Diet Pill & Seizure Medication! What a deal
Weight loss supplements can contain more ingredients than listed.
The internet and social media are full of advertisements for diet pills that you can order online, and they claim they will shave pounds off quickly. The truth is, these pills are NOT regulated by the FDA and can be highly dangerous. This has become such an issue that the FDA recently published an article titled ‘Beware of Products Promising Miracle Weight Loss,’ and I will cover some the shocking facts from that article.
Magic Diet Pill?
No one believes in a magic weight loss drug, right? WRONG. In a recent survey of 3,000 people, 20% indicated that they believed a pill could make you lose weight without any change to diet or physical activity. Google search engine data actually paints a much worse picture. As you can see below, the term ‘weight loss pills’ is searched as much as the term ‘workout.’ The search results data below paint a sad picture of what we believe will work for us and help us lose weight.
| Search Term |
Monthly Searches (in thousands) |
Search Term | Monthly Searches (in thousands) |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|
| weight loss pills |
91 | workout | 91 | |
| diet pills | 61 | workout plan | 61 | |
| appetite suppressant |
50 | workout routine | 41 | |
| best weight loss pills |
33 | health and fitness | 22 |
I would like to note that you shouldn’t feel like an idiot if you have ever googled ‘weight loss pills’ or something similar. Meal replacement and diet pills were listed as a $2.7 billion market in 2010, so it is big business, so there are millions of advertising dollars every year trying to convince us of that.
Are Diet Pills Harmful?
Maybe. It is impossible to know because you or I do not know what is in that diet pill. Can’t we look at the back of the bottle and check ingredients? Not a great plan because this has proven to be unreliable. One problem is that the manufacturer is responsible for analyzing its supplements to ensure that the ingredient list is accurate. Let me re-emphasize, the seller of the product is the only party responsible for what is in that pill; they are obligated to prove nothing to you or the FDA about what is in that pill. In an independent lab test, only 6 of 11 weight loss supplements contained the key ingredient listed on the label. Keep in mind, the fancy ingredient label on the supplement is not required, and only put on there to make you believe it is a legitimate product.
What ingredients has the FDA found in weight loss supplements?
- Sibutramine – an ingredient removed from the market 4 years prior for causing heart problems and strokes
- Fluoxetine – the active ingredient found in Prozac, a prescription anti-depressant
- Triamterene – a powerful diuretic
- Various other active ingredients contained an approved seizure medication
“Natural” dietary supplements are not exempt from scrutiny, and products such as bell pollen or Garcinia cambogia have also been found by the FDA to contain hidden active ingredients from prescription drugs.
Summary
- No one knows what’s in that pill.
- Seller does not have to prove that the claims about the product are accurate or truthful.
- Manufacturer does not have to prove that the supplement is safe to the FDA.
- Diet supplements have been found to contain prescription strength ingredients.
We are so easily fooled by these types of things because we want them to be true. We want to believe so we gloss over any negative thoughts or reviews and focus on the positive things we read. Stay away from these types of things, and start making some real changes in your life.
References:
http://acsh.org/news/2015/01/05/think-supplements-gonna-make-lose-weight-fat-chance
http://www.fda.gov/ForConsumers/ConsumerUpdates/ucm246742.htm?source=govdelivery&utm_medium=email&utm_source=govdelivery
http://www.fitnessforweightloss.com/diet-and-weight-loss-statistics/
