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

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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.