banned ingredients

[2strikes]

I was inspired by another thread that I read on this forum and I was wondering if anyone knows what ingredients are actually banned in the US. I know ephedra is, but what else?

[Freddy]

A couple that I know about include: Meridia, Aminorex, Fen-Phen, Rimonbant (Acompila).

[PamelaPoison]

Any prescription ingredients in nonprescription products is banned

[Firefly77]

some ingredients that I have heard are dangerous or banned are bitter orange, germander, yohimbe, comfrey, heartleaf, gamma-hydroxybutyrate acid (GBH), guarana and guar gum. They are ingredients that have been shown to cause dangerous side effects, some of which can be life threatening.

[ChefMel]

some ingredients that I have heard are dangerous or banned are bitter orange, germander, yohimbe, comfrey, heartleaf, gamma-hydroxybutyrate acid (GBH), guarana and guar gum. They are ingredients that have been shown to cause dangerous side effects, some of which can be life threatening.

I think that bitter orange and mahuang are the same thing and they contain ephedra . Is that true? It's so hard to believe what you see online!

[Bean]

Does anyone know all the names for ephedra? For example, is ephedrine the same thing?

[Firefly77]

some ingredients that I have heard are dangerous or banned are bitter orange, germander, yohimbe, comfrey, heartleaf, gamma-hydroxybutyrate acid (GBH), guarana and guar gum. They are ingredients that have been shown to cause dangerous side effects, some of which can be life threatening.

I think that bitter orange and mahuang are the same thing and they contain ephedra . Is that true? It's so hard to believe what you see online!

From what I understand, Bitter Orange is not the same thing as mahuang (another name for ephedra). In other words, Bitter Orange and Ephedra are not the same herb. That said, they can both be dangerous and are similar. In fact, once ephedra was banned, some manufacturers of herbal diet supplements started using bitter orange instead of ephedra because its effects were highly similar.

Bean - Ephedrine is another name for ephedra. In addition to that, some of the other names for ephedra I've found are Belcho, ephedra sinica, popotillo, mahuang, mahuanggen, sea grape, yellow astringent, the de desert, zhong mahuang, yellow horse, joint fir, herbal ecstasy, ephedrine alkaloid, cao mahuang, raisin de mer, teamster's tea, desert herb, and efedra....as you can see there are a lot and that's not even all of them. It only goes to show you need to be extra careful when taking diet pills and supplements and that you need to research all of the ingredients thoroughly!

[JennyR]

Wow...I never knew ephedra had so many names!

[TammyBear]

Firefly,I agree. I think that ephedra and bitter orange are not the same thing. They are similar, but not the same. bitter orange is often nicknamed as "herbal ephedra" so that could be where the confusion is. I think it's synephrine that bitter orange contains. It still has a high risk of side effects and the FDA considers it questionable, but they haven't banned it.

[PennyThoughts]

After reading all of these posts, i think I now understand less than ever about what ingredients are banned or dangerous haha. Is it even possible to know all of this stuff for sure? Does the FDA have a page that can be consulted, or something?

[Firefly77]

After reading all of these posts, i think I now understand less than ever about what ingredients are banned or dangerous haha. Is it even possible to know all of this stuff for sure? Does the FDA have a page that can be consulted, or something?

I know what you mean, Penny Thoughts. It gets really confusing and it starts to get to the point where you feel like many of the company's who manufacture prescription drugs are out to scam you! The Food & Drug Administration does have a website - FDA.gov. In the drug section it does provide information about products that have been recalled or withdrawn from the market. That said, I couldn't really find a list that includes every banned ingredient.