June 2009 Email Page To a Friend
FDA Finally Going After Dangerous Supplements
In the News
FDA Finally Going After Dangerous Supplements
By Abby Ruby Ph.D., CTS Senior Coach
Although your big race may be right around the corner, or you might have already jumped into a local race series, don’t fear if you are still not down to race weight just yet. You might have been watching what you eat and increasing your volume and intensity over the last few months, but if you are still not where you want to be come race day, don’t take the short cut method and pop a pill. Not only will it likely not do the trick, recent research has shown that some popular diet pills could actually be very dangerous.

As of May 1 the popular diet supplement, Hydroxycut, is considered unsafe and the manufacturers of the product have pulled 14 of their products from the consumer market. According to the FDA news release, ingredients in Hydroxycut can cause “Symptoms of liver injury includ[ing] jaundice (yellowing of the skin or whites of the eyes) and brown urine. Other symptoms include nausea, vomiting, light-colored stools, excessive fatigue, weakness, stomach or abdominal pain, itching, and loss of appetite. Other health problems reported include seizures; cardiovascular disorders; and rhabdomyolysis, a type of muscle damage that can lead to other serious health problems such as kidney failure.” (http://www.fda.gov/)

Hydroxycut is only one addition to the growing list of 72 weight loss products that the FDA has issued warnings against because of dangerous ingredients. Other weight loss supplements, and the hidden and potentially harmful ingredient(s) that earned them their place on the list, are displayed below.
  1. 2 Day Diet - sibutramine
  2. 2 Day Diet Slim Advance - sibutramine
  3. 2x Powerful Slimming - sibutramine
  4. 3 Day Diet - sibutramine
  5. 3 Days Fit - sibutramine
  6. 3x Slimming Power – sibutramine, phenytoin
  7. 5x Imelda Perfect Slimming - sibutramine
  8. 7 Day Herbal Slim - sibutramine
  9. 7 Days Diet - sibutramine
  10. 7 Diet - sibutramine
  11. 7 Diet Day/Night Formula - sibutramine
  12. 8 Factor Diet – sibutramine, phenolphthalein
  13. Eight Factor Diet - sibutramine
  14. 21 Double Slim - sibutramine
  15. 24 Hours Diet – sibutramine, phenolphthalein
  16. 999 Fitness Essence - sibutramine
  17. BioEmagrecim, sample 1 – fenproporex and BioEmagrecim, sample 2 – fluoxetine, furosemide
  18. Body Creator – sibutramine
  19. Body Shaping - sibutramine
  20. Body Slimming - sibutramine
  21. Cosmo Slim - sibutramine
  22. Extrim Plus – sibutramine, phenytoin
  23. Extrim Plus 24 Hour Reburn - sibutramine
  24. Fasting Diet - sibutramine
  25. Fatloss Slimming – sibutramine, phenolphthalein
  26. GMP – sibutramine
  27. Herbal Xenicol - cetilistat
  28. Imelda Fat Reducer - sibutramine
  29. Imelda Perfect Slim – sibutramine, phenolphthalein
  30. JM Fat Reducer - sibutramine
  31. Lida DaiDaihua - sibutramine
  32. Meili - sibutramine
  33. Meizitang - sibutramine
  34. Miaozi MeiMiaoQianZiJiaoNang - sibutramine
  35. Miaozi Slim Capsules - sibutramine
  36. Natural Model - sibutramine
  37. Perfect Slim - sibutramine
  38. Perfect Slim 5x – sibutramine, phenolphthalein
  39. Perfect Slim Up – sibutramine
  40. Phyto Shape - rimonabant
  41. Powerful Slim - sibutramine
  42. ProSlim Plus - sibutramine
  43. Reduce Weihgt - sibutramine
  44. Royal Slimming Formula – sibutramine, phenolphthalein
  45. Sana Plus – sibutramine
  46. Slim 3 in 1 - sibutramine
  47. Slim 3 in 1 Extra Slim Formula - sibutramine
  48. Slim 3 in 1 Extra Slim Waist Formula - sibutramine
  49. Slim 3 in 1 M18 Royal Diet - sibutramine
  50. Slim 3 in 1 Slim Formula - sibutramine
  51. Slim Burn - sibutramine
  52. Slim Express 4 in 1 - sibutramine
  53. Slim Express 360 - sibutramine
  54. *Slim Fast - sibutramine
  55. Slim Tech - sibutramine
  56. Slim Up - sibutramine
  57. Slim Waist Formula - sibutramine
  58. Slim Waistline – sibutramine
  59. Slimbionic- sibutramine
  60. Sliminate - sibutramine
  61. Slimming Formula - sibutramine
  62. Somotrim – sibutramine
  63. Starcaps - bumetanide
  64. Super Fat Burner - sibutramine
  65. Superslim – sibutramine, phenolphthalein
  66. Super Slimming - sibutramine
  67. Trim 2 Plus - sibutramine
  68. Triple Slim - sibutramine
  69. Venom Hyperdrive 3.0 - sibutramine
  70. Waist Strength Formula – sibutramine
  71. Xsvelten - sibutramine
  72. Zhen de Shou – sibutramine, phenolphthalein
Source: http://www.fda.gov/Drugs/ResourcesForYou

The FDA has different (read “lower”) standards for supplements than they do for pharmaceuticals. As a result, many companies don’t push for their products to become pharmaceuticals, because doing so would significantly raise production costs. However, while FDA approval is not needed to put weight loss products - considered supplements and not pharmaceuticals - on the market, the FDA does monitor the marketing response (claimed benefits that may be exaggerated, misleading, or wrong) and incidents of health risks related to all supplements. These reports are voluntary and often consumers don’t report issues with purchased products. Thus the FDA is not very quick to protect supplement users from potentially harmful side effects. However, when there are reports of liver disease, stroke, heart attack and death, as linked to particular supplements on the market, the FDA does intervene by issuing warnings to consumers and by urging manufactures to pull their unsafe products from the shelves. One such example includes the incident with Ephedra (an ingredient formerly included in many weight loss pills). When Ephedra was linked to heart attacks and strokes the FDA finally stepped in and banned this substance from weight loss pills.

More recently, the FDA began scrutinizing weight loss supplements for hidden ingredients that aren’t listed on product labels. In the case of Ephedra, most supplements were clearly marked as containing the ingredient, but each product on the supplement above includes at least one of the following hidden ingredients:

  • Sibutramine, a prescription-only appetite suppressant that is also a controlled substance. It was found in many of these products at high levels that can increase the incidence and severity of the listed health risks.
  • Fenproporex, a controlled substance that is not approved for marketing in the United States. It can cause arrhythmia (a disorder of your heart rate or rhythm) and possible sudden death. 
  • Fluoxetine, a prescription-only antidepressant. 
  • Bumetanide and furosemide, potent diuretics (drugs that increase the production of urine) available by prescription only. 
  • Cetilistat, an experimental obesity drug not approved for marketing in the United States. 
  • Phenytoin, a prescription-only anti-seizure medication. 
  • Phenolphthalein, a solution used in chemical experiments and a suspected cancer-causing agent that is not approved for marketing in the United States.
        (http://www.fda.gov/ForConsumers/)

The moral of the story - there are no short cuts. Don’t take weight loss pills to look good in your bikini or to make it to the top of a climb faster. For a long time we advised against supplements like these because we believe there’s a better and more natural way to lose weight and gain fitness. And while that’s still true, now we’re learning that not only are they often a waste of money, but some of them also contain prescription medications that can be dangerous – especially when you don’t know you’re taking them because they’re not listed in the ingredients. The best way to get down to race weight or a bathing-suit body is to create a negative caloric balance (so you take in less than you are burning). Up to a 500 kcal reduction can result in 1-2 pounds of weight loss per week. Stay with it and you will be at race weight- the safe and effective way!
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