Diet Supplements & The Dangers Involved

Date: 25-04-2003 Posted by: Anabolic Info TeamUnited States

The desire to lost weight is so powerful that millions of Americans are willing put their health at risk. That risk is coming from Xenadrine and other ephedrine-containing products.

The FDA recorded more than 100 deaths from Xenadrine, and thousands of people suffering other problems. There is some evidence that the pills work, but is it worth it?

Bill Gurley, Ph.D., of the UAMS Medical Center, tells News 4 Arkansas, "personally, I just don't recommend that people take these things, because there's a tremendous amount of evidence to support the fact that these things can be dangerous to many individuals."

The ads however, make Xenadrine hard to resist. “The world's first fat burner,” “unprecedented results,” “the most proven diet supplement brand in the world.”

"The marketing hype far outpaces the scientific evidence to support their claims…I mean, that's the whole purpose of the ad. I mean, to get you to buy the product and if you read the fine print, you know most people don't read the fine print, and when most people read the fine print they say, ‘oh that's not going to happen to me.’ Unfortunately it happens to a lot of people…The typical effects that most people experience are increased heart rate, they feel nervous, they feel heart palpitations, sweating, headaches, insomnia, nausea, and some of the more serious effects include heart attack, stroke, seizures, psychosis, and even death," explains Dr. Gurley.

The Medical Examiner named Xenadrine in connection with the death of Baltimore Orioles Pitcher Steve Bechler, and also Minnesota Viking Corey Stringer.

And it's not just weight loss. The product promises performance on the field…

Dr. Gurley continues, “there's absolutely no scientific evidence to show that these products have any ability to improve someone's athletic performance."

Xenadrine and similar diet supplements typically contain high concentrations of ephedrine and caffeine, touted to stimulate your metabolism and give you energy. That's exactly what Patrick Courtros thought he needed, after he used the protein diet to lose about 65 pounds, over eight months…"But then you know, if you cut out the carbs, you lose your energy, so I tried to take something else to give me that energy…I was telling a friend of mine how I was just feeling sluggish, it was getting hard for me to work out, even get up to do my cardio, and he said that he had been taking some Xenadrine…I just loved it, so I got me some, bought me a big bottle and started taking it."

The directions on the bottle say no more than four pills per day, but Patrick ignored that and admits he would take six pills some days. Another thing, it's not recommended for people with heart disease or high blood pressure. The Xenadrine gave Patrick the energy he wanted, but he also started noticing things going wrong. He listed off those side effects to a family friend, who's a Chiropractor. "He had asked me how I was feeling and I said, ‘well, I haven't been sleeping, I had been constipated, I had a lot of chest pain, and I thought maybe it was because of stress. I was also having lower back pain, but I felt it was more like my kidneys."

Jeremy McKelroy scanned Patrick's spine, looking for abnormalities. That scan showed him plenty. "The first thing he asked me was, ‘what are you taking?’ And it kind of blew me away, because I hadn't really been taking anything, because I didn't think the energy pills were going to do that to me. I said, ‘I'm not taking any type of medication.’ And he said, ‘well, are you taking any type of speed?’ I said, ‘well I've been taking Xenadrine.’ And that is when he told me, ‘that is bad stuff, get off of it.’"