Report warns on herbal weight-loss products

Of course, you would not want to take this form of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) if you were:

a. Not fat.
b. Willing to lose weight the right way.

It is simply not worth the risk.

"Some "herbal" weight-loss products may in fact contain powerful drugs that could put consumers at risk of serious side effects, according to researchers.

Writing in the journal Deutsches Arzteblatt International, German researchers describe the cases of 17 patients who were poisoned after taking "Chinese slimming capsules" sold over the Internet...

Though the products were marketed as "herbal," tests showed that they contained high doses of sibutramine -- the active ingredient in an anti-obesity drug sold as Meridia in the U.S. and Reductil in Europe.

The patients, who were reported to poison-control centers in two German cities, suffered symptoms such as elevated heart rate, chest pain, nausea, vomiting and breathlessness.

In two cases, patients developed temporary psychosis when they used the weight-loss product in combination wit prescribed psychiatric drugs.

Sibutramine is chemically similar to amphetamine, and it enhances the activity of the hormone norepinephrine and the chemical serotonin, which transmits messages to nerve cells and plays a role in appetite, metabolism and mood."

And they harm you using Western drugs in combination with their 11 secret Chinese herbs and spices, to boot.