Hydroxycut

[glenn beck]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/...tml?hpid=moreheadlines

WASHINGTON -- Government health officials are announcing the recall of popular weight loss pill Hydroxycut, after reports of liver damage and other health problems.

Food and Drug Administration officials said Friday the manufacturer of Hydroxycut has launched a nationwide recall of the dietary supplement, used by people trying to shed pounds and by body builders to sharpen their muscles.

Hydroxycut is advertised as made from natural ingredients. It accounts for about 90 percent of the market for weight loss supplements, with sales of about 1 million bottles a year.

Dietary supplements are not as tightly regulated by the government as medications. Manufacturers don't need FDA approval ahead of time before marketing their products.

I have seemed to do alright without fat burning pills(i.e. proper nutrition, staying consistent), I figured this would happen soon, they
are making them too strong now

 

[brikis98]

This is not the first time and sadly, not the last time. Any "magic pill" that makes you lose weight, by definition, is doing something that goes against your normal biology. The fact that it has dangerous side effects is not surprising.

 

[StageLeft]

Not surprising. Good news, in fact, as it's the most known one and hopefully will:

1) Make people realize that "all natural" doesn't mean jack-sh*t for safety and
2) Things like this cause health problems; that's just common-sense.

Many years ago I used the ECA stacks. Once they were hard to get I tried something from GNC and one day had wicked heart palpitations. I knew then that they were a fvcking stupid product to be taking--any of these silly fat burners--and have echoed that over and over for years now whenever anybody on a forum asks. I'd always say that there's no way to know it's not causing long term damage and considering what they do it almost certainly is. In Hydroxycut's case, it seems that was accurate.

 

[Kipper]

Originally posted by: Skoorb
Not surprising. Good news, in fact, as it's the most known one and hopefully will:

1) Make people realize that "all natural" doesn't mean jack-sh*t for safety and
2) Things like this cause health problems; that's just common-sense.

Many years ago I used the ECA stacks. Once they were hard to get I tried something from GNC and one day had wicked heart palpitations. I knew then that they were a fvcking stupid product to be taking--any of these silly fat burners--and have echoed that over and over for years now whenever anybody on a forum asks. I'd always say that there's no way to know it's not causing long term damage and considering what they do it almost certainly is. In Hydroxycut's case, it seems that was accurate.

Skoorb, I wish people were as well-informed as people on this forum but there are a lot of clueless people out there who believe natural = safe and organic = healthy, which is NOT always true. They are poorly educated consumers and don't do their research, or don't know how. Believe me, you'd be surprised.

This is just another example of our dysfunctional, reactionary regulatory system. Don't insure that something is safe before you sell it, because that would cut into supplement makers' profits. Instead, wait until people develop irreversible or life-threatening symptoms, THEN recall it. In the case of ephedra, some people had to die before the FDA forced a recall.

Call me crazy, but supplements should be as tightly regulated as pharmaceuticals.

 

[marvdmartian]

Originally posted by: Kipper

Call me crazy, but supplements should be as tightly regulated as pharmaceuticals.

Agreed, totally.

Sadly, people think that a pill that's designed to magically burn fat from their body will just leave everything else alone. Yeah, right! :roll:

 

[SlitheryDee]

Years ago I figured Hydroxycut would be ineffective, but at least safe, when they took ephedra out of it. I guess not. Sucks that all the stuff that actually works is too bad for you to remain on the market. No big loss for me because I haven't used supplements of any kind for years, but it still sucks in general.

TANSTAAFL...

 

[imported_Imp]

I guess it's back to Dr. Ho's vibrator then.

 

[StageLeft]

Originally posted by: SlitheryDee
Years ago I figured Hydroxycut would be ineffective, but at least safe, when they took ephedra out of it. I guess not. Sucks that all the stuff that actually works is too bad for you to remain on the market. No big loss for me because I haven't used supplements of any kind for years, but it still sucks in general.

TANSTAAFL...

A lot of people do. See the products that are "caffeine free". Why? Well, just purely marketing. If we figure out that ephedrine has side effects, by having a product without it we shouldn't assume it's safe, but we are inclined to do so. I bet that if I came out with a new food product and packaged it in two different ways and in one way on the label it said mercury free, lead free, follows US law in its creation, not made next to a chemical plant, etc. and the other didn't say that consumers would associate the one with all the silly qualiications with being better for them than the first.

What are we eating now that's bad for us? Artificial sweeteners? That crap in our milk?

 

[Kipper]

Originally posted by: Skoorb

]A lot of people do. See the products that are "caffeine free". Why? Well, just purely marketing. If we figure out that ephedrine has side effects, by having a product without it we shouldn't assume it's safe, but we are inclined to do so. I bet that if I came out with a new food product and packaged it in two different ways and in one way on the label it said mercury free, lead free, follows US law in its creation, not made next to a chemical plant, etc. and the other didn't say that consumers would associate the one with all the silly qualiications with being better for them than the first.

What are we eating now that's bad for us? Artificial sweeteners? That crap in our milk?

You don't have to "bet." Consumers DO associate products that way. Which is why there was a huge uproar among dairy farmers when the FDA allowed certain producers to write on the label that their milk was produced without rGBH (recombinant bovine growth hormone). It put the "label-less" producers at a marked disadvantage. Honestly, I think this entire business of health claims is a slippery slope. You allow one, you eventually have to allow all of them in one shape or form.