The popular weight-loss drug ephedrine may be soon be off the market, but Americans will simply turn to other stimulants, says a Ball State University researcher.
Several major retailers have pulled the drug due to safety concerns. Major League Baseball may soon join the National Football League in banning ephedrine, a supplement linked to heatstroke and heart attacks. The drug may have been a factor in the death last February of Steve Bechler, a pitcher for the Baltimore Orioles.
Despite such risks people are seeking a simple way to lose pounds fast, said Katherine Beals, a nutrition professor.
"American's are looking for a quick fix," said Beals, a dedicated distance runner. "Rather than eating healthfully and exercising, which take time and effort, we would rather pop a pill to lose weight. A pill is thought to be infinitely easier and potentially quicker.
"Unfortunately, as we saw with fen-phen in the 1990s and now with ephedrine, it is also risky," she said. "Yet, a good many Americans are willing to take that risk and forsake their health in the name of looking good."
Fen-phen became the diet craze in the 1990s after research found a positive slimming effect from combining two appetite suppressants, fenfluramine and phentermine.
Beals said that even the fallout caused by several deaths has hardly put a dent in the nation's hunger for weight loss pills.
"Most of the supplements that are sold over-the-counter are worthless at best and dangerous at worst, as in the case of ephedrine," Beals said.
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