Sunday, October 5, 2008

Diet Pills, Are They Harmful?

By Ricardo d Argence

If you have ever looked through the pages of a fitness magazine you could not miss all the different advertisements on diet pills. There always seems to be more pages about diet pills then anything else. So this brings me to ask the question are diet pills harmful or not?

Diet pills have a great potential to help you lose weight and this can be very appealing, especially if you are someone who has struggled to lose weight in the past. But these advantages should be weighed against the possible dangers of diet pills including some dangerous side effects. Before take any diet pill, you should understand what some of the dangers of diet pills can be.

Most diet tabs crushes appetite, which leads to lesser consumption of calories in a day, but consuming lesser calories gives your body insufficient energy and decelerates your metabolism. Obesity is usually caused by a slow metabolism.

Ephedrine is an ingredient in many diet pills that makes your heart beat faster and raises your metabolism which could cause a heart attack or a stroke. People with high blood pressure or those with heart and/or thyroid problems should not take this medicine. This has been connected to many serious illnesses and even deaths.

A usual ingredient in the diet pills is caffeine. Since caffeine raises blood pressure and your heart rate, and this can cause heart attacks or strokes, you should always avoid products that contain more than 300mg of caffeine.

Diet pills can have few to severe symptoms depending on their ingredients. Some diet pills, especially stimulant based pills, can be habit forming and sometimes the use of them is abused. Discuss with your doctor the risk of forming an addiction or signs and symptoms of a possible addiction to a diet pill.

Though these pills or supplements can help you lose weight always do your research before taking a diet pill or food supplement and contact your doctor to make sure that they are safe for you to take. Also make sure to exercise regularly and eat healthy as these will help improve your chances on reaching your weight loss goals.

Although these weight loss drugs do work, an increase in beneficial effects occurs when regular exercise is undertaken along with a change in eating habits. The type of balanced food groups would be oats, cereals, rice, potatoes with fruit and vegetables as the best source of minerals, fiber and vitamins. Good exercise plan with the use of weights will help improve the body's ability to burn off the calories and maintain a healthy heart. - 15266

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