SAN FRANCISCO (Ivanhoe Broadcast News) -- More
than half the American population is obese, so it's no surprise weight loss
supplements are popular. What is surprising is that these supplements are
not tested for safety. They promise to fight fat, burn fat, and enhance
metabolism, but some of the new ingredients may be dangerous.
"I feel more energetic. I feel like I work out longer." Justin Fortune
thinks his dietary supplements work. Still he has noticed some side effects.
"You feel kind of sweaty, clammy, sometimes a little jittery," he says.
Harmless? Clinical Pharmacologist Christine Haller, M.D., says no. "I would
not tell consumers that it's safe to take these products," she says.
In 2004, the FDA banned weight loss supplements that contained ephedra, a
stimulant that causes stroke and death in some people. But many ephedra-free
supplements contain caffeine and citrus aurantium. "There is some sort of
interaction that when the two stimulants are taken together, there is this
effect on blood pressure and heart rate," says Dr. Haller, of University of
California Medical Center in San Francisco.
In a recent study, she found a single dose of products containing caffeine
and citrus aurantium resulted in an increase in heart rate -- up to an extra
16 beats per minute -- and an increase in blood pressure by up to 12
percent. "It's bad for your heart. It's bad for your kidneys, increases you
risk of stroke," Dr. Haller says.
And that's just in a healthy population. What about people who already have
high blood pressure, like Fortune? Dr. Haller says it could be enough to
cause them to be at an increased risk for a heart attack or a stroke. But in
the quest for that lean, chiseled body, that may be a fact overlooked.
Fortune says, "Knowing the type of person I am, I don't know if I would do
anything about it." He thought the risk was worth it, but he recently had
his blood pressure checked. It was so high his doctor said that in the ER,
he'd be admitted for at least a couple of days. Justin is no longer taking
supplements containing caffeine and citrus aurantium, which is also known as
bitter orange and synephrine.
