Weight-loss drugs and supplements: are there safer alternatives?

Obesity is a major cause of health complaints in western developed countries. Problems ranging from apnea to joint pain have been associated with excess weight. Many factors have been attributed to the epidemic of obesity including sedentary lifestyle, high-fat diets and consumption of large amounts of processed foods. Pharmacies and health-food store shelves abound with a vast selection of products promoted for weight-loss. Some of these have made headlines recently for the damaging effect they have on such things as cardiac valvular function. Unfortunately, others will probably follow and original data is presented on potentially dangerous natural products. Alternatives are presented and discussed below. These natural alternatives include such things as digestive enzyme inhibitors (e.g. L-arabinose, hibiscus tea, marine algae, Nomame Herba, etc), anorexics (e.g. monoterpenes such as d-limonene and perillyl alcohol), glucose-uptake inhibitors (e.g. phlorizin), and probiotics as adjuvants. These all-natural products are presented as some possible alternatives to those that could be potentially lethal and are not meant as the only options. Copyright 2002 Harcourt Publishers Ltd.