What works and what doesn't work

Just a quick comment here for all of you that are constantly asking me about what diet pills work and which ones don't.  The reality is that almost all diet pills don't work for one main reason:

When they do work it means that it is taking the body out of homeostasis which means that it is changing the chemistry of the body.  When you change the chemistry of the body you are classified as a drug.  The big drug companies spend 10 years and billions of dollars testing drugs just to pass the FDA requirements for human use through medical prescriptions.  This costs them a ton of money and they are not going to let any old Joe to come up with a product that really works and not force them through the same hoops they go through.  So they act as the FDA's police force reporting those over the counter miracle cures that are changing the body.

This is not such a bad thing as often these drugs can cause all kinds of problems such as irregular heartbeats, fainting and organ damage.  Ephedra, Herbal Phen-Fen and St. Johns Wort are the prime examples of weight loss drugs sold over the counter in the past that actually help in weight loss.  The FDA banned the sale of ephedra-containing supplements on April 12, 2004 and all the miracle weight loss products on the market that used it scrambled and most settled on plain old caffeine as their active ingredient.  Caffeine is the active ingredient in many weight loss products such as Hydroxycut. I can't tell you how many people I know that took Hydroxycut that had heart problems, fainting, and a host of other issues.  I know the drug companies have been known to tell a tale or two about their testing results, but the over the counter market does no testing to speak of and represents the wild wild west in snake oil potions and miracle cures.  As of May 1st many of the Hydroxycut products have been recalled by the FDA:

FDA Warns Consumers to Stop Using Hydroxycut Weight-Loss Products

There are currently 32 known species of ephedra, ephedra sinica (Ma Huang) and ephedra viridis (Mormon Tea) being the two most commonly used varieties.  Ephedrine is the the active ingredient in ephedra.  Not all varieties of ephedra contain Ephedrine.  Ephedra sinica has strongest concentration of ephedrine while ephedra viridis usually contains no ephedrine alkaloid.

Ephedra (also known as Ma huang, Chinese Ephedra and epitonin) is one of the oldest medicines known to man.  It was discovered in China more than 5000 years ago.  Ephedra has been shown to increase metabolism and help promote weight loss.  In addition,  it relaxes the air passages in the lungs to help treat asthma and the common cough, promotes perspiration which assists the body in recovery from minor colds and it promotes urination to help relieve fluid retention.

Ephedra has been widely researched for its thermogenic (fat burning) qualities.  Research has shown that ephedra promotes fat loss while sparing lean muscle tissue a problem in most diets and weight loss products.

Herbal Phen-Fen, a popular herbal formulation used for dieting, is a combination of ephedra and St. Johns Wort.  Phen-Phen was taken off the market but St. John's Wort is still available but is more effective in the treatment of depression than weight loss.  Additionally the manufacturers of these products are learning not to put very much active ingredient in the pills so as not to reach a point that the pill is really doing anything for fear they get taken of the shelf as well.

A popular stack called  ECA (ephedra, caffeine, aspirin) had been used by bodybuilders to burn fat, and increase energy.

It is believed that the alkaloids in ephedra are the main active ingredient that gives ephedra its fat burning abilities. Alkaloids are a stimulant that speeds up the metabolism. The FDA banned alkaloid containing natural ephedra for use in dietary supplements but it didn't ban ephedra varities which have less effectiveness.  (In other words alkaloid containing natural ephedra cannot be used as tea, in Oriental medicine or produced by the pharmaceutical industry.)

So if they do not work then nobody cares.  The FDA does not care as long as the manufacturers or retailers are not making crazy claims about curing diseases and the big drug companies do not care because they have no scientific proof that it is doing anything to the body to report you for to get you removed from the shelves.  And most of the time if it does not work it will not sell very well as they won't be able to afford the ad dollars to promote the commercials or Internet ads.

So to recap, if it works it will probably be dangerous to your health as it is untested and it will get removed from the shelf because people will be reporting massive success with the product or lots of complaints about side effects.  If it does not work the product will probably remain on the shelf as long as the manufacturer can make a profit.

So don't be stupid, save your money and go with things that are known to be safe, natural and effective.  Increasing meal frequency, higher fiber content and low glycemic index foods are examples of low hanging fruit that will pay off in weight loss and better overall health.  The most safe and natural way that science has proven to raise your metabolism is with natural herbs and spices found in our everyday foods which is a whole article in itself.  That being said, one of the most effective ways to naturally speed up the metabolism is with Green Tea.  It has been proven to raise the caloric burn rate and protect the body from many diseases.  So forget the snake oil and go natural!