ASK KAREN: Diet Pills vs FDA

QUESTION: I believe either the 5 or 5:30 p.m. news cast recently was concerning prescription diet pills. Would you be as kind to forward me the link so I can research this information?

ANSWER: We are a week into the New Year and some of you are hanging on to your resolution while others may have already given up. Losing weight is always a top pick for people at the beginning of the year. Should we instead work on exercising more and eating healthier? Maybe in a perfect world, but of course we don’t live in a perfect world.

Sometimes we all need a little bit of extra help or motivation to stay on track with our fitness goals. Some people turn to diet pills or other products that are marketed to help you reach that target weight.

Recently the Food and Drug Administration warned consumers about the dangers of 28 weight loss drugs because they may be harmful.
The FDA’s website says, “Some of the products claim to be “natural” or to contain only “herbal” ingredients, but actually contain potentially harmful ingredients not listed on the
product labels or in promotional advertisements. These products have not been approved by FDA, are illegal, and may be potentially harmful to unsuspecting consumers. “

Here is a complete list of the products cited by the FDA: Fatloss Slimming; 2 Day Diet; 3x Slimming Power; Japan Lingzhi 24 Hours Diet; 5x Imelda Perfect Slimming; 3 Day Diet; 7 Day Herbal Slim; 8 Factor Diet; 7 Diet Day/Night Formula; 999 Fitness Essence; Extrim Plus; GMP; Imelda Perfect Slim; Lida DaiDaihua; Miaozi Slim Capsules; Perfect Slim; Perfect Slim 5x; Phyto Shape; ProSlim Plus; Royal Slimming Formula; Slim 3 in 1; Slim Express 360; Slimtech; Somotrim; Superslim; TripleSlim; Zhen de Shou; and Venom Hyperdrive 3.0.

The FDA recommends that you stop taking any of these weight loss products and talk to your physician immediately. You can also find a link to a complete list of the questionable ingredients that these products may contain and tips for losing weight in a healthy way through http://www.wsls.com, click lifestyles and then health.