My roomate has just purchased xenadrine in an attempt to lose some weight. He is about 5’6 and over 200 lbs- and tires of being big. He excercises several times and eats right for the most part. My question is this : Is xenadrine really a good fat burning pill or is it another 30 minute infomercial crock? I have read that it helps to lose weight quickly and easily- even when sitting at your own desk by raising ones metabolism. But of course, these words together imply a quick and easy solution. Everyone knows that something that states a quick and easy solution to weight loss is usually a bunch of crap. I have also learned that it can cause the body to become dependant on the drug if taken for too long and/or improperly. I couldn’t find many places on the net that would answer in more detail (I only got links to places to buy this stuff).
Any help (links or otherwise) is greatly appreciated.
According to this, one of the active ingredients is ephedrine, the use of which has been linked to deaths. Check out this web page for details.
What choosybeggar said, especially about the death thing.
Any product based on an ECA mixture (ephedrine, caffeine, and asprin) is principally a stimulant- it’s designed to increase your metabolism. Although you’ll usually see claims of “person X lost 50lb.” on the bottle right next to other claims that [random ECA product] melts fat away" and instructions that say to simply take a pill every few hours, there’s no correlation between that method and permanent weight loss: all you’ll lose is water weight (from the caffeine}, over and over and over. The only way to use permanent weight with these things is to use them as a boost to prolong your exercising. Furthermore, read that bit about the deaths again, one more time, before you choose to use ephedrine at all.
What they said, especially about the death and the water weight things.
One of the hard things about life is that it’s a lot easier for most people to get fat than it is to get skinny (chronically underweight Dopers please note italics before flaming me). A little over a year ago, I weighed over 300 lbs. I am now at about 250. How did I do it? Not by taking speed, I can tell you. The three keys to weight control haven’t changed: less caloric input overall, less calories from fat particularly, and more caloric output overall. Your friend would be surprised what a difference a 30 minute brisk walk can do if repeated daily for a few months.
BTW, at 6-feet-0, I’ve got another 40 or so pound to go before my doctor is happy with my BMI.