Are Weight Loss Supplements Effective or Risky?

diet pills

Photo credit: bigstock

It’s interesting to note that if you do a Google search of “weight loss supplements” will get you more than 57 million hits. Add the word “magic” in there and you can cut that down to about 8 million results. You can even find weight loss pills that are aimed at children!

Some of these products claim their supplements work like “magic”, other actually have the word “magic” in the product name. No matter who you look at it, using the word “magic” implies that diet supplements work like magic, which means little or no effort on your part. You can just continue on with your life as you always have. Even though that’s probably what got you looking at weight loss pills in the first place.

While multiple surveys show that the use of these weight loss pills is quite common in the US, these same studies fail to support their safety or their efficacy. Most weight loss pills contain ephedra, ephedra like compounds, or caffeine. These are intended to boost your metabolism. For most people, however, this only means you will have trouble sleeping or you will crash on the way down once that pill wears off.

Not only that, but these pills and the stimulants they contain can be very dangerous for people who have heart disease, high blood pressure, or those taking blood pressure medications. You should realize that loading your body with stimulants is not going to improve your health, nor are you going to lose much weight, if any.

Still other weight loss pills are not much more than vitamins, and laxatives. You pay a lot more because it contains the words “diet” and “magic”. Why take a pill when you can actually reap the same benefits by consuming the real food? Why take green tea pills when you can savor some freshly brewed tea in your own home?

 

SEE ALSO: 10 Easy Changes to Your Meals to Lose Weight

 

Eating real food will ensure the optimal absorption of vitamins and nutrients. If you eat right, you won’t need a weight loss pill.

The supplement industry would be wise to be as transparent as possible. As for those looking to lose weight, it’s not that complicated. Avoid sugar, processed fructose, processed foods, and grains. Start eating a healthy diet of organic whole foods and replace those grains with moderate amounts of high-quality protein. Add to that as much of the high-quality healthy fats (such as butter and avocados) that you can eat. Once you have addressed your diet, be sure to get regular exercise and then consider taking a few supplements, including a multivitamin, antioxidant support, and probiotics.

The real truth here is that if these weight loss supplements worked, America wouldn’t have a weight problem, now would we?

Sources:

Articles.mercola.com

Shape.com

Video:

Video:

(By the way, if you’re enjoying this article, you may want to subscribe to the Naturalon’s free newsletter; get breaking news alerts on GMO’s, fluoride, superfoods, natural cures and more… You privacy is protected. Unsubscribe at any time.)

PrevPage: 2 of 2Next
//