Diet Pills: A Lot Of Risk For A Little Loss

There are a number of products on the market - both prescription and non-prescription - which claim to be effective weight loss aids. Many of these have been associated with serious medical risks, including heart attack, heart abnormalities, tachycardia, stroke, seizures and death. The side effects can be daunting, but how realistic are they?

Diet pills fall into several different classes. Most are appetite suppressants of one kind or another, generally stimulants with effects similar to those of amphetamine. They are approved for treatment of obesity, where it's considered that the health risks associated with gross overweight outweigh the risks associated with the medication.

For someone who has less than 30 pounds to lose, the risks are far less cut-and-dry. While the FDA and manufacturers closely monitor the effects of prescription weight loss medications, over the counter medications and their risks are far less documented. Herbal supplements are even less documented still, especially those whose makers don't officially make weight loss claims for them.

While makers of pharmaceuticals must meet stringent labeling requirements and tests for safety and effectiveness, those who make weight loss 'supplements' are not regulated in the same way. As long as they don't contain a 'new' ingredient, or one that has never been marketed for weight loss purposes, they are not subject to FDA review. Instead, the manufacturer is held responsible for the safety and effectiveness of their products. Often, that means unregulated dosages, unhealthy additives and ineffective ingredients.

In an effort to encourage improvement in the reporting standards and the pharmaceutical standards for weight loss medications, the United States Pharmacopoeia has introduced the Comprehensive Dietary Supplement Verification Program. Currently voluntary, it involves certification by the USP of certain labeling and practice standards, including that the product contains the ingredients stated on the label in the strength declared, that they are within limits for impurities like metals, pesticides and bacteria, that the medication will be absorbed by the body according to USP criteria, and that it has been created with all safe precautions.

Until the day that all over the counter medications and herbal preparations marketed as weight loss supplements and aids are labeled and tested by impartial researchers, there are some things that you can do to lessen the risks associated with using diet pills.

Research is your best friend. There's a lot of information out there about drugs and herbs like ephedra, ephinedrine, phentermine and sibutramine. Know what you're taking and what the risks are so that you can watch for side effects.

Always talk to your doctor before you start taking any drug or herbal supplement. Many of them interact poorly with other medications, or have an adverse effect on chronic conditions.

Follow dosage instructions. Overdoses of stimulant medications, which are a component of most weight loss preparations, can be serious and severe.

Don't take any weight loss pill or supplement for more than a few weeks without it being prescribed by a doctor.

Check with your pharmacist when purchasing over the counter weight loss preparations to be sure that the ingredients don't interact with other medications you may be taking. Include both prescription and nonprescription medications in your questions.

Ideally, don't take weight loss pills. The effectiveness of most have not been proven at all. It's an awful lot of risk for such a little loss.

Adam Waxler publishes the Weight-Loss-Power-Package...a collection of six weight loss ebooks guaranteed to help you lose weight. Check out the complete package here: http://www.weight-loss-power-package.com and check out his blog for free weight loss tips here: http://www.weight-loss-machine.com/blog
Adam Waxler is a middle school social studies teacher teacher mentor and online business entrepreneur. After successfully creating several information products in the education field Adam has branched out into another one of his passions...health and fitness. When he's not working you can usually find him at the beach with his lovely wife and wonderful son. 

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Diet Pills: A Lot Of Risk For A Little Loss

There are a number of products on the market - both prescription and non-prescription - which claim to be effective weight loss aids. Many of these have been associated with serious medical risks, including heart attack, heart abnormalities, tachycardia, stroke, seizures and death. The side effects can be daunting, but how realistic are they?

Diet pills fall into several different classes. Most are appetite suppressants of one kind or another, generally stimulants with effects similar to those of amphetamine. They are approved for treatment of obesity, where it's considered that the health risks associated with gross overweight outweigh the risks associated with the medication.

For someone who has less than 30 pounds to lose, the risks are far less cut-and-dry. While the FDA and manufacturers closely monitor the effects of prescription weight loss medications, over the counter medications and their risks are far less documented. Herbal supplements are even less documented still, especially those whose makers don't officially make weight loss claims for them.

While makers of pharmaceuticals must meet stringent labeling requirements and tests for safety and effectiveness, those who make weight loss 'supplements' are not regulated in the same way. As long as they don't contain a 'new' ingredient, or one that has never been marketed for weight loss purposes, they are not subject to FDA review. Instead, the manufacturer is held responsible for the safety and effectiveness of their products. Often, that means unregulated dosages, unhealthy additives and ineffective ingredients.

In an effort to encourage improvement in the reporting standards and the pharmaceutical standards for weight loss medications, the United States Pharmacopoeia has introduced the Comprehensive Dietary Supplement Verification Program. Currently voluntary, it involves certification by the USP of certain labeling and practice standards, including that the product contains the ingredients stated on the label in the strength declared, that they are within limits for impurities like metals, pesticides and bacteria, that the medication will be absorbed by the body according to USP criteria, and that it has been created with all safe precautions.

Until the day that all over the counter medications and herbal preparations marketed as weight loss supplements and aids are labeled and tested by impartial researchers, there are some things that you can do to lessen the risks associated with using diet pills.

Research is your best friend. There's a lot of information out there about drugs and herbs like ephedra, ephinedrine, phentermine and sibutramine. Know what you're taking and what the risks are so that you can watch for side effects.

Always talk to your doctor before you start taking any drug or herbal supplement. Many of them interact poorly with other medications, or have an adverse effect on chronic conditions.

Follow dosage instructions. Overdoses of stimulant medications, which are a component of most weight loss preparations, can be serious and severe.

Don't take any weight loss pill or supplement for more than a few weeks without it being prescribed by a doctor.

Check with your pharmacist when purchasing over the counter weight loss preparations to be sure that the ingredients don't interact with other medications you may be taking. Include both prescription and nonprescription medications in your questions.

Ideally, don't take weight loss pills. The effectiveness of most have not been proven at all. It's an awful lot of risk for such a little loss.

Adam Waxler publishes the Weight-Loss-Power-Package...a collection of six weight loss ebooks guaranteed to help you lose weight. Check out the complete package here: http://www.weight-loss-power-package.com and check out his blog for free weight loss tips here: http://www.weight-loss-machine.com/blog
Adam Waxler is a middle school social studies teacher teacher mentor and online business entrepreneur. After successfully creating several information products in the education field Adam has branched out into another one of his passions...health and fitness. When he's not working you can usually find him at the beach with his lovely wife and wonderful son.

View all articles by Adam Waxler

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Meals to Get Lean - Little Known Secrets to Fight Abdominal Fat

Meals to get lean are a critical part of your fat burning regimen. Imagine what it would mean if you could know the foods that either helped or hindered your weight loss process! Did you know that there are specific groups of foods that can help you get lean? If you knew what these unique foods were that helped you to gain muscle you could simply include them in your meals to reach your goal faster. They do exist and stimulate the abdominal fat burning process. Note these tips to add to your fat loss diet arsenal.

These foods are a specific group of vegetables that contain ingredients called phytonutrients. To find out what phytonutrients are and how they can help you burn fat and get lean keep reading.

Chemicals that Contribute to Belly Fat Storage

There are certain chemicals in our environment and our food industry that can actually react with your hormones to cause your body to store excess abdominal fat. These harmful chemicals are called xenoestrogens. They are chemicals found in herbicides, pesticides, household cleaners, plastics, cosmetics and petrochemicals. Petrochemicals are made from natural gas and crude oil and are used in the production of things you use every day. They include:

plastic bottles (used in food industry, household)fabric for the clothes we wearautomobiles tireswomen's cosmeticspaintfertilizers that grow our food cropscarpet

So, all around you are things working to make your body unhealthy and fat! Unfortunately it would be hard for us to avoid them. From the word you can see their connection to estrogen. They have a negative estrogenic effect in your body. Excessive exposure to these disrupt your hormone balance in both men and women causing your body to hold fat. But here is where the phytonutrients can come to your rescue.

Vegetables to include in Your Meals to Get Lean

Phytonutrients are chemical compounds that occur naturally in plants. It's believed that there are thousands of different phytonutrients. By including phytonutrients in your weight loss diet they will protect you against these dangerous xenoestrogens.

One unique group of phytonutrients or plant nutrient is Indole-3-carbinol (I3C) found in

cabbagekalebrussel sproutsbroccolicauliflower (cruciferous vegetable)rutabagamustard greensbok choy andbroccoli.

These will help you fight against these dangerous estrogenic compounds that tend to allow your body to hold on to unwanted belly fat. So there goes a great reason to eat your veggies, like mother said.

I just added brussel sprouts to my meal plan. I sautee them with garlic and olive oil which are also phytonutrients in themselves. Not bad at all. I could really grow to like these!

If you are genuinely serious about losing that excess belly fat then get the whole truth about meals to get lean and more. Cited as the most popular program among many fitness experts you can try this program risk free. You have nothing to lose but some extra fat! Go now to http://www.burn-the-fat-get-lean.info/

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