What's in your Supplements | Who's Spiking The Supplements

What's in your Supplements?; Who's Spiking The Supplements; Dr. Pieter Cohen with Cambridge Health Alliance joined FOX 25 News this morning to explain why people are taking supplements and the dangers of taking over-the-counter supplements spiked with prescription drugs. Cohen will be talking today with Dr. Oz Tuesday January 17/12 on the problem of spiked supplements and how many banned substances are in just one weight loss pill. Marketing drugs in the guise of supplements is illegal in the United States. Tainted Pai You Guo is just one small part of that global business. Federal authorities are struggling to identify and intercept these black-market goods, which, they warn, pose grave health risks.

Where Are These Spiked Supplements Coming From

Pieter Cohen joined Fox25 this morning and had this to say:

"It's really alarming we are talking about supplements that are labeled with botanical, herbal ingredients on the box, and then actually you're taking are banned pharmaceuticals. Were talking about supplements on in store shelfs that are sold for weight loss sitting right next to vitamins and minerals and are sold the same way as vitamins and minerals are. You purchase this product and instead of getting the herbal ingredients you're getting these banned pharmaceuticals."

Pieter Cohen said "we thought unfortunately that a lot of these spiked supplements were coming from the internet at first, a lot coming from China, but it turns out it's coming from all over. We have Utah based manufacturing firms that are purchasing internationally large amounts of substances which they might presume are natural and putting them in supplements. So they can be sold by U.S. companies as well as international companies and thinks it is all done in pursuit of profit the manufacturer is going to place something in that is going to help with weight loss and their not concerned with the health of the consumer."

Pieter Cohen has had some patients that have been seriously affected by this. "The FDA has warned that this substance has been found most common in the diet pills that can cause heart attacks and strokes. Were also seeing unusual side effects such as psychotic breaks in some of these patients taking these substances in the weight loss pills."

How To Know The Good Supplements From The Bad Supplements

If you are someone and you want to go and buy what is natural, how do you distinguish the good and the bad?

Cohen says "Unfortunately today there is no way to tell the difference. My advice in the way of weight loss pills is that there is no herbal ingredient that can actually help you lose weight safely, so it is best to avoid the weight loss aisle in the supplement store, instead spend your money on healthier foods and exercise equipment."

Cohen says there is no magic weight loss pill!

"One thing that was particularly alarming to find in our latest research that we performed at Cambridge was that even after the FDA warned that these dangerous banned medications were in the weight loss pills they still remain on store shelves, so a year later you can go and purchase them today in Framingham, Austin & Boston."

So where is the breakdown in the regulation?

"There is a very laxed regulatory framework so anything can be introduced without any preassessment and the FDA has very limited teeth to be able to actually go in and take these products of the store shelves. With thousands of new products arriving almost on a yearly basis it's almost impossible to police."