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alp227

(31,962 posts)
Sat Apr 13, 2013, 02:58 AM Apr 2013

F.D.A. Issues Warning on Workout Supplement

Source: NYT

Certain workout-booster and fat-burning products, sold in recent years by retailers like GNC and Vitamin Shoppe, are illegal and may present serious health hazards to consumers, federal health regulators have determined.

With names like Jack3d and OxyElite Pro, the popular products contain a stimulant known as dimethylamylamine, or DMAA for short. In a public warning late Thursday, the Food and Drug Administration said that the stimulant did not qualify as a legal dietary supplement ingredient and that it could raise blood pressure, potentially causing heart attacks and other health problems.

Since early 2008, the agency has received reports of 86 health problems, including at least five deaths, in consumers who used DMAA products. Although such reports do not prove that the stimulant directly caused the health problems, agency officials warned people not to consume the ingredient.

“We are very concerned,” Daniel Fabricant, the director of F.D.A.’s division of dietary supplements programs, said in a phone interview Friday. “We think consumers should stay away from products containing DMAA.”

Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/13/business/fda-issues-warning-on-workout-booster.html

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F.D.A. Issues Warning on Workout Supplement (Original Post) alp227 Apr 2013 OP
I loved the ad that ran above this post.... lexw Apr 2013 #1
FDA is a joke Trascoli Apr 2013 #2
bottom line Kalidurga Apr 2013 #3
"We are very concerned" and "We think consumers should stay away..." PSPS Apr 2013 #4
I don't think the FDA is allowed to regulate/pull supplements? just a weak warning. Sunlei Apr 2013 #5
I think the warning is helpful bhikkhu Apr 2013 #6
I agree, a warning may save some people from a LD. Sunlei Apr 2013 #7
meanwhile... bunnies Apr 2013 #8

lexw

(804 posts)
1. I loved the ad that ran above this post....
Sat Apr 13, 2013, 03:42 AM
Apr 2013

it showed muscular cartoon characters and was advertising some kind of supplement.
...anyways...that's horrible that 5 people died from a supplement they bought, trusted and digested thinking it would improve their life.

Kalidurga

(14,177 posts)
3. bottom line
Sat Apr 13, 2013, 04:04 AM
Apr 2013

eat more fruits and vegetables. if you eat meat lean meat. avoid processed junk or eat in moderation. count calories and exercise without supplements.

PSPS

(13,516 posts)
4. "We are very concerned" and "We think consumers should stay away..."
Sat Apr 13, 2013, 09:59 AM
Apr 2013

Gee, that's one ballsy "regulating agency!" Let the charlatans continue to poison people so long as the proper portion of the money being made is dutifully laundered into bribes campaign contributions. Just issue a weak "warning" on a Friday news dump so the corruption isn't quite so obvious.

Sunlei

(22,651 posts)
5. I don't think the FDA is allowed to regulate/pull supplements? just a weak warning.
Sat Apr 13, 2013, 10:31 AM
Apr 2013

you just wonder how many people take much more than the recomended amount, thus giving themselves a LD of

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Methylhexanamine.

makes one also wonder how many more people died from this and its not reported. These are popular products.

bhikkhu

(10,708 posts)
6. I think the warning is helpful
Sat Apr 13, 2013, 11:43 AM
Apr 2013

knowing many people in the sports and fitness community. The US doesn't ban as many things as they do in Europe, so its very much a buyer-beware market, and people have to do their own research. If the FDA spends time and money and assesses risks, then puts it out there, that's useful.

The alternatives are doing nothing, saying nothing, or classing a bunch more stuff as narcotics.

Sunlei

(22,651 posts)
7. I agree, a warning may save some people from a LD.
Sat Apr 13, 2013, 11:52 AM
Apr 2013

Makes me think about how much profit there is in these sports drinks/mixtures. The package and promo must cost the most

 

bunnies

(15,859 posts)
8. meanwhile...
Sun Apr 14, 2013, 09:51 AM
Apr 2013


The number of deaths from prescription painkillers -- opioids, such as OxyContin, Vicodin and hydrocodone -- in the United States has now surpassed that of skin cancer, alcoholic liver disease and HIV, according to a new study published online in the British Medical Journal.

The deaths may be linked with an increase in doctors prescribing the drugs to patients with chronic pain -- like osteoarthritis -- and not just cancer patients, according to the University of Toronto researchers.

Between 1999 and 2007, the number of deaths associated with opioid analgesics increased from 4,041 to 14,459, the researchers also reported.

(snip)

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/08/24/painkiller-deaths-opioids-oxycontin-vicodin_n_935552.html

Maybe the FDA should find better things to "warn" about.
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