Ye-HaHydroxycut Hooey
Finally this product is being pulled from shelves!
May 1, 2009 -- FDA Warns Consumers to Stop Using Hydroxycut Products - Dietary Supplements Linked to One Death; Pose Risk of Liver Injury:
The FDA has received 23 reports of serious health problems ranging from jaundice and elevated liver enzymes, an indicator of potential liver injury, 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; and rhabdomyolysis, a type of muscle damage that can lead to other serious health problems such as kidney failure.
May 1, 2009 -- Fourteen Hydroxycut products, marketed as fat burners, low-cost diet aids, and energy enhancers, are being recalled voluntarily by the manufacturer after the FDA received 23 reports of serious liver injuries ranging from jaundice to death.
Needless to say the class action law suits have already begun.
You know the old adage, if it sounds too good to be true.....
Why do you think that they spam Hydroxycut commercials all night on TV? Because it generates sales and, according to the FDA, people bought over 9 million packages last year.
An estimated 15% of the US population uses dietary supplements for weight loss!!!! [1]
Look folks, weight loss is a life style change not a dietary supplement. I know as well as anyone how hard it is to lose weight - I am currently still 30 lbs overweight, after having lost 15 lbs now - and how much you feel that getting a jump start would help your motivation, but there is no quick fix unless it happens to be associated with a medical problem such as a thyroid imbalance. This is how I got started researching food, I wanted to know if any of the claims out there would work for me, from supplements, to Gillian McKeith Boot Camp books (more on HER later), to Atkins diets.
OK, there are TWO quick fixes, and even though I know you want one, I'm willing to bet you're not going to want to do them - stop drinking alcohol and don't watch TV. Not drinking alcohol will immediately decrease your daily caloric intake and you'll probably also notice that you are more motivated to be active. Daytime TV replaces other calorie-burning activities; nighttime TV is full of food commercials and facilitates mindless eating. When you think about it, it's just common sense, huh? Well, once thought through, everything in this blog will seem like common sense but I feel that it has to be said to cut through the constant barrage of food, supplement, and exercise hype.
Anyway back to Hydroxycut and dietary weight-loss supplements. Don't make these unscrupulous people rich, spend your money on good food and activities.
Dietary supplements aren't as tightly regulated by the government as medications. The FDA has no authority to review supplements before they're marketed and manufacturers don't need to prove to the FDA that their products are safe and effective before they can sell them to consumers. The burden remains on the FDA to prove that a supplement creates "a significant or unreasonable risk" before it can request its removal from the market. What the FDA does do is monitor aftermarket reports once a product has reached the market, however, it relies on voluntary reports to detect such problems and many cases are never reported.
From January through September 2007, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration issued nine "safety alerts" warning consumers to stop using 13 brands marketed as dietary supplements because FDA testing found they contained prescription medications. Nine concealed erectile-dysfunction drugs such as sildenafil (Viagra) or tadalafil (Cialis); three harbored lovastatin (Mevacor), a prescription drug for high cholesterol; and one, sibutramine (Meridia), a weight-loss drug. They put unknowing consumers at risk of pharmaceutical side effects and potential drug interactions. [2]
Supplement marketers may say that they have research confirming their results, but check to see who did the research, them or independent, reputable medical professionals. Anything truly promising will be published in a medical journal and others will attempt to repeat or build upon the results.
In the case of Hydroxycut, it contains a number of "natural" ingredients that have been claimed to help with weight loss. It used to contain ephedra (ephedrine alkaloids) until it was banned by the FDA in 2004. The FDA has not determined which of the ingredients in the current formula, dosages, or other factors are toxic and causing the health problems.
In March 2003, Missouri Attorney General Jay Nixon filed a lawsuit against MuscleTech for misrepresenting Hydroxycut's safety and effectiveness. The suit accused the company of inadequately disclosing health risks associated with ephedra. The suit also alleged that the company's claims that the supplement was "clinically proven" to be a "fat burner" were false because the research studies were misrepresented to gain desired results. The lawsuit also alleges that "before" and "after" photographs were misleading. Nixon says one woman's "before" photo was deceptive because she was recently pregnant. Although Muscle Tech denied any wrong doing, they paid $100,000 to the state of Missouri to resolve the lawsuit.
Muscle Tech is a brand of sports nutrition supplements marketed by Iovate Health Sciences Inc. The company is based in Canada and its U.S. distributor is headquartered near Buffalo, N.Y. Interestingly, Hydroxycut products are not currently authorized for sale in Canada where supplements are more regulated than the US.
If you see something that your tempted to try, always ask your health care provider and check independent organizations such as National Institutes of Health's Office of Dietary Supplements, Consumer Reports, Web MD; or ask in this Blog and we will research it for you.
DATA SOURCES:
1. Blanck HM, Serdula MK, Gillespie C, Galuska DA, Sharpe PA, Conway JM, Khan LK, Ainsworth BE. Use of nonprescription dietary supplements for weight loss is common among Americans. J Am Diet Assoc. 2007;107:441–447.
2. Consumer Reports.
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