On Wednesday, the FDA issued a warning concerning more than 30 “natural” over-the-counter diet pills. It stated that the “FDA has identified an emerging trend where over-the-counter products, frequently represented as dietary supplements, contain hidden active ingredients that could be harmful.”
The FDA issued warnings for the following products:
| Slender Slim 11 Advanced Slim 5 A-Slim 100% Natural Slimming Capsule Dream Body Slimming Capsule Ja Dera 100% Natural Weight Loss Supplement Leisure 18 Slimming Coffee Lishou Magic Slim Tea Magic Slim Weight Reduction Capsule P57 Hoodia PhentraBurn Slimming Capsules Sheng Yuan Fang Tengda Acai Berry Soft Gel ABC Botanical Slimming |
DaiDaiHuaJiaoNang Fruit Plant Lossing Fat Capsule Health Slimming Coffee Lose Weight Coffee Pai You Guo Slim Tea Slim Forte Slimming Capsules Slim Forte Slimming Coffee Botanical Slimming Soft Gel Slim Forte Slimming Capsule Slim Forte Double Power Slimming Capsule Slim Xtreme Herbal Slimming Capsule Celerite Slimming Capsules Fruta Planta Slimming Beauty Capsules Que She Weight Loss Capsules |
Most of them were found to contain sibutramine. When you go to the FDA warning page and click on any one of the supplements listed, you will get a detailed report on that substance. For example the report on “Slender Slim 11” states that:
“FDA laboratory analysis confirmed that “Slender Slim 11” contains sibutramine. Sibutramine is a controlled substance that was removed from the U.S. market in October 2010 for safety reasons. The product poses a threat to consumers because sibutramine is known to substantially increase blood pressure and/or pulse rate in some patients and may present a significant risk for patients with a history of coronary artery disease, congestive heart failure, arrhythmias, or stroke. This product may also interact in life threatening ways with other medications a consumer may be taking.
Consumers should stop using this product immediately and throw it away. Consumers who have experienced any negative side effects should consult a health care professional as soon as possible.”
What is going on here? It’s simple. Thanks to the campaign contributions of the multibillion-dollar dietary supplement industry, Congress has always prohibited the FDA from regulating or controlling dietary supplements, even if they contain banned ingredients. Therefore, the FDA is limited to issuing warnings.
The reality about over-the-counter diet pills is simple. If someone really came up with an effective and safe “natural” weight loss drug, they would submit it for testing, get it approved by the FDA as a pharmaceutical and make a bazillion dollars.
So over-the-counter diet pills come in two varieties, those that work and those that don’t. Those that don’t work are safe and a total waste of money. Those that do work have to contain one of the banned pharmaceuticals that cause people to lose weight, but also make people sick and sometimes kill people (see Big Pharma and Obesity Inc. Are Angry, Angry, Angry at the FDA).
Bottom line – stay away from this stuff. Even if a diet pill is not on the FDA’s warning list, you have absolutely no idea what is in it and you have no reliable way of finding out.
