Deadly Weight Loss Drugs: Don't take these!

The FDA has now issued a warning and a list: 72 over the counter weight loss drugs have now been identified as containing undeclared pharmaceutical ingredients - often in dosages that are considered unsafe.

Four of these drugs have not been approved for sale in the U.S. - one because it is suspected of causing cancer. One is a potent diuretic, while one is an anti-seizure medication.

All of these products pose a serious health risk because the pharmaceutical ingredients can cause problems such as high blood pressure, seizures, tachycardia (rapid heartbeat), palpitations, heart attack, and stroke. The higher the dosage, the bigger the risk.

This is not a trivial warning: taking too much of any of these products could result in death or permanent disability.

Because these weight loss products have been marketed as dietary supplements, they did not come under the scrutiny of the FDA. Had the manufacturers declared the pharmaceutical drugs contained in them, they would have been regulated and at least 4 would have been prohibited from sale in the U.S.

The FDA is now asking for a recall of these products. If it is not forthcoming, they have the authority to seize goods and initiate criminal charges.

To see the list of 72 tainted weight loss products, and learn more about the drugs they contain, go to http://www.fda.gov/cder/consumerinfo/weight_loss_products.htm

These products have been sold over the internet, in hair salons, and at other retail establishments. The FDA warns that more and more products tainted with prescription drugs, including drugs for erectile dysfunction, diabetes, and obesity, are finding their way into the U.S. marketplace.

Most of these products are being imported from other countries such as China, Brazil, Malaysia, and Peru.

If you wish to take weight loss products, be very careful to buy from a trusted source and do a search on the product name before you buy.

Meanwhile, if you are taking any weight loss products, go to the FDA website and check to see if its name is on the list of 72 deadly weight loss drugs.

That link is: http://www.fda.gov/cder/consumerinfo/weight_loss_products.htm

Suffering from diarrhea? Have a candy bar.

That's sounds pretty far fetched, but it's exactly what one woman did when she was on vacation and couldn't find either coconut macaroon cookies or shredded coconut. She found a coconut candy bar and got the same relief.

A little research told me that many people rely on coconut to combat spastic colon and to stop occasional bouts with diarrhea.

It might be worth a try, and if you're headed off to a vacation where the food and water will be vastly different from home, it might be a good idea to take some form of coconut along in your suitcase!

Will eggplant water lower blood pressure?

One thing is certain - every body is different.

While one body might respond beautifully to pharmaceuticals, another may rebel by exhibiting nasty side-effects. That's why trying safe natural remedies is smart. We've read before about garlic as a treatment for high blood pressure, but today I have two more suggestions for you:

The first is eggplant water. The article I read told of a person who not only lowered her blood pressure, but dropped 7 pounds. She felt that in addition to lowering her blood pressure, the eggplant water was helping her insulin resistance, which had made it hard for her to shed pounds. Of course, shedding weight is often the way to lower blood pressure, so...?

In that article, the person was taking 60 ounces a day! So perhaps the water intake also played a role in dropping her blood pressure and making it easier to lose weight. Other references I found recommended only one ounce a day - quite a difference.

The recipe called for floating half a dozen thinly sliced pieces of eggplant on 2 or 3 quarts of water. I would assume you'd leave it overnight, or at least for a few hours, before drinking.

The next suggestion I found was for apple cider vinegar. The person whose story I read had started taking it as a sleep aid and got the side benefits of lowered blood pressure and an end to indigestion.

Finding more than one reference to suggest that apple cider vinegar lowers blood pressure, I also found a variation in recipes. While one person took just a tablespoon full in a tea that included a teaspoon of honey, others believed in either drinking one ounce straight or mixing an ounce in a couple of ounces of water.

Since neither eggplant nor vinegar offer harmful side-effects (unless you have an allergy), try one at a time and see if they give you the blood-pressure lowering benefits that they gave these other people.

Finding a way to eliminate pharmaceuticals and still maintain a healthy blood pressure could be the most beneficial thing you do for yourself this year!

Selenium is good - in moderation

Benjamin Franklin cautioned "All things in moderation," and vitamin and mineral intake is one of the things you should do in moderation.

While selenium is necessary, too much (over 400 micrograms daily) can cause selenium toxicity. Symptoms are hair loss, brittle nails, fatigue, rash, digestive upset, irritability and garlic odor on the breath. In addition, some individuals report muscle cramping.

For nut lovers, this can become a problem. Brazil nuts are high in selenium, and just a half dozen contain more than 500 micrograms.

Some vitamins, such as vitamin C, will flush out of your body if you get too much. Others, such as D & E can build up, causing a vitamin "overdose." So pay attention to the labels. Take the recommended daily requirement and don't double it for good measure!

If you begin having odd symptoms - such as headaches, muscle cramping, aching joints, etc. take a look at your diet. If you've been eating anything in excess - or anything not in your usual diet - do some research and see if you've been over dosing yourself on any vitamin or mineral.

In addition to overdose, don't rule out allergies. Since we're all different and since our bodies are continually changing, you could have an allergy you don't know about.

One clue is a sudden food craving - When your body develops an allergy and is no longer using a food properly, it can become "hungry" for the nutrients in that food - and that hunger will trigger cravings.

Our bodies are complex - but if we pay attention to the warning signs they give us we can often avoid unpleasant symptoms and ward off illness.

Relief for chronic migraines

Do you suffer from migraines?

Do you take vitamins? New information shows that for some people, the addition of Vitamin B-2 can ease or even eliminate migraines.

Other non-prescription remedies include magnesium, coenyme Q10, and the herbs feverfew and butterbur. Since every body is different, what works for one may not work for another, but since migraines are so debilitating, giving these safe and natural remedies a try seems like a good idea.

And here's something else well worth trying: A water filter.

My Mother suffered from migraines most of her life, and often lost days at a time to the pain - and the after-effects of the medications she took to ease the pain. Her doctors didn't offer any solutions except those heavy-duty pain killers.

Then she moved to Arizona for the winter to get my Grandmother out of the cold. And since the water in Arizona wasn't so good, they installed a water filter in the house. And the migraines stopped almost completely.

When she came back home for the summer, the headaches started again, so they installed another water filter and they went away.

This was a standard under-the-sink installation which at that time cost about $29. I suppose they're $69 now, but worth it even if you don't suffer from migraines. It's good to get the contaiminates out of your water as a preventative health measure. The filter she used was the charcoal one - "for taste and odor" is what it says on the label.

We have no idea what was in the water to cause the migraines, because it happened everywhere. City water both in Arizona and Washington and spring water in Idaho all gave her migraines if they weren't filtered. Perhaps it was really the charcoal - and filtering the water through it gave her body a nutrient that it needed to prevent the pain. It didn't matter - what mattered was that she no longer suffered from those terrible headaches.

Of course we wished we'd known sooner, but I'll always be thankful for that accidental discovery.

If you have migraines, try these simple remedies. You might even be able to toss your pain pills!

Vitamin D Deficiency can be Painful

We talked a while back about Vitamin D and important it is to overall health.

A deficiency can lead to brittle bones, joint pain, stiffness, and fatigue - and that makes it a real hazard for older folks, who are already candidates for broken hips, etc.

An article I read recently told about a gentleman who had so much shoulder pain that he could not raise his arm - his range of motion was so limited that it was difficult to put on a shirt or a jacket.

Fortunately for him, he had an endocrinologist who understood about vitamins, and he was tested for Vitamin D deficiency. After about 10 days on 2,000 units per day, his shoulder pain completely disappeared and he once again had full range of motion. The wife who wrote about it considered it a miracle, especially since the orthopedic doctors had been talking about surgery.

This time of year those of us in the Northern climes are especially likely to be low on Vitamin D and should be taking a supplement. When Spring comes we can instead make it a point to get out in the sun for about 15 minutes per day. But, for those who don't get outdoors at all, a supplement is called for year-round.

Joint pain can, of course, be a symptom of arthritis. That's the case for two members of my family: One husband, and one dog. Because I had lost a dog to the prescription drug Rimadyl, I was very careful when the vet prescribed it for this dog. And sure enough, after 2 pills he was throwing up. So we stopped that. The vet gave him a different pill with the same effect. That's when I became determined to find something to help him that wouldn't harm him.

I found it in a product called ArthroIonx - which is nothing more than all natural minerals. When he started on it he couldn't get up into "his" chair and my husband had to lift him into his pickup when they went anywhere. Now, although he is 2 years older, he runs and plays with the other dogs as if he'd never had a broken leg or a torn ligament - or arthritis.

But it gets better. After we saw how this product helped the dog I started wondering if it was safe for human consumption, so I called the company. They said "Absolutely, we just can't advertise it that way because of the FDA rules."

So, I started giving it to my husband. He teased and grumbled about it, so after a couple of months I stopped. A few days later he said "Where's my dog medicine?" I told him I'd quit because he complained and he informed me that he wanted it - he could tell the difference in how his knees felt when he took it.

And that's why I give my husband "dog medicine."

Old Wives Tales are Sometimes True

People make a lot of jokes about old wives' tales and how silly and unsophisticated they are, but did you ever wonder how they came about? Must have been because something worked, or because of repeated observations.

Such must be the case with colds.

Ever since nutrition started to be recognized as a factor in health, people have known that chicken soup really does help alleviate a cold. It seems there's something in the chicken broth, both when eating it and when breathing it, that helps clear congested sinuses.

Now how about going out without your coat in cold weather?

Sophisticated young people pooh-pooh the idea that temperature has anything to do with getting sick. They swear that the only factor is exposure to cold viruses. But recently researchers in Wales had 90 volunteers put their feet in cold water for 20 minutes, while 90 other control subjects did not. Then they tracked all 180 and found that those who had their feet in cold water were more likely to report cold symptoms within the next 5 days.

My own completely unscientific theory is based on watching the people around me. Those who eat good food, get plenty of sleep, and live under a minimum of stress get far fewer colds, no matter what temperatures they're exposed to.

But those who live on a junk-food diet, or who are under a great deal of mental or emotional stress, do get a cold if they become chilled - or if they even miss a few hour's sleep.

Another old wives' habit is to keep a pot of water on the stove during the winter to moisten the air in the house - and researchers now do say that will help prevent the flu from getting a hold on you. Flu bugs like dry air.

Old wives had to make do without all our over-the-counter medications and prescription drugs. When their families got sick they did what they knew to help them recover. But I wonder... I'll bet at least some of them used natural herbs.

You know how much I don't like drugs and all their side-effects. That's why this year I was so glad to learn about some homeopathic cold remedies. A few weeks ago I started to feel a sore throat coming on and started right away with a product called Coldcalm - and the sore throat backed off.

Since then my son told me he uses something called Zicam, and I found a sinus remedy called Sinusalia. The only drawback I can see to any of them is that you're supposed to start taking them at the first sign of a cold - and that isn't always possible.