The previous ten to fifteen years has witnessed an exploding market of non-prescription dieting and weight loss products. Make no mistake that diet supplement makers know exactly about the power of so called natural products. Not surprisingly using that information and facts in selling is powerful. There are many real and potential problems with this scenario. Initially, some people see the words, natural or herbal, and they think the product is safe. People tend not to question the safeness of these products, plus they are unaware of real risks to health and life. Just about any natural, or herbal, substance can have adverse reactions when used, and you will find other issues related to standard medicines. Still, another situation concerns the individual who has a predisposition to react badly to a certain herb.

But there's much more to consider in this entire scenario with weight loss products. There are far too many herbal plant products for clinical and scientific investigation to completely study for health and safety. What often takes place is a scientific investigation will be performed on behalf, and paid for by, the producer that wants to promote the product. Naturally there exists a conflict of interest in this situation for the research or testing facility. So it is no real shock when the results are good and the claims are terrific. Unfortunately, most of the people do not even take the time to think about these arrangements. But also it is the buyer who is placed at possible risk due to this type of biased testing.

There are many herbal dieting products on the market, but few of these materials have been examined or proven to work in some degree. Ephedra will actually work when coupled with caffeine. The US Food and Drug Administration eventually blocked ephedra because people became critically ill and some died from using it. Well, amazingly enough something completely new made an appearance on shelves, hoodia. Fortunately, some solid research has been done on hoodia, but definitely not enough. You should be aware of that hoodia can present risky potential side effects for certain people. Hoodia tends to block several natural feedback mechanisms involving hunger and thirst. If you've got any medical conditions, and even if you don't, you must find out all you can prior to using it.

Here is a very good example of what can happen with unproven, untested herbal weight loss ingredients. This occurred in Belgium, and what happened is approximately seventy people had failure within their kidneys when they took an herbal diet product. About fifty or so more people encountered damage to their kidneys. Also, both cancerous or precancerous indications were found in thirty seven people who had a kidney taken out. After study, it was found that the manufacturer made an error during the process and used the wrong active organic substance.

There isn't any question that herbs have their place in alternative medicine. The issue is any person who prefers to take them needs to become informed before using any herbal product. The smart and safe way is to conduct overwhelming study if you want to try any kind of herbal product for reducing your weight.