Living Well "Could you shed some light on weight-loss claims?"
That's the e-mail we got last week from reader C.W.
And he's not alone... One of our most requested topics is our opinion on weight-loss supplements.
So I'm just going to say this once and for all... Weight-loss pills are a costly – and potentially fatal – scam.
The truth is, there's no miracle pill that'll help you shed fat safely...
We've railed against weight-loss fads before.
For example, green tea "diet" supplements are extremely dangerous. Hospitals report that dietary supplements like green-tea extract account for about 20% of all drug-related liver diseases.
Remember too, that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) doesn't regulate diet pills and supplements like these. As such, the pills often contain unnecessary or dangerous materials...
In 2015, a short article in the journal Drug Testing and Analysis reviewed 21 brands of dietary pills containing a plant called Acacia rigidula. But 11 of those also contained a form of amphetamine called BMPEA.
That's right, more than half of these pills contained a type of amphetamine, a powerful nerve stimulant. It's known to suppress appetite and sleep in animals, and interfere with the cardiovascular system. But there's no detailed study of what it does to humans. Folks taking these pills had no way of knowing what could happen.
The FDA responded by issuing letters to the companies. But such instances are easy to miss in the mainstream media, meaning many folks didn't know. This is why you can't trust the government to "keep you safe." It's one of the most dangerous ideas out there...
The FDA is mostly hands-off when it comes to supplements. It only pulls a supplement off the market if it can prove the ingredients were adulterated (and unsafe) or misbranded. Proving either cause takes a lot of time.
One tip I'd recommend to folks... the University of Maryland Medical Center hosts pages on popular supplements. They list out the benefits and, most important, the studies backing up those benefits. They also have a list of precautions that you should read and understand before taking any of these pills.
Check their database out right here.
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Longtime readers know using supplements for losing weight, replacing whole foods, and "curing" illnesses is bunk. That's why I'm sharing...
Four Safe Tips for Losing Weight
If you're over 60 and having problems with weight loss, here are a few recommendations to try instead...
1. Get enough exercise. Nothing beats working out to help keep your heart, bones, and muscles healthy... without spending tons of cash for useless pills. For folks in the 60-and-over crowd, strength training is vital.
As I wrote before in January, strength training builds bone and muscle strength and helps prevent fractures. Get started with a "HIIT" (high-intensity interval training) routine too so you can get a full workout in a shorter time (like this one).
2. Don't forgo protein. A few nutritionists' essays we read stated that as we get older, we don't consume as many lean proteins as we once did. Don't let age get in the way of a healthy meal... A great trick I use is to cook up some fish or chicken with olive oil and seasoning along with fresh veggies. It's lean, delicious, and full of vitamins. In fact, the only diet I've ever recommended is the Mediterranean diet – load up on fish, lean meats, olive oil, nuts, and plenty of fruits and veggies (and a glass of wine).
3. Watch your waist, not your scale. Weight itself is misleading, as muscle weighs more than fat. As we wrote before, simple body mass index measurements don't account for important factors like muscle mass, ethnicity, bone density, or sex differences. A better way is to measure your waistline and make sure it's smaller than half your height. So someone who is 5-foot-8 (68 inches) should have a waistline below 34 inches.
4. Practice good eating habits. I outlined three of my favorites – chewing, eating until you're 80% full, and fasting – right here.
Try these tips today and be patient. Metabolism slows with age, but weight loss will happen... Just do it naturally and without all those dangerous pills.
What We're Reading...
- More on the dangers of all those diet drugs.
- Something different: Could you have a Pollock in your garage?
Here's to our health, wealth, and a great retirement,
Dr. David Eifrig and the Retirement Millionaire Daily Research Team
June 20, 2017
P.S. Have a topic you'd like to see us cover? Send it to us at [email protected].