2009, -0/+6If you're trying to lose weight, just get some amphetamines...duh!
- srchgrrl, on 06/30/2009, -0/+6Oh, the promise of weight loss with the pain of nasty chemicals. Bleh.
- pingpants, on 06/30/2009, -0/+6Need citation. (or pics)
- borez, on 06/30/2009, -0/+6I find the best food supplement to be my gym membership.
- evilregis, on 06/30/2009, -0/+6Eat a proper balanced diet. Get off your ass and get some exercise. Losing weight is, for most people, just that simple.
- zoethebitch, on 06/30/2009, -0/+5If obesity is a disease, it's the first disease that can be cured by keeping your mouth shut and taking a walk.
- otbeverly, on 06/30/2009, -0/+4So the 120mg of Adderall I'm prescribed daily are the reason I don't eat much?
- FritoPendejo, on 06/30/2009, -0/+4Pay no attention to ingredients. They're just there to confuse you. It's magic.
- AaronCo, on 06/30/2009, -0/+4For those too lazy to read the article:
* Most just have a crapload of caffeine. There's a lot of names for caffeine other than just "caffeine" since there's a lot of plants with caffeine in them. A little caffeine won't hurt you, too much will make you sick, more than that can kill you. Avoid doses over 200mg. Avoid all-together if you have a heart condition.
* Some use ephedrine substitutes like synephrine, which is also just a stimulant. There's a few other potential stimulants too, so basically it's all about the stimulants.
* Most other ingredients have no value at all. Altho swallowing a bunch of useless pills might make you feel full until they digest, lol.
* Beware "Wild ginger" aka Aristolochic acid aka "Aristolochia" or "Bragantia" or "Asarum" as these are proven carcinogens (they cause cancer) and will destroy your kidneys. - otbeverly, on 06/30/2009, -0/+3Aaaah, the wonders of marketing!
- MikeOxbigg, on 06/30/2009, -1/+4Adderall is the stand-in for people who have no cllue what they're talking about. ADD? Adderall. Erectile issues? Adderall. Need to cram for an exam? Adderall.
If it did everything people like to pretend it does we'd all be walking around with super-focused erections solving math problems. - illDecree, on 06/30/2009, -0/+2
Here's what's in those weight-loss supplements
By Melissa Healy
May 25, 2009
The makers of natural weight-loss products use a wide range of plant and animal extracts, vitamins and minerals that they promise will speed metabolism, suppress appetite, make you feel full and convert fat into muscle. Some of these ingredients are sold individually, but the bestsellers of the weight-loss category are often diverse and constantly changing combinations touted as "proprietary formulations."
The labels rarely clarify the contents. Where details and dosages are provided at all, they are frequently presented as a bewildering mix of Latin plant names, trademarked monikers for a company's own mix of ingredients and, often, invented words that sound scientific but mean nothing to chemists or pharmacologists. Hydroxycut's "Hardcore," for instance, touts its "norepidrol intensity focus blend" as an aid to focus and attention. Another supplement, TheraStress, declares that its active compound of "adaptogens" helps fight weight gain brought on by stress.
For consumers seeking full disclosure, these labels may as well declare the product is made of genuine atoms.
The following are among those ingredients most frequently used in these formulas, along with what's known about their possible effects -- good and bad.
Caffeine
Seldom acknowledged on the labels of dietary supplements promoted for weight loss, caffeine is almost uniformly their key ingredient. Its sources are many and extremely varied: green tea extract (or Camellia sinensis), guarana, yerba maté and kola nut to name a few.
Consumer Lab's 2005 review of dietary supplements for weight loss measured caffeine levels in two popular weight-loss products still on the market -- Zantrex-3 ("The Ultimate Ephedra Replacement") and Xenadrine EFX. Zantrex-3 was found to have 1,223 milligrams of caffeine in a day's recommended dosage -- equivalent to 30 cans of cola. Xenadrine EFX was found to have less -- 448 milligrams -- but still 1 1/2 times the caffeine associated with adverse effects such as heart palpitations and sleep disruption.
In studies, high doses of caffeine have been shown to decrease appetite, but the effect doesn't last long. The chemical also acts as a diuretic, prompting the release of retained water, which leads to short-term weight loss.
"There is some evidence" that caffeine can contribute to temporary weight loss, says Barbara Corkey, an obesity researcher at Boston University who directs the Boston Obesity Nutrition Research Center.
"What caffeine can do is stimulate lipolysis, the breakdown of lipids, and that should, in theory, have a beneficial effect. But in practice it's useless: The body is very smart about compensating for that. . . . so it's not a long-lasting, permanent effect."
Bitter orange
After the FDA banned the sale of ephedra and other products containing ephedrine in 2004, marketers of dietary supplements for weight loss widely proclaimed extracts from the peel of bitter orange (Citrus aurantium) "the next ephedra." They may have been more accurate than they intended.
Bitter orange (also called Seville orange and sour orange) is touted as an energy-enhancing fat burner, boosting the metabolism and exercise endurance, as was ephedrine. There is some evidence that, like ephedrine, it may cause slightly more weight loss than diet and exercise alone. Like ephedrine, it is frequently blended in formulations with large doses of caffeine.
And the active ingredients in bitter orange extract -- synephrine and octopamine -- are related to ephedrine. Synephrine was used in Europe for 30 years as a treatment for mild asthma. As a result, says State University of New York at Stony Brook microbiologist Dr. Arthur Grollman, a large body of evidence indicates that synephrine raises heart rate and blood pressure, which can lead to heart attack and stroke.
A small study by UC San Francisco researchers tested two products that contained bitter orange extracts -- Advantra Z and Xenadrine EFX -- on 10 healthy adults. Their findings, published in September 2005 in the American Journal of Medicine, found that single doses of both products boosted heart rates 11 to 16 beats per minute over normal baseline heart rates.
The NIH's National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine says there "have been reports of fainting, heart attack and stroke in healthy people after taking bitter orange supplements alone or combined with caffeine." It adds, "there is currently little evidence that bitter orange is safer to use than ephedra."
Hydroxycitric acid
The ingredient from which the Hydroxycut name was originally drawn is a derivative of the Malabar tamarind, or Garcinia cambogia. Used in traditional medicine to treat high cholesterol, it is touted as an agent that interferes with fat metabolism and possibly suppresses appetite. Its prospects were considered sufficiently promising that the pharmaceutical giant Hoffman-LaRoche in the 1960s committed significant funds to develop it as a possible weight-loss pill. The company dropped it, however, when rat studies showed that, at doses that appeared effective at reducing fat deposits, hydroxycitrate caused "potent testicular atrophy and toxicity."
Conjugated linoleic acid
Frequently included in products that promise to help dieters transform fat into lean muscle mass, CLA is a polyunsaturated fat found naturally in milk and meat and derived from the oil of sunflower (Helianthus annuus) and safflower (Carthamus tinctorius) seeds. One product that touts its power -- Phosphacore -- says that Carthamus tinctorius "may work to safely break up and flush away unhealthy adipose (fat) cells."
There's no good evidence that that's so in humans.
Sometimes recommended to patients with high overall cholesterol levels, CLA also appears to lower HDL ("good") cholesterol. And while patients with diabetes were once thought to benefit from taking CLA supplements, further studies have not borne that out. In fact, there is some evidence that for obese people, taking in too much CLA can contribute to a prediabetic state. One study found that CLA can prevent some human cells from taking up glucose and fatty acids. That could increase blood sugar and lipids in the blood and raise the risk of diabetes and heart disease.
Cortisol blockers
Tinctures of golden root (Rhodiola rosea) or other herbs, such as rose root, are widely marketed as weight-loss aids on the argument that stress -- which causes the release of the hormone cortisol -- can lead to weight gain and, particularly, to the accumulation of belly fat. In 2007, the Federal Trade Commission charged the marketers of two products -- CortiSlim and CortiStress, with making false and unsubstantiated claims about their product's weight-loss properties, leading to a multimillion dollar settlement. But many products still make the claim.
There is no evidence that blocking cortisol causes weight loss, or that herbal remedies lower cortisol levels, according to the Mayo Clinic's Katherine Zeratsky, a dietitian. In fact, the accumulation of fat due to high levels of cortisol appears to happen only in cases where there is an underlying medical issue, such as Cushing's disease, or as a side effect of certain drugs.
Antioxidants
Glutathione, green tea extracts and, more recently, the Brazilian açai berry are among the many sources of antioxidants marketed in supplements as an aid to weight loss. In test tubes, antioxidants called flavenoids and phenolic acids have been found to cut the production of triglycerides in mouse fat cells. But their weight-loss properties in humans haven't been rigorously tested yet. Antioxidants are thought to reduce cell damage that can lead to cancer growth, which also leads to their widespread marketing as an aid to detoxifying diets.
Research suggests that glutathione taken orally is not well absorbed across the gastrointestinal tract. In a study in which very large doses of oral glutathione were administered to humans, researchers concluded it was not possible to increase circulating glutathione to levels that could have any clinical benefit. Extracts of green tea and the increasingly popular açai berry, at least, may differ from glutathione in that there is evidence they are taken in through the gut and do make it into the bloodstream. But whether it helps to neutralize toxins or fats once there remains an open question.
Chitosan
The chemically cleansed product of grinding up the shells of shrimps, crabs and lobsters, chitosan is a powder that has been used in the water-purification industry for years: Sprinkled on top of holding tanks, it binds to lipids, or fats. Fats and oils can thus be skimmed off easily. This has led to the claim that supplements containing chitosan have amazing "fat magnet" qualities, absorbing dietary fat before it can be absorbed into the gut and flushing it away. In addition, chitosan is touted as a source of fiber, which may contribute to sensations of fullness when consumed with a meal.
But does chitosan act in the body in the same way it does in water-purification plants? Three human clinical trials found no difference in weight or serum cholesterol levels between subjects taking chitosan supplements and those taking a placebo after three-to-eight weeks. While chitosan is generally considered safe, it could be dangerous to anyone with shellfish allergies.
Hoodia
A succulent plant native to the Kalahari Desert in Africa, hoodia (Hoodia gordonii) is chewed and eaten by San Bushmen to reduce their hunger and thirst during long hunts. This back story has raised hoodia to mythic levels in the world of weight-loss supplement marketing.
In a September 2004 study published in Brain Research, scientists injected p57, thought to be the active ingredient in hoodia, into a region of rats' brains thought to govern appetite. They found reduced activity there.
In 1998, the drug maker Pfizer purchased the right to develop p57 for $21 million, but abandoned the quest for a hoodia drug in 2003. Unilever, which makes Slim-Fast meal-replacement products, recently dropped plans to fortify its products with hoodia. A former Pfizer scientist has warned that in extracting p57 from hoodia, researchers at Pfizer found that some components could not be removed that had "unwanted effects" on the liver. In an April 26, 2005, letter to the New York Times, scientist Jasjit S. Bindra warned that dieters "should be wary of using" hoodia until its safety has been better established.
Iovate's voluntary recall of Hydroxycut products, notably, did not include its hoodia formulation -- an indication that the FDA has not found evidence of serious danger.
Aristolochic acid
Wild ginger (Asarum canadense) is among a family of plants widely used in Chinese and traditional medicine for stomach ailments, to restore a woman's energy after the birth of a child, to treat cough, allergy and breathing problems, and in some weight-loss formulas.
Aristolochic acid, says Grollman, "is one of the most potent human carcinogens ever known." Declaring the substance to be both cancer-causing and toxic to human kidneys, the FDA in 2001 advised the U.S. dietary-supplements industry not to manufacture products using the chemical and banned its importation. But a 2003 letter to the FDA from UC Berkeley's Carcinogenic Potency Project identified 112 herbal products still available online that contain, or were likely to contain, aristolochic acid.
The danger of aristolochic acid came to light when more than 100 women participating in a weight-loss program in Belgium developed kidney damage and urinary tract cancers. All had been prescribed an herbal weight-loss remedy that contained it. Though banned throughout Europe and in Japan, Aristolochia extracts continue to be used widely in China. Any product bearing the species name "Aristolochia," "Bragantia" or "Asarum" should be avoided. - anonymousmedic, on 06/30/2009, -0/+2Yes. Because Prolongued QT Syndrome, sudden AMI from Coronary Vasospasm, and lethal electrolyte imbalances are SO MUCH BETTER than the current snake oil we have, right?
Moron. - mikerad86, on 06/30/2009, -0/+2"For consumers seeking full disclosure, these labels may as well declare the product is made of genuine atoms."
Hahahaha that probably is the most truthful claim that these supplement companies can make... - momomathew, on 06/30/2009, -0/+2Um actually NO is basically L-Arginine and not caffeine.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arginine - skipdog172, on 06/30/2009, -0/+2I can attest to this method...dropped 40 pounds in 4 months! It is impressive how eating every 3 hours completely suppresses hunger. When I lost the weight, I was never hungry and most of the time when I was eating meals, I wasn't hungry...just eating because it was 3 hours since my last meal!
- alasdairmacl, on 06/30/2009, -1/+3The whole point in the article was so that people could know what these things are and what they do/don't do. While I agree that endlessly clicking through pages is annoying, this article is not one that you can just merely list out.
- deezeejoey, on 06/30/2009, -0/+2I love having to hit "next page" a million times just to see the names.... I mean really, that's all I'm interested in.
- uncertainLogic, on 06/30/2009, -0/+2Dugg for "potent testicular atrophy"
- unicornrainbow, on 06/30/2009, -0/+1How perfect that when you click on this link, the LA Times story exposing the ingredients of all those craptastic weight loss supplements is dotted with ads for craptastic weight loss supplements. Hmmmm...
- illDecree, on 06/30/2009, -0/+1
Here's what's in those weight-loss supplements
By Melissa Healy
May 25, 2009
The makers of natural weight-loss products use a wide range of plant and animal extracts, vitamins and minerals that they promise will speed metabolism, suppress appetite, make you feel full and convert fat into muscle. Some of these ingredients are sold individually, but the bestsellers of the weight-loss category are often diverse and constantly changing combinations touted as "proprietary formulations."
The labels rarely clarify the contents. Where details and dosages are provided at all, they are frequently presented as a bewildering mix of Latin plant names, trademarked monikers for a company's own mix of ingredients and, often, invented words that sound scientific but mean nothing to chemists or pharmacologists. Hydroxycut's "Hardcore," for instance, touts its "norepidrol intensity focus blend" as an aid to focus and attention. Another supplement, TheraStress, declares that its active compound of "adaptogens" helps fight weight gain brought on by stress.
For consumers seeking full disclosure, these labels may as well declare the product is made of genuine atoms.
The following are among those ingredients most frequently used in these formulas, along with what's known about their possible effects -- good and bad.
Caffeine
Seldom acknowledged on the labels of dietary supplements promoted for weight loss, caffeine is almost uniformly their key ingredient. Its sources are many and extremely varied: green tea extract (or Camellia sinensis), guarana, yerba maté and kola nut to name a few.
Consumer Lab's 2005 review of dietary supplements for weight loss measured caffeine levels in two popular weight-loss products still on the market -- Zantrex-3 ("The Ultimate Ephedra Replacement") and Xenadrine EFX. Zantrex-3 was found to have 1,223 milligrams of caffeine in a day's recommended dosage -- equivalent to 30 cans of cola. Xenadrine EFX was found to have less -- 448 milligrams -- but still 1 1/2 times the caffeine associated with adverse effects such as heart palpitations and sleep disruption.
In studies, high doses of caffeine have been shown to decrease appetite, but the effect doesn't last long. The chemical also acts as a diuretic, prompting the release of retained water, which leads to short-term weight loss.
"There is some evidence" that caffeine can contribute to temporary weight loss, says Barbara Corkey, an obesity researcher at Boston University who directs the Boston Obesity Nutrition Research Center.
"What caffeine can do is stimulate lipolysis, the breakdown of lipids, and that should, in theory, have a beneficial effect. But in practice it's useless: The body is very smart about compensating for that. . . . so it's not a long-lasting, permanent effect."
Bitter orange
After the FDA banned the sale of ephedra and other products containing ephedrine in 2004, marketers of dietary supplements for weight loss widely proclaimed extracts from the peel of bitter orange (Citrus aurantium) "the next ephedra." They may have been more accurate than they intended.
Bitter orange (also called Seville orange and sour orange) is touted as an energy-enhancing fat burner, boosting the metabolism and exercise endurance, as was ephedrine. There is some evidence that, like ephedrine, it may cause slightly more weight loss than diet and exercise alone. Like ephedrine, it is frequently blended in formulations with large doses of caffeine.
And the active ingredients in bitter orange extract -- synephrine and octopamine -- are related to ephedrine. Synephrine was used in Europe for 30 years as a treatment for mild asthma. As a result, says State University of New York at Stony Brook microbiologist Dr. Arthur Grollman, a large body of evidence indicates that synephrine raises heart rate and blood pressure, which can lead to heart attack and stroke.
A small study by UC San Francisco researchers tested two products that contained bitter orange extracts -- Advantra Z and Xenadrine EFX -- on 10 healthy adults. Their findings, published in September 2005 in the American Journal of Medicine, found that single doses of both products boosted heart rates 11 to 16 beats per minute over normal baseline heart rates.
The NIH's National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine says there "have been reports of fainting, heart attack and stroke in healthy people after taking bitter orange supplements alone or combined with caffeine." It adds, "there is currently little evidence that bitter orange is safer to use than ephedra."
Hydroxycitric acid
The ingredient from which the Hydroxycut name was originally drawn is a derivative of the Malabar tamarind, or Garcinia cambogia. Used in traditional medicine to treat high cholesterol, it is touted as an agent that interferes with fat metabolism and possibly suppresses appetite. Its prospects were considered sufficiently promising that the pharmaceutical giant Hoffman-LaRoche in the 1960s committed significant funds to develop it as a possible weight-loss pill. The company dropped it, however, when rat studies showed that, at doses that appeared effective at reducing fat deposits, hydroxycitrate caused "potent testicular atrophy and toxicity."
Conjugated linoleic acid
Frequently included in products that promise to help dieters transform fat into lean muscle mass, CLA is a polyunsaturated fat found naturally in milk and meat and derived from the oil of sunflower (Helianthus annuus) and safflower (Carthamus tinctorius) seeds. One product that touts its power -- Phosphacore -- says that Carthamus tinctorius "may work to safely break up and flush away unhealthy adipose (fat) cells."
There's no good evidence that that's so in humans.
Sometimes recommended to patients with high overall cholesterol levels, CLA also appears to lower HDL ("good") cholesterol. And while patients with diabetes were once thought to benefit from taking CLA supplements, further studies have not borne that out. In fact, there is some evidence that for obese people, taking in too much CLA can contribute to a prediabetic state. One study found that CLA can prevent some human cells from taking up glucose and fatty acids. That could increase blood sugar and lipids in the blood and raise the risk of diabetes and heart disease.
Cortisol blockers
Tinctures of golden root (Rhodiola rosea) or other herbs, such as rose root, are widely marketed as weight-loss aids on the argument that stress -- which causes the release of the hormone cortisol -- can lead to weight gain and, particularly, to the accumulation of belly fat. In 2007, the Federal Trade Commission charged the marketers of two products -- CortiSlim and CortiStress, with making false and unsubstantiated claims about their product's weight-loss properties, leading to a multimillion dollar settlement. But many products still make the claim.
There is no evidence that blocking cortisol causes weight loss, or that herbal remedies lower cortisol levels, according to the Mayo Clinic's Katherine Zeratsky, a dietitian. In fact, the accumulation of fat due to high levels of cortisol appears to happen only in cases where there is an underlying medical issue, such as Cushing's disease, or as a side effect of certain drugs.
Antioxidants
Glutathione, green tea extracts and, more recently, the Brazilian açai berry are among the many sources of antioxidants marketed in supplements as an aid to weight loss. In test tubes, antioxidants called flavenoids and phenolic acids have been found to cut the production of triglycerides in mouse fat cells. But their weight-loss properties in humans haven't been rigorously tested yet. Antioxidants are thought to reduce cell damage that can lead to cancer growth, which also leads to their widespread marketing as an aid to detoxifying diets.
Research suggests that glutathione taken orally is not well absorbed across the gastrointestinal tract. In a study in which very large doses of oral glutathione were administered to humans, researchers concluded it was not possible to increase circulating glutathione to levels that could have any clinical benefit. Extracts of green tea and the increasingly popular açai berry, at least, may differ from glutathione in that there is evidence they are taken in through the gut and do make it into the bloodstream. But whether it helps to neutralize toxins or fats once there remains an open question.
Chitosan
The chemically cleansed product of grinding up the shells of shrimps, crabs and lobsters, chitosan is a powder that has been used in the water-purification industry for years: Sprinkled on top of holding tanks, it binds to lipids, or fats. Fats and oils can thus be skimmed off easily. This has led to the claim that supplements containing chitosan have amazing "fat magnet" qualities, absorbing dietary fat before it can be absorbed into the gut and flushing it away. In addition, chitosan is touted as a source of fiber, which may contribute to sensations of fullness when consumed with a meal.
But does chitosan act in the body in the same way it does in water-purification plants? Three human clinical trials found no difference in weight or serum cholesterol levels between subjects taking chitosan supplements and those taking a placebo after three-to-eight weeks. While chitosan is generally considered safe, it could be dangerous to anyone with shellfish allergies.
Hoodia
A succulent plant native to the Kalahari Desert in Africa, hoodia (Hoodia gordonii) is chewed and eaten by San Bushmen to reduce their hunger and thirst during long hunts. This back story has raised hoodia to mythic levels in the world of weight-loss supplement marketing.
In a September 2004 study published in Brain Research, scientists injected p57, thought to be the active ingredient in hoodia, into a region of rats' brains thought to govern appetite. They found reduced activity there.
In 1998, the drug maker Pfizer purchased the right to develop p57 for $21 million, but abandoned the quest for a hoodia drug in 2003. Unilever, which makes Slim-Fast meal-replacement products, recently dropped plans to fortify its products with hoodia. A former Pfizer scientist has warned that in extracting p57 from hoodia, researchers at Pfizer found that some components could not be removed that had "unwanted effects" on the liver. In an April 26, 2005, letter to the New York Times, scientist Jasjit S. Bindra warned that dieters "should be wary of using" hoodia until its safety has been better established.
Iovate's voluntary recall of Hydroxycut products, notably, did not include its hoodia formulation -- an indication that the FDA has not found evidence of serious danger.
Aristolochic acid
Wild ginger (Asarum canadense) is among a family of plants widely used in Chinese and traditional medicine for stomach ailments, to restore a woman's energy after the birth of a child, to treat cough, allergy and breathing problems, and in some weight-loss formulas.
Aristolochic acid, says Grollman, "is one of the most potent human carcinogens ever known." Declaring the substance to be both cancer-causing and toxic to human kidneys, the FDA in 2001 advised the U.S. dietary-supplements industry not to manufacture products using the chemical and banned its importation. But a 2003 letter to the FDA from UC Berkeley's Carcinogenic Potency Project identified 112 herbal products still available online that contain, or were likely to contain, aristolochic acid.
The danger of aristolochic acid came to light when more than 100 women participating in a weight-loss program in Belgium developed kidney damage and urinary tract cancers. All had been prescribed an herbal weight-loss remedy that contained it. Though banned throughout Europe and in Japan, Aristolochia extracts continue to be used widely in China. Any product bearing the species name "Aristolochia," "Bragantia" or "Asarum" should be avoided. - Jektal, on 06/30/2009, -0/+1Do you need an "expert" to tell you to eat healthier food and exercise?
- otbeverly, on 06/30/2009, -0/+1What if I take Adderall and still have erectile issues?
- Clark3934, on 06/30/2009, -0/+1This is why you just use the EC stack if you're serious about losing weight. EC stack + low-intensity cardio + proper diet (be it keto or just calorie restricted) = amazing weight loss.
- otbeverly, on 06/30/2009, -0/+1I know of one very sketchy doctor that prescribes it liberally next door in Mobile.
- pak314, on 06/30/2009, -0/+1That is true for any kind of addiction that they call a disease. Including alcoholism, drug addiction, gambling.
- jamangold, on 06/30/2009, -1/+2An article debunking the mysterious active ingredients of weight-loss supplements is totally saturated with "Weight Loss Breakthrough!" ads, each with a picture of Jillian Micheals looking like she just caught a wiff of something that smelled absolutely revolting. I appreciated the content of the article, but I absolutely hated the format.
- kcasper, on 07/02/2009, -0/+1And as stated in the article caffeine has a short lived effect on losing weight. Its effect doesn't last and you have to increase the dosage to get the same effect as time goes on.
- blah247, on 06/30/2009, -0/+1Look around your office/school or where ever you are sitting. How many of these people need an 'expert' to tell them to hit the gym and put down the fried foods.
- inactive, on 06/30/2009, -0/+1Plastic Surgery. It works and it's affects are permanent.
- anonymousmedic, on 06/30/2009, -0/+1No. Actually it was over people who were taking these substances were dropping dead from the side effects of the pharma agents in the supplements. And they were more common that people like to admit to. Those that didn't just die of SCA, suffered irreparable heart valve and conduction pathway damage.
- blackgt93, on 06/30/2009, -0/+1Did you even RTFA?
- doc101, on 06/30/2009, -0/+1Momomathew, did you even bother looking the stuff up? As in read the label? There's caffeine in it, look for yourself.
And anonymous, I'm not saying that anectodal evidence beats out peer reviewed scientific studies, but does that make my statement any less right? Does Caffeine not increase your energy temporarily? So if it increases your energy, that means you can do more, and if you can do more (in this case running, lifting w/e), it indirectly attributes to greater weight loss than without energy, right? I don't see how that's a temporary weight loss. - JungDigg, on 06/30/2009, -0/+1effects?
- lownote13, on 06/30/2009, -0/+1Adblock Plus!
- anonymousmedic, on 06/30/2009, -0/+1Anectodal evidence totally beats out peer reviewed scientific studies in telling the truth, right?
-
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