32
Supplements and Functional Foods
Weight Loss Supplements Considered Potentially Unsafe
by the FDA
Intervention Side Effects Mechanism of Action
Sibutramine
b
Headache,
anxiety, dry
mouth, insomnia,
myocardial infarction
and stroke
Monoamine reuptake
inhibitor, increasing
norepinephrine,
serotonin and
dopamine
concentrations in
the synaptic clefts
and suppressing
hunger. Sibutramine
was removed
f rom the market
as an anti-obesity
pharmaceutical in
2010.
a
Potentially unsafe when synephrine content is higher than recommended daily limits and when
combined with caffeine or unsafe and undeclared synthetic ingredients.
b
Some herbal "weight loss pills" are banned by the FDA due to sibutramine as an active component.
e results of a clinical trial demonstrated prescription sibutramine increased myocardial infarction
and stroke. Despite FDA warnings of the dangers of sibutramine, sibutramine can still be found as a
"hidden ingredient" in weight loss supplements.
(cont'd)
