PHARMACISTS WARNED ABOUT "WEIGHT LOSS" PRODUCTS

The April 2002 issue of Pharmacist's Letter told pharmacists to advise patients to avoid products containing the following "natural weight loss" ingredients, especially if they are combined with caffeine, guarana, cola nut, mate, or tea: conjugated linoleic acid (in Body Solutions, Diene-O-Lean, Tonalin), 7-keto DHEA (in PatentLEAN, 7-Keto Fuel, 7 Keto Lean)-because little is know about its long-term safety, hydroxycitrate (in Citrimaax, CitriLean, Diet Fuel, Herbalife), ephedra (recalled in Canada), and bitter orange or country mallow (heartleaf) which contains ephedrine-related compounds. Pharmacist's Letter did not mention that pharmacists can help patients avoid products of unproven safety or effectiveness for weight loss by not selling them.

Copyright National Council Against Health Fraud, Inc. May/Jun 2002
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