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There is a persistent myth that nature is a nurturing, positive thing and therefore if something says it has all natural ingredients, is herbal or comes with the label organic (Apparently everything else we eat is silica based) it is going to be okay.  To which the common response is that the fecal matter of most bulls is natural and could well come with the label organic.

A chemical is a chemical, wherever it comes from. That includes the sutff in “all natural” diet supplements – “all natural” because we all know nature comes in a handy pill form.

And that includes bitter orange, a common listed ingredient in diet pills. What those pills tend not to tell you is that bitter orange contains a substance called synephrine, which is related to ephedrine. It came into use after ephedrine got rated as a substance you need a prescription for in a lot of countries – both for its negative side effects and its place in manufacturing methamphetamines.

How the chemical works is that it increases your heart rate, causing you to burn more calories – hence giving you short term weight loss. The trouble with this is, that reports are surfacing saying it increases your risk of strokes, may cause arrhythmias and may increase your blood pressure.

Moral of the story, if you are going to go with diet pills, ask your doctor first. That includes when you are thinking of the ones labeled “all-natural”.

 

Comments

 

Christine

January 27, 2010 at 12:02 pm

Dear Bruce, it is not a myth that nature is nurturing and a positive thing to us, because we, us humans are very natural; us and nature are one! Nature is our mother! Unfortunately most people in the so-called civilized society have lost this connection to nature and think that earth is dirty (hence the name dirt for beautiful fertile soil), or the word” soiled” …most people are afraid in and of nature..of snakes, wild animals, to swim in natural waters..etc. What a pity that it has come to that point, that people don’t listen to the wind anymore, to the rustling of leaves,to the song of birds…that people rather watch TV instead of a magnificent sunset as a backdrop of playfully crushing and dancing waves…It has come that far that we all get confused about what is natural and what isn’t. Nature contains many plants that are poisenous, correct, and our knowledge lets us avoid these plants as food. But many poisenous plants can be medicine if take in small doses…again, our knowledge should tell us about the difference…Knowledge has been lost or willfully destroyed (burning of the witches in Europe)….sleeping under the stars and a full moon is very exhilarating and even healing…yes, even the stars in the sky and our planets have influence over us and all of earth…
The Earth is in dire stress right now and needs us to nurture her. Just starting a small backyard garden to grow your own lettuce, spinach, tomatoes will make you aware again of what is natural. In nature, there is no waste. All waste turns back to food. Worms, fungii, insects, bacteria…eat left overs and turn it into soil, nurturing home for new plants to grow. Nature nurtures….you will taste the difference of home-grown veggies to shop-bought. Imagine living in a garden full of fruit & nuts and avocado trees, strawberries, berry bushes, potato plants, abundant butternuts….all you have to do is pick when you are hungry…no packaging waste, no petrol used to get to the shop, no money needed…You know ALL the plants growing in your space and you know all the herbs, and if you have any ailment, you know what to pick and make tea from. Your skin is clear and clean and rosy from all this good food (and being in the fresh sweet air and working physically) ) and you are slim, because you don’t stuff yourself with chips and chocolate. ;-) )) So, who needs diet pills anymore?
Yes, chemicals are everywhere, but beware of the man-made ones. Our world is polluted with over 75.000 of man-made chemicals, which have not existed before…they make ice-bears infertile and cause us to be much more chronically ill then humans have been in history.
Ask any paint producer if they know what is in their paints and if the effects of these chemicals have ever been tested long-term?
I say: back to nature! Nature is good!
:-)
Blessings to you.
Christine
editor of Natural Living Mag
http://www.natural-living.co.za

 

Concerned

January 27, 2010 at 9:27 pm

Christine, while i agreewith your view that nature is beautiful and all fulfilling, i believe this article relates to the perception that is being created within the nutraceutical (vitamin) industry of basically slapping a natural sticker on the packaging and marketing a product as natural. This would then serve as misleading the consumer who unfortunately does not know enough about these products and subsequently buys into this facade. Having worked in the industry it sickens me how companies manage to market certain products as natural i.e. multivitamins to boost energy when in fact, all they contain is caffeine and caffeine substitutes.

I do agree with Bruce that the consumer should not trust all the marketing mumbo-jumbo released in radio ads, but rather seek to inform themselves about the realities of these products posing as natural products. In order to make an informed and ultimately beneficial decision

 

Bluebonnet Vitamins

February 12, 2010 at 9:10 am

Thanks a lot for the post; I really love to read articles which are about medicine especially about pharmacy. These articles keeps my updated about different topics and products that are related to pharmacy especially on multivitamins. I hope to read more from you! Thanks a lot and Kudos!

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  • About

    Bruce Gorton helps put together the TimesLIVE, mostly specialising in science and business. He is liberal, atheist and fairly interested in nonsense and the way it is reaching critical mass. Hence the blog.

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