The 4 Most Dangerous Types of Weight Loss Supplements

Why Weight Loss Supplements Lead to Long Term Failure.
Way to Die Young #7: Pop Pills

The supplement industry is huge and for a good reason. People want to accomplish the impossible without doing the hard work required. It is human nature to use shortcuts when possible. But, sometimes these shortcuts can lead to a dead end. Nutrition companies sell empty promises and prey on peoples' weaknesses and lack of knowledge.  Do you remember reading cliff/spark notes in college for twenty minutes to avoid reading an entire novel? That is what supplements are. An incomplete version of the original that ultimately leads you to failure.

While there are thousands of supplements, on the road to weight loss exist four types of popular supplements: stimulants, appetite suppressants, blockers and meal replacements.

Stimulants:

Stimulants work by increasing your heart rate and heating up your body creating a thermogenic effect to increase your caloric deficit and metabolic rate. A nice "side effect" can be lack of appetite. The symptoms of chronic use include insomnia, heart problems, anxiety, restlessness and increased tolerance.

Stimulants are highly addictive in many ways. Once you start taking stimulants your tolerance increases and you need more to get the same "buzz". The longer you take them, the higher doses you will require. Once you are accustomed to these higher doses and you decide you want to quit, you are in for a world of pain. If you abuse stimulants your body will suffer painful withdrawals after cessation. The withdrawal symptoms include insomnia, depression, rapid or irregular heartbeat, headaches, fatigue and increased appetite.You will crave stimulants to get you feeling "normal" again. This makes quitting very difficult for the average person. Many people take the stimulants for increased focus or mental clarity. This is how energy drinks are marketed. This is usually accompanied by jitters and a crash. If you are having trouble sleeping stimulants could be to blame. They put your body in a state of unrest when you need to relax. Another reported side effect of stimulant abuse is acne. The stimulants create stress in your body which leads to increased sebum levels which manifests in outbreaks.

Appetite suppressants:

Appetite suppressants simply trick your brain or body into thinking it is full. Some people use fillers, calorie free "food" or fiber supplements to fill their stomachs to capacity without added calories. Other supplements make hunger go away by altering your brain chemistry. Common side effects include insomnia, gastrointestinal issues, and heart problems including high blood pressure. The real problem is the act of taking a pill to cease a natural body function. This would be the same as taking a pill to reduce thirst. It makes no sense. In most healthy adults, the hypothalamus acts to regulate hunger and satiety. Your body signals hunger when you need nourishment or in some cases water. This means you need to eat! Taking these pills interferes with your bodies natural ability to regulate its nutrient uptake. People who generally take these pills have bad dietary habits so they feel they must refrain from eating when they are hungry to avoid excess calories. Instead of blocking your hunger signals, take care of yourself by eating a healthy whole food diet. You will lose just as much weight, if not more, and will not suffer the terrible side effects.

Meal Replacements:

Meal replacements are often marketed as healthy food supplements with minimal calories providing all of your essential nutrients. What they really are is a high sugar low-quality-protein milkshake. You are better off eating a Snickers bar. At least you would expend calories chewing. These shakes are basically candy bars with crushed up multivitamins. In essence they are a complete meal because they contain all three macronutrients (fat, protein and carbohydrate). But they strip these macronutrients down to their most basic form and simplify the complementary nutritional profile of the foods from which they were derived. Since they are in liquid form it is easier to consume more calories in a short period of time. Since you simply chug down a shake your stomach does not have ample time to signal your brain that it is full. This may lead to excess consumption. Since the shake is digested in minimal time you will be hungry far sooner than if you consumed a solid food meal.

Blockers:

Blockers use binding agents or other means to keep certain macronutrients like fat or carbohydrate from being metabolized by your body thus effectively negating the ingested calories. Side effects of popular fat-blockers include diarrhea, oily gas (yes that is right) and frequent bowel movements. Carbohydrate blockers have similar side effects and include diarrhea, upset stomach, gas and heartburn. One of the most dangerous side effects of blockers however, is their interference with vitamin and mineral absorption. Since certain vitamins and minerals require different types of fat for synthesis, they are never absorbed. This alone could lead to an onslaught of other medical conditions. Furthermore, if you are blocking carbs and fats you are only using protein for energy and are missing two-thirds of all essential nutrients. A protein-only diet with no fat or carbohydrate can not be sustained for long. It will actually kill you. Please refer to Wikipedia link on rabbit starvation for more information.

All supplements offer a costly unnatural pattern of consumption that must be maintained in order to achieve your goals. Once you quit taking any of these supplements you will be dissapointed with the immediate weight gain and will likely reintroduce the supplements in a never ending cycle of abuse or return to your old habits. Taking supplements should never replace a practical fitness and diet regime. Something you can maintain for life is the only sensible way to stay healthy and fit. When the reward of a supplement is high its after effects are usually the most detrimental. Avoid chronic illness and abusive behavior by steering clear of weight loss supplements. When you do it on your own you will be a true motivation to others and will propagate responsible weight loss practices. 

Is Weight Related to Grocer Preference?

The secret to weight loss is in your wallet.

Way to Die Young #4: Skimp on Food Budget

To Lose weight you must see food as an investment.  When most people start to budget, the first thing they cut back on is grocery expenses. Not cable TV, not internet but, instead the food they ingest that grants them their livelihood. Every dollar you invest in quality nutrition is $10 saved on future medical care costs. Instead of buying processed junk, opt for fresh local produce and meats. If you eliminate all processed foods you will see a reduction in weight. Guaranteed. Your health will also improve tremendously.

The leading causes of death can all be attributed to poor dietary choices. Diabetes and heart disease are among the most common directly related to diet. An over consumption of refined carbohydrates combined with processed fats contribute to insulin sensitivity and arterial blockage. Many people complain, “I can’t afford to buy local organic produce.” Well how will you afford your statins, blood pressure, and diabetes treatment and medication? It is true that quality food does come with a price premium. Why is it that people will shell out upwards of $500 dollars for the nicest cell phone on the market, but buy the cheapest brand of white bread possible to save $.30 cents? This is your livelihood we are talking about. You truly are what you eat.

Take this excerpt from a recent Washington study:

“In the Seattle area, a region with an average obesity rate of about 20 percent, only about 4 percent of shoppers who filled their carts at Whole Foods Market stores were obese, compared with nearly 40 percent of shoppers at lower-priced Albertsons stores.”

I know this doesn’t mean that the shoppers are skinny because they shop at Whole Foods. But these shoppers make a conscious choice to spend more money on premium foods and they incidentally are thinner. When you spend more money on your groceries you also feel more attachment to the purchased items as they come at a greater cost to you as a consumer. You will eat less because you truly have to ration. Your budgeting now becomes “eat less to save money” instead of “eat more cheap crap.” For example, I eat lunch every day at Whole Foods. I usually try to keep the lunch around $6. This forces me to eat a smaller quantity of food because it is more expensive and I realize I cannot afford to eat as much as my zealous appetite thinks it can handle. The food is also of high quality. If I spent $6 dollars at McDonalds I would more than triple my calorie count and indigestion. This strategy is a win-win.

There are other options that are not as pricey as Whole Foods. Farmer Market grocers have grown in popularity and subsidize their produce losses with higher cost packaged goods. This means that they make little to no money on their fresh vegetables and fruit. They also have very competitive weekly sales.

The basic needs of human life are food, water and shelter. Why skimp on the most fundamental part of life. The nutrients that give us energy and health are nothing to build a budget around. Food first. Don’t you want to live a long healthy life, free from chemical cocktails?