We always knew the stars were hiding their real
diet secrets from us. Diet and exercise? Are you kidding? Right now
it&rsquos all about
Clenbuterol, also known as Clen, which was designed as a treatment for
asthma in horses. Turns out it&rsquos also good for making actresses
super-skinny, and some call it the
size 0 pill. Rumor has it that stylists and others are giving the pills to
their clients to keep them tiny&hellip
Speaking of efforts to lose weight, actress Gwyneth Paltrow is
apparently so desperate to lose weight after giving birth that
she&rsquos scrapped her strict macrobiotic diet in favor of an even
harsher diet made exclusively of turkey, chicken, white fish, vegetables
and bananas. The diet, devised by celebrity health guru
Dr. Nish Joshi, also includes herbal supplements, colonic irrigation,
reflexology and &ldquocupping&rdquo treatments&hellip
>
Finally, in a somewhat bizarre
trend story based on the observations of one shopgirl, the Daily Mail
reports that size 0 clothes are selling like hotcakes.
Except a U.S. size 0 is really a U.K. size 4. According to the story,
these clothes have a 22-inch waist, the equivalent of the average
eight-year-old. Meanwhile, doctors at the nation&rsquos leading eating
disorders clinic are calling for a ban on super-skinny models who
encourage eating disorders in young girls.
(By Sarah White for CalorieLab Calorie Counter News)
Q: I&rsquove heard that celebrities in Hollywood are
taking a new weight-loss drug called clenbuterol
that literally melts away fat. Is it safe? How can I get it?
A: Whoa! Before you start popping pills, take a moment
to learn more about the substance that you might put into your body.
Clenbuterol is a drug for horses. It was
banned by the Food and Drug Administration in 1991, because although the
drug was found to help add extra weight and muscle in show animals,
cases were reported of adverse reactions in people who had consumed the
clenbuterol-tainted meat. The people exhibited impaired heart and lung
function.
In 1998, the FDA then approved clenbuterol's use in
horses suffering with lung obstruction. The clincher? Any horse that
received the drug could not later be slaughtered for food. The U.S.
Department of Agriculture and the FDA still monitor illegal use of the
substance in animals. Product labeling for clenbuterol very clearly
states: &ldquoFor use in horses not intended for food.&rdquo
Still, if you surf though various body-building Web sites, you&rsquoll
find an array of editorials promoting the drug for its lean-muscle-mass
benefits, along with advice on how to use it. Many of these sites imply
that the drug is safe. Some claim that it is used as asthma (but not
weight loss) medication in other countries, however, FDA documents
don&rsquot appear to mention this.
In fact, the FDA has banned clenbuterol for all off-label use. So,
unless you&rsquore a horse with bum lungs, this drug is illegal. The
International Olympic Committee has also banned it.
But some bodybuilders who promote the drug poo poo health concerns.
Apparently, if you&rsquore seeking out perfectly sculpted muscles,
almost anything goes.
Yet, in 2005, the Centers for Disease Control reported 26 cases of
people who were hospitalized for cardiovascular side effects, such as a
racing heart beat and palpitations, nausea and chest pain, after
reportedly taking heroin. Since heroin depresses the nervous system,
these reactions were atypical. Further testing showed that the patients
all had clenbuterol in their urine, suggesting that the
heroin may have been laced with the stuff. Clenbuterol
is considered a poison by the FDA.
Although everyone wants to find an easy way to fat loss, there just
isn&rsquot one. Or, that is, there isn&rsquot one that doesn&rsquot come
packaged with nasty, or even deadly, side effects. Even for the
FDA-approved weight-loss drugs (sibutramine, an appetite suppressant; or
orlistat, a fat blocker) to be prescribed, a person must be officially
obese, with a body mass index over 30, or a BMI of 27 or above if they
have associated risk factors such as insulin resistance or high blood
pressure. The National Institutes of Health guidelines suggest that the
side effects of even these approved drugs are serious enough that one
should take them only after all potential risks have been considered and
behavioral options (read: diet and exercise) have been exhausted.
Diet drugs are always prescribed in conjunction with a healthy diet and
regular exercise. And long term, these drugs produce only minor weight
loss. They&rsquore considered successful if 5 percent to 10 percent of
body weight is kept off for a year or more.