FDA Warning: Stop Taking Hydroxycut for Weight Loss
Billions of dollars are spent yearly by Americans seeking quick and easy weight loss with unregulated dietary supplements. Why regulate, you might ask? These are "natural compounds" and are not "drugs", so what could be bad? The problem is that these products, while they do originate from a plant source, can do more harm than good. Natural doesn't mean safe - arsenic is natural! Many of these products DO have active ingredients - particularly stimulants - and there is no monitoring of safety, purity, or dosage. It's a major health gamble you don't want to risk. The odds are not in your favor.
The latest in this "discovery" of the health damaging effects of unregulated weight loss dietary supplements is for a family of products called Hydroxycut, associated with liver function problems. Hydroxycut products have been promoted for weight loss as fat burners and energy enhancers, The FDA's statement was quite clear: discontinue use of Hydroxycut products in order to avoid any undue risk. The company has recalled 14 different types of dietary supplements from store shelves (although 2 products still remain).
Unregulated dietary supplements for weight loss sound too good to be true, and they are. At the very least, they're a waste of money. At the worst, they can cause illness, and even death. And, this is not a new problem. You may also recall the FDA-mandated removal of "ephedra" (ma huang), from weight loss supplements because of illness and deaths.
But there is some good news. The FDA has approved the fat-blocking prescription medication, Orlistat, for over-the-counter use in a lower (but effective) dose, called Alli. In fact, all weight loss products need to be reviewed for safety, as well as efficacy.
National efforts are ongoing to bring continued attention to this area. The Reality Coalition, a national group of health experts and organizations, has been working for the past few years on both education and improved health legislation to monitor and regulate the weight loss supplement industry.
Should you risk your health for the promise of quick and easy weight loss? I believe the answer is a resounding no. When it comes to losing weight, there is no quick fix, and slow and steady wins the race.
What do you think? Leave a comment.
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It's about time Hydoxycut gets yanked off the market, it has been causing health issues and concerns for many years. People need to realize that when it comes to physical fitness and well-being, there is no pop-a-pill answer? We always seem to be searching for that quick fix to perfect health. It's like purchasing a bottle full of false hope with the potential of doing serious harm.
Hydroxycut really works to control the appetite. How come when a product that works comes out, the Government bans it? Has anyone checked to see if there really is a woman that died from liver problems? Did they know if her liver was all right before she started taking Hydroxycut? That football player that died from ephedra had taken more than he was suppose to. I can't help but feel that the drug companies want these products ban because they are giving competition on sales of one of their drugs. I have narcolepsy and can not afford the drug the Doctor perscribed. It cost $800 a month (Provigil). Hydroxycut worked just as good with keeping me from falling asleep all the time. I know of different prescribed medicines that should be banned by the Drug Companies. Instead they put a warning on them that you should not take them if you have high blood pressure, heart problems, etc. Why couldn't the FDA do this for Hydroxycut? It is a numbers game on some of this medicine as whether it is all right or not. I wish they hadn't banned Hydroxycut for everyone. That just don't seem right. Would they do this with Viagra?
I agree with you but I think that people lose hope way too soon. Its a life style you have to live and not a diet. This is probably the most clich statement when it comes to discussing losing weight. The problem is people make this life style change only follow through with it for short period of time. I have taken something like Hydroxycut(lower dose and in house product of GNC). I took it to keep motivated and give my metabolism an extra boost. I didn't take it, sit on the couch and expect results. I still worked out 4 to 5 days a week. Even with that it still took a month and a half before you start to notice a weight loss. In a country such as the US everyone expects results instantly.
In a world where doctors are taken out to dinner by the drug companies, given commission for pushing certain drugs and all around rewarded for prescribing certain medications it is hard to believe that the effects claimed to have been suffered by hydroxcut were anything short of misuse... you are directly told how to dose it, if you stray from that, it is your choice, anything in pill form that you put into your body can have long term effects down the road on the liver, the liver is a filter of your body, keep putting in foreign substances, whether it be FDA approved or not, it will cause long term complications... Do you want to tell your readers why a product like Eleotin, which can help cure diabetes by repairing Beta Cells in the Pancreas and regulating A1C levels is illegal in the United States? Answer: Because Pfizer doesn't own it, and it would decrease pharmaceutical sales on Insulin and Glucose related products... Can we Explain why our so called sophisticated medical society is being trumped by independent nations like Sweden and Switzerland, where they just recreated a complete lower jaw for an individual using stem cells? Answer: The fact that we remain sick means more money for Pfizer, Johnson & Johnson Etc... And everybody worried about the H1N1 flu, take a look into colloidal silver made the right way, it kills 650 pathogens including the new flu virus and anthrax. How come we don't know about this? Maybe we can ask Curad since they love to put pure silver based mesh in their band-aids... power to knowledge people, educate yourselves...