Monday, May 4, 2009

Should You Take Diet Pills or Other Supplements?



Because of numerous questions from clients and friends regarding diet supplements, I find it imperative to post this blog linking to my article published in Bay Currents a few months ago about diet supplements. I also think this is a good time to post this blog in light of the recent recall of Hydroxycut, a very popular weight-loss product.

The article about the questionable safety and long-term effectiveness of diet supplements can be found (featured on the front page) at:

http://baycurrents.net/BCpdf/BCV5N9.pdf

I will briefly provide a summary of that article here and some bonus material not included in the published version of the article.

My diet-pill article began with a warning about the discovery of drugs (including prescription drugs) in some diet pills (mostly imported). A list of the drug-laced products are provided in that article. [LINK]

I mentioned, in a part of the article omitted by my editor, how I went into most of the major pharmacies (CVS, Rite-Aid, and Walgreens) and found that they did not carry the drug-laced supplements.
The rest of the article goes on to explain that diet pills are generally not a good idea because the safety and effectiveness (long term) of these products are mostly scientifically uncertain.

Generally, the single pill approach is wrong for weight loss, but sales of diet pills remain high, because supplement manufacturers and distributors are great marketers and they make enticing but unproven claims. Often, they manipulate the wording of their advertisements to mislead the consumers into thinking wrongly that their products have solid scientific support. These questionable products are found in the major drug stores and nutrition stores.

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