Diet Pills: The Truth Behind the Labels

Diet Pills can be confusing and hard to understand! Every different brand of diet pills claims to do something amazing, and you never know which ones are telling the truth and which ones are just scams! This page will provide a small amount of information on several major diet pill brands. If you feel a specific diet pill is missing from this page, please let me know.

The Claims
Dexatrim comes in several different versions (Dexatrim Max, Dexatrim Max20, Dexatrim Natural, Dexatrim Natural Green Tea, and many others) and claims to give you "The Power To Lose Weight!"
How It Works
Dexatrim is hard to pinpoint how it works due to the variety of products that dexatrim offers, as well as the fact that dexatrim is notorious for changing their formulas, and doing so quite often. The early version of dexatrim actually contained a drug called phenylpropanolamine, which was also used in over the counter cold medications to treat pulmonary congestion, by constricting the blood vessels. After an FDA recall of the phenylpropanolamine containing version of the supplement in 2001, dexatrim changed their formula to be ephedra based. After ephedra was banned in 2003, dexatrim changed their formula, yet again, to a blend that contains synephrine, also known as bitter orange extract, caffeine, calcium, guarana, kola nut and green tea. There is little evidence on exactly how Dexatrim works, other than the fact that guarana, caffeine and bitter orange extract act as stimulants, and green tea acts as a thermogenic fat burner.
The Dangers
Dexatrim has been on the market for over 25 years, but has little evidence backing it's effectiveness up. Dexatrim has been known to change it's formulas very often, and use deceptive labelling, such as "All Natural" on it's products. Just because it's natural dosen't mean it's safe, as the "all natural ephedra" ban proved. Based on some of the ingredients, users may be at risk for cardiac problems, headaches, tremors, jitteriness, sensitivity to light, diarrhea, nausea, vomiting and sudden death. Individuals who have a history of heart disease or are sensitive to caffeine may find it in their best interest to avoid this product.Hydroxycut

The Claims
Hydroxycut boasts that it is an "advance weight loss formula," it will make you "lose fat fast," and "increase energy." Hydroxycut claims that it is "clinically proven," and "100% natural." Hydroxycut is advertised in almost every diet and fitness magazine and is ranked second only to Metabolife.
How It Works
As with many diet pills, hydroxycut relies on two key ingredients, Guarana (caffeine) and Ma Huang extract (ephedra). These two stimulants cause an individual to have excess energy and thus, causes them to burn more energy, resulting in weight loss. It should also be warned that Hydroxycut contains Ephedrine which has many of it's own dangers, similar to ephedra.
The Dangers
Some of the most common side effects of Hydroxycut include: feeling jittery, increased blood pressure, increased heart rate, increased sweating, loss of appetite, headaches, feeling faint, fainting, feeling restless. Hydroxycut poses a potential risk to users who are at risk for heart disease, heart attack, or are sensitive to the effects of caffeine.Trimspa

The Claims
Trimspa has a slogan "Become all you've ever envied." They are also famous for their tacky commercials featuring the later Anna Nicole Smith saying "Want my body?" Much of their publicity for the diet aid, came from the scandals that surrounding their spokesperson, Anna Nicole Smith.
How It Works
Before the Ephedra ban by the FDA, Trimspa used to contain Ephedra. It now consists of "three key blends," including a lipotropic blend, appetite control blend, and a thermogenic herbal concentrate blend. Lipotropic means to prevent the buildup of excess fat in the liver. Trimspa's lipotropic blend contains two main ingredients, lechithin and inositol. Lechithin is a very good source of choline, which is a liptropic substance that aids in the digestion and processing of fats in the body. It has also been shown to help lower cholesterol levels. Inositol is required for the production of lecithin and is a key ingredient in cell membranes. Inositol is very important for the proper functioning of the brain, muscles and nerves. Inositol works directly with vitamin B6, vitmain B12, methionine, and choline to prevent the accumulation of fat on the liver. The Trimspa appetite control blend includes several herbs, including peppermint, fennel seed, bittermelon and bladderwreck kelp. All of these herbs are known (but not necessarily proven) to have the effect of curbing the appetite. Some versions of trimspa include hoodia, while others do not. The third blend in Trimspa is the thermogenic blend. The thermogenic blend includes guarana, Ma Huang extract (the chinese name for ephedra, which may or may not be present in trimspa now. Check the label for more information.) blue green algae, ginger root, cinnamon twig and many other herbs. If you take a look at the order of the ingredients you will see that Ma Huang (ephedra) and Guarana (caffeine) are the two dominant ingredients. These two ingredients lead to excess energy causing more fat to be burned in the user.
The Dangers
Just as with any other diet pill, Trimspa does not come without possible side effects. These side effects include, but are not limited to increased energy and hyperactivity, feelings of anxiety, shaking, nervousness and twitching, lightheadedness, fainting, increased heart rate and heart palpitations, increased sweating, increased thirst, increased blood pressure, and decreased appetite. Many of the side affects are very similar, if not related, to caffeine. Individuals who have caffeine sensitivities or heart problems may have many adverse side effects when using Trimspa. These side affects are directly linked to the amount of ephedra and caffeine in the pill, and could lead to the onset of very serious complications.Zantrex-3The Claims
Based on a "clinical study," ephedra-free Zantrex-3 claims to be 546% more effective in aiding weight loss than the best ephedra-based fat burning diet supplements. However, Zantrex-3 never provided any reference or credentials for this study, thus making the results of this study difficult to believe.
How It Works
Zantrex-3 is considered a metabolism booster, which claims to slightly raise body temperature and burn more energy and more calories. Zantrex-3 also claims to work by slowing the rate at which the stomach empties, leaving the user feeling full for longer than they otherwise would. Zantrex-3 takes a lot of credit for the pills effectivity because of it's "proprietary xanthine-based stimulant," which is really just another fancy name for caffeine. The more caffeine and individual ingests, the more energy they have, making the individual more likely to burn more energy and lose more weight.
The Dangers
Zantrex-3's main side affects are quite similar to the side affects of ingesting too much caffeine. It may suprise you to know that a single serving size of Zantrex-3 is equivalent to three cups of coffee, making caffeine side effects more prominent in some individuals. These side affects include: nervousness, heart palpitations, increased heart rates, irritability and jitteriness. When Zantrex-3 is discontinued, many individuals experience withdrawal symptoms, much the same as someone giving up a 9-cups of coffee a day habit would.