Coping with that ‘spare tire’

Written by Katelyn Dingman

With beach season right around the corner, many people are trying to shape up and get ready to wear that itsy bitsy teenie weenie bikini, polka dotted or otherwise. 
Weight-loss supplements and muscle enhancers are typically advertised as being a great way to burn calories and replace fat with muscle mass.  But really, how safe can these magical weight loss pills be?  Recently, two particular products were recalled from the market for being unsafe.   
West Pharm Therma Lean Fat Burner Energizer is not only a mouthful to say, but it is also a health product that has recently been found to cause dizziness, tremors, headaches, and an irregular heartbeat among users. In more serious cases, usage has led to seizures, psychosis, heart attacks and strokes. 
The combination of Ephedrine and caffeine in the Energizer supplement is what causes it to be so dangerous. 
“Our health food store does not permit the sale of products in which an ephedrine is mixed with caffeine,” said Paul Ezard an employee at GNC Live Well 
Health Canada has stated that people with heart conditions, high blood pressure and diabetes would be most at risk from using the product and further advised the company to stop selling and advertising an unauthorized supplement. The company has already responded by closing down its website. 
Border officials have also been notified to stop imports of the product into the country and anyone who has used the product or has any health concerns regarding the use of the product is highly advised to consult a medical professional.   
Hydroxycut products are among other supplements that have been recalled from the market.  All users of Hydroxycut were warned to stop using the product immediately after the death of a 19-year-old American teenager in 2007. Liver failure in the teen was reported to be linked to the use of the Hydroxycut products. 
There were also reports of at least 23 people using Hydroxycut who had suffered serious liver injury and damage, ranging from jaundice and elevated liver enzymes – an indicator of potential liver injury – to liver damage requiring a liver transplant. 
In May 2009, Health Canada claimed to have received reports of 17 adverse reactions related to Hydroxycut.  The symptoms from patients included yellowing of the skin or whites of the eyes, known as jaundice, brown urine, nausea, vomiting, light-coloured stools, excessive fatigue, weakness, stomach or abdominal pain, itching and loss of appetite. 
Hydroxycut, similar to West Pharm Therma Lean Fat Burner Energizer, is a product in which the pills were not officially authorized by the federal agency to be sold in Canada. 
Health problems associated with Hydroxycut included seizures, cardiovascular disorders, and rhabdomyolysis, a type of muscle damage that can lead to other serious health problems such as kidney failure.  The FDA claimed that these cases were reported by patients consuming the recommended doses listed on the Hydroxycut bottles. 
Ezard disagreed with this claim.
“People affected by Hydroxycut were most likely taking a higher dose than [what is] recommended on the bottle,” he said.
After the recall of Hydroxycut in 2009, the product has been re-released to the market with a slight change in the ingredients and is currently still being sold at GNC Live Well health food stores.  Other health food stores, however, including Healthy’s refuse to sell the product.   
“These products don’t cause rapid weight-loss,” said Dr. Yoni Freedhoff of Ottawa’s Bariatric Medical Institute stated in a CTV news report. “There is no magic weight-loss in a bottle…if there were, we would all be taking it and we would all be skinny.”
So, before we seek the extremes in our weight-loss goals for the summer, we have to be sure to recognize the risks were taking in using these ‘magical weight loss pills.’
After all, having a few rolls is better than suffering from serious liver damage, isn’t it? 

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