25.04.2005
Now that the holiday cookies are history, you've resolved to get fit and trim. Perhaps you've even considered taking over-the-counter dietary supplements to help you reach your weight-loss goals. Drugstores, nutrition shops and Web sites offer a plethora of supplements and combination products that claim to help burn fat, block fat absorption, modulate carbohydrate metabolism, boost energy expenditure, suppress appetite, flush out excess water weight and control cravings -- all good outcomes to an eager dieter. So what's the harm in grabbing a bottle? "There's a tremendous appeal for a magic pill to help lose weight -- manufacturers of weight-loss pills appeal to that, I think," said Dr. Robert Saper, director of integrative medicine in the Department of Family Medicine at Boston University Medical Center. But in a review of the scientific evidence, published in the Nov. 1, 2004, issue of American Family Physician, Saper suggested there's no miracle pill on the market. In fact, some of the supplements out there may be dangerous or might interact with prescription medications that people are taking, he said. "There's very few of them that show benefit for what people are taking them for," agreed Dr. Gary A. Green, a clinical professor in the Division of Sports Medicine at the University of California, Los Angeles. Dietary aids containing the herbal supplement ephedra were extremely popular until the U.S. Food and Drug Administration banned their sale in April 2004 due to reports of deaths. Ephedrine, the active ingredient, is a stimulant known to increase metabolic rate, heat production and the risk of heatstroke. Dangerous supplements still remain available on store shelves and Web sites, Consumers Union warns. The public advocacy group's Consumer Reports magazine last May published a list of the "dirty dozen" -- 12 supplement ingredients that have been linked either to serious adverse effects or to a strong theoretical risk. The list included bitter orange, a common dietary supplement that contains a compound called synerphrine, which carries risks similar to ephedrine, Saper said. Until there's better data, motivated dieters would be better off talking to their physicians about proven weight-loss strategies, such as diet and exercise, according to Saper.