The American public needs to understand and accept this simple truth: Diet pills are poison! They are not a magic cure for weight loss, and they will not transform you into a runway model — but they may kill you.
It is truly frightening that some of the deadliest drugs are bought without a prescription and are used for conditions that can be remedied without medication.
Diet pills should never be an option.
Paying the ultimate price for the opinion of others
How many innocent people have to die before we can bring an end to our obsession with body image?
The most recent death on record is that of Eloise Aimee Parry, a 21-year-old student who died after taking eight diet pills. She was a very normal size and didn’t need to lose weight.
Her mother, Fiona, explained, “It’s a really nasty drug. Once the drug is in your system it does a lot of damage. It doesn’t just burn fat; it destroys your muscles. It turns bodily fluids yellow.” She added, “Doctors didn’t stand a chance of saving her, unfortunately.”
The diet pills contained 2,4-dinitrophenol (DNP), a highly toxic industrial chemical that is not intended for human consumption. All the same, it is sold as a fat-burning substance in diet pills by illegal vendors.
As for poor Eloise, her mother said, “She was literally burning up from within… when her heart stopped they couldn’t revive her. She had crashed.”
“Two tablets was a lethal dose — and she had taken eight.”
Still not convinced of the dangers of diet pills? Maybe you should hear from the victim herself…
Shortly before her death, Eloise realized she was going to die and sent this text message: “I screwed up big time. Binged/purged all night and took four pills at 4 a.m. I took another four when I woke and I started vomiting soon after. I think I am going to die. No one is known to survive if they vomit after taking DNP. I am so scared.”
A warning that comes a little too late for some
After the death of Eloise, Interpol issued a global alert about the diet pills. The warning went out to the police in 190 countries to warn them of the lethal threat from DNP in diet pills.
Eloise’s death was not the only death from these pills, merely the most recent. In 2013, Chris Mapletoft, an 18-year-old rugby player and accomplished student, died after taking diet pills with DNP. Similarly, a 23-year-old medical student, Sarah Houston also died after taking the pills in secret. The list continues to grow, as DNP continues to be sold in the form of diet pills.
According to the Journal Of Medical Toxicity, DNP is linked to more than 60 deaths around the globe. Some people have overdosed quickly, while others took DNP for a length of time before it finally killed them. In the case of Sarah Houston, she took the pills for over 18 months before it took her life.
Regarding the situation of these unregulated and deadly pills, a spokesman for the World Anti-Doping Agency said, “In addition to being produced in clandestine laboratories with no hygiene regulations, without specialist manufacturing knowledge the producers also expose consumers to an increased chance of overdose.”
DNP causes you to cook from the inside
DNP is promoted for weight loss because of how it works in the body. It interrupts the ability of the human body to produce adenosine triphosphate (ATP), which is the energy providing hormone. This interruption causes the body to burn fat instead for energy, which causes an increase of body temperature and sweating.
DNP is not a weight loss solution, it is a death sentence.
According to Dr. Michael Coysh an Accident and Emergency (A&E) registrar in the U.K., “It’s impossible to know how much of the active ingredient is contained in these unregulated tablets. But no amount of DNP is ever safe — it’s not designed for humans.”
DNP was used as a chemical in World War 1 weapons, and it has also been used commercially in pesticides. People who work with DNP have been poisoned after it absorbed through the skin.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) declared that DNP was too toxic for human use “under any circumstance” and it was officially banned in the U.S.
Other deadly drugs in diet pills
Widely marketed diet pills contain other deadly compounds besides DNP. Another form of diet pill, known as Dexaprine, containing a stimulant called DMAA, was responsible for the death of 20-year-old Danni Tripp. The Dexaprine she took had the equivalent impact of 40 cups of coffee. DMAA has also been banned in the U.K., but it is still being sold online.
Earlier this year, the FDA issued a press release to warn consumers not to buy the weight loss supplement, Oxy ELITE Pro Super Thermogenic because it is contaminated with fluoxetine. Fluoxetine is the medication sold under the brand name Prozac.
According to the FDA press release, “FDA laboratory analysis confirmed that Oxy ELITE Pro Super Thermogenic (Lot # 216732, Exp. 04/17) contains fluoxetine. Fluoxetine is an FDA approved drug in a class of drugs called selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) used for treating depression, bulimia, obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), panic disorder, and premenstrual dysphonic disorder (PMDD).”
The press release continued, “Uses of SSRIs have been associated with serious side effects including suicidal thinking, abnormal bleeding, and seizures. In patients on other medications for common conditions (aspirin, ibuprofen, or other drugs for depression, anxiety, bipolar illness, blood clots, chemotherapy, heart conditions, and psychosis), ventricular arrhythmia or sudden death can occur.”
Lack of exercise or overeating is never a justification for putting your life on the line
Sales of diet pills seem to surge significantly in the early spring. Bad weather and holiday overeating makes people less inclined to exercise and more prone to panic about their weight.
When people turn to buying diet pills, they are gambling with their lives. Many of the diet pills marketed online are illegal, ineffectual, and downright deadly. The lack of regulation makes these kinds of purchases a terrible risk.
According to women’s health expert Dr. Adam Kay, “Unless you have a pharmacology degree, you can’t offer advice to someone browsing a website for diet pills other than be very careful. Essentially there isn’t any way to tell what pills are dangerous without going through every single active ingredient and checking them all. But the bad ones don’t always list their ingredients.”
“Ordering any medication over the net is dangerous,” said Dr. Coysh. “It’s generally unregulated, meaning it won’t go through the same safety checks that you get with a prescription drug, so you have no idea exactly what the tablets contain or what levels of substances are within them. Some contain potentially fatal chemicals; others contain nothing at all, but it’s a lottery.”
You only have one life, so don’t gamble it away
No matter how concerned you may be about your body and your weight, diet pills are not the answer. There are numerous resources that can guide you in safe and healthy ways to shed unwanted pounds and heal your body at the same time. Optimizing your health will not only help you lose weight safely, but it will help you to keep it off in the future.
Here are some resources to help you lose weight safely:
http://wellnessmama.com/1241/lose-weight-fast
http://wellnessmama.com/5425/balance-hormones
http://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/weight-loss/in-depth/mayo-clinic-diet/art-20045460
http://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/weight-loss/in-depth/weight-loss/art-20047752
Here at the Alternative Daily, we also have a number of informative articles and resources to help you heal your body and lose weight. We are always looking to help our readers lead healthier lifestyles. If you have any questions or need more information, feel free to reach out to us at any time.
—Kristy Toth
Kristy is a freelance writer with more than twenty years of print and digital media writing experience and over seven years of university study in journalism, broadcasting, and mass communications. She specializes in health and wellness, alternative healing methods, news, the environment, and lifestyles. She currently resides in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan with her family and pets.
Sources:
https://www.thealternativedaily.com/buyer-beware-prozac-found-popular-weight-loss-supplement/
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3067951/Global-alert-killer-diet-pills-Interpol-issue-warning-deaths-six-Britons.html
http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-shropshire-33635222
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-3052008/The-truth-deadly-diet-pills-containing-DNP-Capsules-war-chemicals-scientist-reveals.html
