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Magic pill, herb do not exist;
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| Bad food pyramid: Fast food, candy bars, cookies and potato chips all taste good, but all are also the cause of weight gain. (Thelma Grimes/photo.) |
FDA warns against most diuretics
Thelma Grimes/San Pedro Valley News-Sun
Doctors, dieticians and nutritionists agree that the path to healthy weight loss is not through any pill or liquid diet.
The healthy way to lose weight takes hard work and dedication as outlined by Benson's Dr. Carter Mayberry, and clinical dietician Marilyn Hendricks of Benson Hospital.
The two agreed that doctors do prescribe diet pills to patients, but when it comes to actually losing weight and keeping it off, lifestyle changes are required.
"Even if I do prescribe a weight-loss drug, it's limited to two or three months," Mayberry said. "Really a pill is nothing more than a jump start for some. Yes, there are pills that help suppress the weight, but if you haven't made core lifestyle changes, you'll just gain what you lost back."
Pills may be a jump-start for some, but for others they become addictive substances with dangerous chemicals.
In December, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) put out a warning that more than 28 products being marketed to help in weight loss are actually "tainted" with undeclared, active pharmaceutical ingredients.
An FDA analysis found that the undeclared active pharmaceutical ingredients in some of these products include sibutramine, a controlled substance, rimonabant, a drug not approved for marketing in the United States, phenytoin, an anti-seizure medication, phenolphthalein, a solution used in chemical experiments and a suspected cancer causing agent and bumetanide, a diuretic.
Many of the products, claiming to be dietary supplements, had been sold on various Web sites, and in some retail stores. Some of the products went as far as claiming to be "natural" or to contain only "herbal" ingredients, but they actually contain potentially harmful ingredients not listed on the product label or in promotional advertisements. Many of these products were never approved by the FDA, are illegal and may be harmful to unsuspecting consumers.
"These tainted weight- loss products pose a great risk to public health, because they contain undeclared ingredients and, in some cases, contain prescription drugs in the amounts that greatly exceed their maximum recommended dosages," said Janet Woodcock, the FDA director of the Center for Drug Evaluation and Research. "Consumers have no way of knowing that these products contain powerful drugs that could cause serious health consequences."
In the December notice, the FDA warned the public not to purchase products ranging from the 7-day diet drug, to some Slim Fast products and other fat-burning diuretics.
The bottom line is read labels, and as Mayberry stated, "if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is."
Hendricks said even when doctors prescribe diet pills they keep close tabs on the progress, and remind all that losing too much, too fast is not healthy.
The healthy way to lose weight, according to Hendricks, is to set reachable goals, eat better and slowly make lifestyle changes that will last instead of taking the current fad drug promising something it likely won't deliver on.
The average person should lose one to 1.5 pounds per week.
Thelma Grimes/San Pedro Valley News-Sun
Doctors, dieticians and nutritionists agree that the path to healthy weight loss is not through any pill or liquid diet.
The healthy way to lose weight takes hard work and dedication as outlined by Benson's Dr. Carter Mayberry, and clinical dietician Marilyn Hendricks of Benson Hospital.
The two agreed that doctors do prescribe diet pills to patients, but when it comes to actually losing weight and keeping it off, lifestyle changes are required.
"Even if I do prescribe a weight-loss drug, it's limited to two or three months," Mayberry said. "Really a pill is nothing more than a jump start for some. Yes, there are pills that help suppress the weight, but if you haven't made core lifestyle changes, you'll just gain what you lost back."
Pills may be a jump-start for some, but for others they become addictive substances with dangerous chemicals.
In December, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) put out a warning that more than 28 products being marketed to help in weight loss are actually "tainted" with undeclared, active pharmaceutical ingredients.
An FDA analysis found that the undeclared active pharmaceutical ingredients in some of these products include sibutramine, a controlled substance, rimonabant, a drug not approved for marketing in the United States, phenytoin, an anti-seizure medication, phenolphthalein, a solution used in chemical experiments and a suspected cancer causing agent and bumetanide, a diuretic.
Many of the products, claiming to be dietary supplements, had been sold on various Web sites, and in some retail stores. Some of the products went as far as claiming to be "natural" or to contain only "herbal" ingredients, but they actually contain potentially harmful ingredients not listed on the product label or in promotional advertisements. Many of these products were never approved by the FDA, are illegal and may be harmful to unsuspecting consumers.
"These tainted weight- loss products pose a great risk to public health, because they contain undeclared ingredients and, in some cases, contain prescription drugs in the amounts that greatly exceed their maximum recommended dosages," said Janet Woodcock, the FDA director of the Center for Drug Evaluation and Research. "Consumers have no way of knowing that these products contain powerful drugs that could cause serious health consequences."
In the December notice, the FDA warned the public not to purchase products ranging from the 7-day diet drug, to some Slim Fast products and other fat-burning diuretics.
The bottom line is read labels, and as Mayberry stated, "if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is."
Hendricks said even when doctors prescribe diet pills they keep close tabs on the progress, and remind all that losing too much, too fast is not healthy.
The healthy way to lose weight, according to Hendricks, is to set reachable goals, eat better and slowly make lifestyle changes that will last instead of taking the current fad drug promising something it likely won't deliver on.
The average person should lose one to 1.5 pounds per week.
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