Hello tinkywinkey,
Overall, I would recommend that you avoid TrimSpa or any other type of
commercial weight loss supplement and perhaps try some other less
expensive herbal supplements to lose weight, such as a green tea
extract. Any type of weight-loss supplement that you will find will
basically be a type of amphetamine which speeds up your metabolism and
causes you to lose weight that way. They are not marketed as
amphetamine-type pills, and that's for good reason. People are wary of
amphetamines and know the side effects that they can cause. Most
weight loss supplements can also cause these same side effects, not
coincidentally. Most of them are not healthy, especially when taken on
a sustained basis. And of course, when you stop taking them, if you
have not instituted a regular diet and exercise regimen, you will
probably gain the weight back.
When evaluating any type of supplement or pill (even one that has been
prescribed for you by a physician!), you should find out what the
ingredients are and look them up on the web. You cannot trust sites
like the one you cited in your question. It looks more like an
advertisement than anything else and a site like that cannot be
trusted to give you the unbiased information you need. You can look a
supplement up by checking on reliable sources such as Pubmed
(http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi), Google Groups
(groups.google.com), Google Scholar (scholar.google.com) and on
Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page). It helps to find
out any medical names for the supplement and that will filter out the
spam sites from a search.
Here's why I give these recommendations. Here are the ingredients of TrimSpa:
Supplement Facts
Serving Size: 2 tabs
Servings per Container: 30
Amount Per Serving % Daily Value**
Chromium 150mcg 125
Vanadium 30mcg ?
Glucomannan 400mg ?
Sodium Carboxymethylcellulose 100mg ?
Citrus Naringinine 10mg ?
Glucosamine HCI 100mg ?
Cocoa Extract 400mg ?
Green Tea Extract 250mg ?
Hoodia Gordonii Cactus 150mg ?
Trimspa X32 ingredients--
http://www.trimspa.com/main/cef_ingredients.shtml
Its main ingredient, hoodia, is an African plant that might help with
appetite suppression. However, hoodia has only been the subject of
Western studies since about 2003, and never to a double-blind
clinically reviewed study, so its long-term effects cannot be known
for sure. The African bushmen who take it on a regular basis to stave
off hunger during long hunting trips don't seem to have had any ill
effects from it, but its safety cannot be stated with 100 percent
surety. It very well might be a safe and effective drug-- however, the
same thing was once thought of fen-phen and ephedra and they were
later banned from use in supplements.
TrimSpa contains an amount of chromium that, especially if combined
with chromium in other multivitamins or supplements, could go above
the safe recommended amount of daily chromium for the body.
Another ingredient, tyramine, can be known to cause migraine headaches
and is not recommended to take with any MAOI inhibitors.
Basically, TrimSpa is an expensive supplement which contains hoodia,
which has not been proven to be safe in a double-blind clinical study.
It may help you lose weight, but a lot of things will.
"Consumer Reports" has tried to do a report on hoodia's effectiveness
and reached the conclusion that there was simply not enough data
available on hoodia to be able to recommend it. TrimSpa has made
claims that hoodia can help you lose weight-- but the FDA has notified
them that they cannot say that hoodia is either safe or effective
because there is no proof that it is.
Here is some further information on TrimSpa:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TrimSpa
Furthermore, TrimSpa is now the subject of a lawsuit claiming that it
doesn't actaully contain any hoodia at all.
Wikipedia-- Hoodia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hoodia
At the end of the Hoodia entry, there are numerous articles on the
subject, all of which are interesting as to the subject of Hoodia's
legitimacy.
Instead, I recommend one of the ingredients in TrimSpa, green tea
extract, which on its own may be able to aid you in losing weight.
Here are some studies on the subject, which seem to correlate the
hypothesis that it is helpful in losing weight:
American Journal of Clinical Nutrition
http://www.ajcn.org/cgi/reprint/72/5/1232
Phytomedicine
http://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/urban/211/2002/00000009/00000001/art00002
Google Scholar search results page:
http://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=green+tea+weight+loss&hl=en&lr=&c2coff=1&btnG=Search
Pubmed search results:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=pubmed&cmd=Retrieve&dopt=AbstractPlus&list_uids=16840650&query_hl=4&itool=pubmed_docsum
British Journal of Nutrition:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?itool=abstractplus&db=pubmed&cmd=Retrieve&dopt=abstractplus&list_uids=15005829
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=pubmed&cmd=Retrieve&dopt=AbstractPlus&list_uids=16351782&query_hl=4&itool=pubmed_docsum
As you can see, these are all scientific studies published in
established medical journals. It is not hearsay, which is what you
would hear about TrimSpa on many websites and from friends. There is
evidence in these studies that green tea helps lose weight. There is
no medical evidence that supplements such as TrimSpa do the same, and
they are much more expensive than a simple green tea extract pill.
Diet and exercise would help in this process, of course.
Nothing is a miracle cure, but I would say that trying a green tea
extract is your best bet. It couldn't hurt and it very well may help.
You could also get these benefits by drinking green tea, of course.
Green tea has also been proven to have numerous antioxidants that
prevent cancer, so even if it doesn't help you lose weight it will
help you in other ways.
Sources:
BBC News
"Sampling the Kalahari cactus diet"
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/correspondent/2947810.stm
Trimspa website
http://www.trimspa.com/main/cef.shtml
World Village
http://blog.worldvillage.com/health/can_trimspa_flatten_your_body_fat.html
Search terms:
appetite suppressant wikipedia
on Google Scholar (scholar.google.com)
green tea extract weight loss
If you need any additional help or clarification, let me know and I'll
be glad to assist you!
--keystroke-ga |
