When students want to lose weight, they want to do it fast. With all the new diet crazes out there today, the options are numerous. Among these options are weight-loss supplements, which have raised controversy over the last few months, after certain pills were pulled off the market for endangering people’s health.
Although it may seem like a quick way to lose those few extra pounds, taking supplements may cause risk to disease, and there are healthier, more efficient ways to lose weight.
According to the Federal Drug Administration, dietary supplements are “products taken by mouth that contain a ‘dietary ingredient’ intended to supplement the diet.” These “ingredients” often include certain herbs, vitamins or minerals, and also can be used as extracts and concentrates.
“It is better to eat whole foods than to take supplements,” said Dr. Marlene Most, a dietitian at the Pennington Biomedical Research Center. “There are so many compounds in foods. With supplements, you are pulling out one thing, but when you are looking at a variety of fruits and vegetables, you are getting thousands of compounds.”
Many of these weight-loss supplements for sale may still contain the drug ephedra, said Carol O’Neal, associate professor of Human Ecology.
In February, the Federal Drug Administration issued a final rule against the sale of supplements containing ephedra, after the drug was determined as a cause in many diseases, such as heart attacks, changes in blood pressure and strokes.
According to the FDA Web site, the FDA did not take action against this drug sooner because the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act requires that the manufacturer of the supplements ensure the safety of the product first. The FDA must develop evidence before taking a drug off the market. Often, dietary supplements are not even registered with the FDA, or even approved. When the FDA was turned down from regulating ephedra in 1997, they took their research further to find more information. Finally, in December 2003, the FDA put out an alert on the drug, after linking ephedra as a cause of different diseases, including heart attacks and strokes.
“A lot of students think weight loss supplements are herbs and all-natural, but they aren’t healthy, ” O’Neal said. “Natural isn’t always better.”
Students visit the Student Health Center looking for ways to lose weight, and many of them take, or have taken weight loss supplements, said Dietitian, Autumn Douglas.
Many students don’t have the time during the day to actually eat a healthy meal, said O’Neal. Between class, jobs, and studying, finding a nutritious meal, especially on campus, is a difficult thing to do.
“I had one student remark that she had bought fruit, but it had gone bad by the time she got to it,” said O’Neal. “She said the fruit didn’t wait for her.”
O’Neal said that in order to find better nutrition on campus, she had her students go out and find places located near school that sold fruits and vegetables. They came back with a number of names, including Chartwells, and various fruits and vegetables stands.
Because so many students do not take the time to eat fruits and vegetables, sometimes taking a supplement can be necessary.
Women who have the potential to have children, which includes most female students at the University, should have an intake of 400 mg of folate a day, O’Neal said.
“Folate is a B vitamin contained in leafy green vegetables,” O’Neal said. “Students could get them from just vegetables, but I know they don’t eat them.”
There are also special circumstances when dietary supplements are useful.
Students who have special medical problems, like those who are lactose intolerant, can benefit from taking calcium supplements, O’Neal said. Others can benefit from multi-vitamins.
When taking weight loss supplements, students need to be careful.
“People often take more than the recommended dose,” Douglas said. “The amount of the plant put in the pills are also very inconsistent.”
This inconsistencey can hurt the person taking them — one moment they may be taking one amount, and the next they may be taking more or less than the dosage on the bottle.
“Some supplements taken in large doses can cause liver problems, increase of blood pressure, and blood thinning,” Douglas said.
Out of the top 10 deaths in the United States, four of these death are nutrition-related, said O’Neal. Bad nutrition can be a cause of heart disease, which can take the lives of people at a very early age.
“Children as young as two die from heart problems,” said O’Neal. “Heart disease begins in children. It isn’t something to worry about later in life; it’s time to start now.”
A whole food diet is much more beneficial, and gives students a better, healthier way of losing weight, Most said. Just because supplements may seem like an easy way to lose weight, doesn’t mean they don’t have risks, or are even the best way to shed a few pounds.