Is Your New Year’s Resolution Putting Your Life in Danger?

The most common New Year’s resolutions always involve health: this will be the year we eat better, exercise more, and quit our bad habits. For many people, the overall goal is to lose weight – thus explaining the increase in gym memberships each January – and some people choose to take weight loss supplements to give them a jump start on that loss. But some of those supplements, especially the supposedly “all natural” ones, contain dangerous and undeclared ingredients that can lead to serious, even life-threatening reactions.

The Food and Drug Administration has issued notice of a recall for the following weight loss supplements, sold by brick-and-mortar and online stores, because they include “sibutramine, an appetite suppressant, and phenolphthalein, an ingredient once used in over-the-counter laxatives,” according to Live5News.com:

• Asset Bold
• Asset Extreme
• Evolve
• Infinity
• Jenesis
• La Trim Plus
• Oasis
• Prime
• Slime-X
• Slim Trim U
• Ultimate Formula
• Xcel
• Xcel Advanced
• Zi Xiu Tan

These supplements have not been labeled to include the dangerous drugs. Bee Extremely Amazed LLC, of Jewett, OH, is recalling the supplements voluntarily. Consumers are urged to submit the FDA’s form, and can contact the manufacturer directly: sales@beeextremelyamazed.com or 844.427.6553 (Monday – Friday 8:00 am – 4:00 pm EST.)

The dangers of sibutramine and phenolphthalein

Sibutramine “is a controlled substance that was removed from the market in October 2010 after clinical data indicated that it posed an increased risk of heart attack and stroke,” according to the FDA. It is also associated with:

• Increased blood pressure
• Racing pulse
• Heart arrhythmias
• Congestive heart failure

Phenolphthalein has not been approved for use in the United States at all, and is “a suspected cancer-causing agent.” The Consumerist reports that “phenolphthalein has also been found to be genotoxic, meaning it can damage or cause mutations to DNA.”

This is not the weight loss industry’s first rodeo

In 2015, Cheryl Floyd of Floyd Nutrition was sentenced to 30 months behind bars for this exact same scenario. Her “company sold a number of ‘all natural’ diet products — with names like Slim Trim U, ZXT Slim Bee Pollen, Magic Slim, Lean Body Extreme, Bnew Beauty and Body, and Natural Body Solutions — that federal prosecutors say actually contained the drugs sibutramine and phenolphthalein.” Bee Amazed is simply the next in a long line of fraudulent manufacturers to try it.

That the manufacturer has used dangerous and unapproved medications in its supposedly “all natural” supplements is bad enough; that they lied about using them, and put people’s lives at risk, is especially insidious. Gary Coody, the national health fraud coordinator for the FDA, pointed out that sellers told consumers that they might suffer from extreme thirst, and that any ill effects they experience are the result of the “detoxification” of their bodies. In reality, the side effects that people are feeling are directly related to sibutramine. The drug can interact negatively with other medications taken by people with a history of heart problems (among other conditions).

Weight loss is a slow and frustrating process, and “all natural” supplements that promise fast results are tempting – but they are also untrue. Rapid and sustained weight loss can be very dangerous, even if you are not using supplements. Bee Amazed has played on consumers’ desire to shed their pounds quickly by lying to them. We urge you to contact your doctor is you purchased and used any of the supplements on this list to schedule an appointment. Your life could depend on it.