Four years ago, Taylor wanted to lose a few pounds. She experimented with diet pills for three years off and on, from Hydroxy Cut to Quick Trim to lipozene and several others. Transferring schools caused her to put on a little weight, so she turned to diet pills as her main method of weight loss for an upcoming cheerleading season. In September, she was rushed to the hospital for swollen kidneys. In the past two months, she has been to the ER three times, all for kidney problems caused by diet pills.
The sad truth is more and more collegiettes are succumbing to pressures to look like beanpoles from peers and the media. Instead of living a lifestyle committed to eating right and exercising regularly, they’re turning to a dangerous alternatives, like diet pills. Her Campus turned to health and wellness experts Jackie Keller, Susan Holmberg, and Catherine Garceau to get the skinny on the dangers of diet pills.
What are diet pills?
“Most of them fall into the category of appetite suppressants, although there is also the category of fat inhibitors,” says Jackie Keller, wellness coach and founding director of NutriFit, a healthy food company that provides full nutritional support, including fresh meals, food products, educational materials and Professional Wellness Coaching. “But the majority of what I see in [the college] age demographic is over-the-counter or prescription appetite suppressants. These primarily work by tricking the body into believing that you are not hungry, by affecting the brain chemicals that affect appetite.” Diet pills interfere with the hunger signals your brain sends to the rest of your body. Your body is no longer in command of determining one of its basic primary needs, which can start a domino effect with your body’s other cycles, like offsetting your body’s schedule when it comes to bowel movements and menstruation.
Susan Holmberg, a nutritionist, weight coach, and behavioral therapist explains, “diet pills often contain things that act as a laxative and types of fiber that would ideally keep you fuller longer.” Diet pills confuse your body into believing it does not need food when it most likely needs some fuel. Sure, you may be going down a pants size, but at what cost? Your brain and body no longer function naturally; they are under the influence of risky pills.
So what’s in diet pills?
Most girls get so caught up in the excitement of losing weight they don’t even bother looking at the ingredients. Susan Holmberg explains the pills often contain stimulants like guarana (made from the seeds of a Brazilian plant that acts as a stimulant and diuretic) and caffeine. Anyone who has pulled an all-nighter with the help of espresso or Mountain Dew knows the side effects of too much caffeine (think jittery hands and racing heart). Ashley, a senior at Wake Forest, admits the stimulants got to her. “It made my heart rate abnormally fast to the point where it was really scary. It also kept me up at nights and made me very jittery.”
Stimulants like guarana and caffeine not only increase your heart rate, they also induce a rush of adrenaline. “So your body is running on adrenaline, which stimulates the flight-or-fight instinct in your body and makes you feel stressed,” explains Catherine Garceau, Olympian and health educator. Feeling stressed becomes your body’s natural state of being—even when you aren’t stressed. This causes a lot of wear and tear on the body physically, mentally, and emotionally. The consistent adrenaline rush and feelings of stress tire out the body physically, but they also make girls think that feeling this way is healthy and normal—even though it isn’t.
How are girls getting a hold of diet pills?
The most common means of acquiring pills is by walking into a drugstore and picking them up over the counter sans prescription. The over-the-counter medications advertise that you must make changes to diet and exercise to see the results you desire, but there is no accountability. The problem here lies in the fact that no one is monitoring your weight loss, or the other side effects these pills can cause.
Some girls beg doctors to prescribe diet pills, promising they’ll use them to enhance the effects of eating right and exercising. “Every doctor that I know who has been willing to prescribe any of these meds has done so with the promise from the patient that this is temporary and that they are just using it as a leg up to learn to make the changes I mentioned (healthy diet and exercise regimen),” says Holmberg. The bottom line is that diet pills are just an addition to a weight loss goal, not the star of the show. “Some physicians [prescribe pills] just to ‘help the patient get a jump start’, and because their default practice is to prescribe a pill,” says Keller.
Courtney, a student at Indiana University, was prescribed phentermine, a prescription diet pill, for adult ADHD. “I was hesitant at first because I was worried of the side effects. However, not only did it help with my ADHD, I was losing weight too,” Courtney shares. She had a positive experience with the prescription, but doesn’t credit it to the fact that she lost weight. “Since I was taking it for a legitimate reason (other than losing weight) I may have experienced different side effects or results than someone else. For example, a lot of people report loss of sleep and rapid heartbeat, but the medicine had the reverse effect on me and actually helped me feel more calm,” she says. You never know how your body will react to medication—prescription or otherwise—so doctor supervision is very important. You are in charge of your body; likewise, you are in charge of your health. “I would definitely tell women to consult a doctor before taking any kind of diet pill,” Courtney advises.
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Why are women taking diet pills?
“Unfortunately we live in a world and society where we want the solution to be a quick fix,” says Garceau. Popping a pill is easier than committing a few hours to the gym every week and taking the time to prepare healthy meals. Holmberg agrees. “The medications seem to provide a magical way to not change lifestyle and still get the benefit,” she echoes.
TV commercials may promise immediate results, but the fact of the matter is that lasting changes only occur when a healthy diet and exercise regimen is in place. Courtney explains, “You have to keep in mind that the pill causes you to eat LESS which is what causes you to lose weight. It’s not like you’ll wake up and magically want to eat healthy food and work out every day.”
Diet pills are not magic beans; they don’t encourage lasting change. Keller says, “You cannot live on minimal food with any degree of success for very long. So trying to diet by avoiding food is a real prescription for disaster. You do have to eat to live, and eat well to think well, so finding a way to make a friend with food and have it in your life is critical.”
Let’s talk side effects
The experts can recite a whole host of possible side effects, but wait until you hear what other collegiettes™ are saying. Diet pills confuse your brain into thinking your body is not hungry, but your body needs nutrients to survive. If your body doesn’t get proper nutrients, it affects bodily cycles, such as menstruation and bowel movements. Courtney shares: “I did experience some not so fun side effects. It caused my mouth to be really dry, and because the pill suppressed my appetite so much, I did not go to the bathroom regularly.”
That’s manageable though, right? Don’t be fooled—there are some long-term repercussions that could jeopardize your life. Taylor, who swore by diet pills for over three years, has been to the hospital three times in two months. She worries when she thinks about the future of her health. “Since September I have been paying the price for the use of diet pills,” she says. “Diet pills have caused many troubles with my kidneys and it is scary to know that you may never have your health back. I used to think these pills were the best thing that happened to me and I told all of my friends to use them; now I have changed my whole outlook on them.”
Don’t forget the emotional stress diet pills impart. “The cumulative dangers of falling into diet pills include psychological conditioning that ingrains a quick-fix mindset centered on doing anything required to ‘be slim’,” says Garceau. “We’ve all heard that stress is the number one killer. Over time, being in a state of fight or flight (what happens when we run on caffeine, mal-nutrition or other stimulants) can lead to struggles with depression, digestive issues, immunity challenges, infertility, even miscarriages. The cost you pay later isn’t worth it. It’s so important to think long-term early on!”
Making healthy changes
Basically everyone can agree that wholesome food choices and regular exercising are the right way to stay healthy. “These need to be lifetime changes that the individual can learn to sustain without medication. If the changes are temporary, so is the weight loss,” explains Holmberg.
What are some ways you can live out healthy changes that last longer than the latest fad diet?
- Sometimes it’s difficult to tell when we’re thirsty—even if our lips aren’t shriveled or our skin dry, we need to stay hydrated. Drinking plenty of water helps your brain function better and keeps your cells healthy. If you don’t like the feeling of a sloshy stomach, try upping your intake of water-based produce (like lettuce, celery, cucumbers, tomatoes, and watermelon). Since they’re composed of mainly water, they hydrate you during digestion. If you find yourself forgetting to drink water, take a sip when you switch tasks (between blow drying your hair and applying makeup in the morning; after taking history notes but before starting your biology lab).Stay hydrated.
- Eat more produce, less processed. Read the ingredients label on any packaged food in your cupboard and you’ll see the amount of preservatives that goes into processed food. Most packaged foods contain too much salt, which dehydrates you (no bueno!). As often as possible, make fruits and vegetables the highlight of your meal and snacks. They’re a natural source of water, vitamins, mineral, and fiber.
- Bust a move. Going to the gym keeps you fit physically and mentally. When you exercise, your body continues to burn calories even AFTER your workout. It’s also a healthy way to manage feelings of stress and anxiety. A great way to stay motivated is making gym dates with friends. You aren’t going to cancel a workout when you’re looking forward to chatting with your friend!
- Keep a food journal. When you write down every bite you take, you think twice before nibbling on M&Ms or finishing the last bites of your roommate’s mac and cheese. This is another great opportunity to see what kinds of foods you’re really eating. Pop-tarts, ramen noodles, and Kraft macaroni and cheese do not a proper diet make. When you look at your eating habits on a piece of paper, it’s easy to find places to make changes (for example, swap your breakfast Pop-tarts for Greek yogurt and fruit).
Being healthy is not a pill you pop every morning, it’s a lifestyle you commit to. Ditch an unreliable quick fix and adopt a healthy diet and exercise regime. You are in charge of your body and your health!
Sources:
Jackie Keller, wellness coach and founding director of NutriFit
Susan Holmberg, nutritionist, weight coach, and behavioral therapist
Catherine Garceau, Olympian and health educator
Collegiettes from around the country
For further reading:
http://www.thedailybeast.com/newsweek/2009/03/31/too-good-to-be-true.html