Sunday, May 3, 2009

Supplements & the Hydroxycut Warning

Well America’s #1 Selling Weight-Loss Supplement is now under fire


Both Health Canada and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration is warning consumers to immediately stop using Hydroxycut products.
Hydroxycut, a very popular fat-burner supplement sold under the Iovate and MuscleTech brand names, are promoted as a dietary supplements for weight-loss, energy-enhancers, low carb diet aids, etc.
 
Interesting thing is that I’ve seen them in various stores – including Wal-mart and yet currently no Hydroxycut products are authorized for sale in Canada.


Health Canada has received 17 adverse reaction (AR) reports associated with Hydroxycut products in Canada. These adverse reactions relate to the cardiovascular, respiratory, gastrointestinal, and neurological systems.
The FDA has received 23 reports of serious health problems ranging from jaundice and elevated liver enzymes, to liver damage requiring liver transplant. One death due to liver failure has been reported to the FDA. Other health problems reported include seizures; cardiovascular disorders, kidney failure, to name a few. 


A lot of the so called “supplements” have a number of ingrediants that do not require FDA or Health Canada approval prior to hitting the shelves. It’s like playing Russian roulette – is it worth it?


Quick fix diet supplements, like quick fix diets themselves are all a scam. Talk about brain washing your easily-influenced consumer.
Walk down any supplement aisle of your pharmacy or health-food store.  Thousands of products that claim health benefits.  


According to the Nutrition Business Journal, the supplement industry reached an all time high of $13 billion in sales in 2000.
Americans spent almost $35 billion on diets and weight loss products!
There are over 1,000 manufacturers of over 20,000 different supplements consumed by over 100 million people.


To get a bit more insight read up on my May Newsletter: Supplements