Water; keep out of the reach of children

Water, you constantly hear drink at least eight glasses a day. This clear liquid is essential for life: you can not survive more than 5 or 6 days without it. Most doctors and nutritionist will tell you not only is it essential for life but proving to be a dieters best friend. The next time you are craving a candy bar try a glass of water, you may be surprised to find you no longer desire the candy bar.

This wonderful beverage has no calories, no fat, no sugar, and contains no alcohol; what beverage could possibly be more diet friendly? Imagine my surprise when at my local supermarket I spotted bottled water designed to help you lose weight. Since there is nothing to take out I checked to see what ingredient may have been added.

The first brand I checked contained garcinia cambogia; studies have shown this herb to help mice lose weight but no evidence of weight loss in humans. ABC news did an experiment with Jennifer and Lauren ( sisiters ); Jennifer drink regular bottled water at $6 a case and Lauren drank bottled water containing garcinia cambogia at $40 a case. At the time of the experiment neither sister knew which bottled water they were drinking. Their instructions was to drank a bottle 30 minutes before each meal and another 2 to 4 bottles at some other time during the day. During a four week period Jennifer lost 6 1/2 lbs. dranking bottled water at $6 a case, Lauren lost 5 lbs. dranking bottled water at $40 a case.

The one plus here is that even though garcinia cambogia may not aid in weight loss at least there are no harmful side effects. The same can not be said for yohimbe alkaloids contained in the second brand of diet water. I will add here that this brand of water has a warning label stating “Keep out of the reach of children” and “Sale to minors not recommended“.

Yohimbe alkaloids come from the bark of a tree in Africa; sold in health food stores as a natural aphrodisiac, to treat erectile dysfunction, weight loss, and depression. Some have even smoked yohimbe as a hallucinogen.  

In Germany the Commission E, the country’s herbal regulatory agency, has yohimbe on its list of unapproved herbs.

The commission warns

People with kidney or liver disease, stomach ulcers, heart disease, high blood pressure, low blood pressure, post traumatic disorder, and panic disorder should not take yohimbe.

There is more but it would take close to another paragraph to list all the warnings.

Maybe it is wise to stick with just regular tap water, it is not only going to save you money, it may save your life. 

Category: Uncategorized