Diet Pills in Sports
What are Diet Pills?
Diet pills are chemical substances similar to diuretics which assist body in scaling down excess fluids and thus aid in weight loss. However, unlike diuretics, they target the part of the brain responsible for the sensation of hunger. Diet pills function as an appetite suppressor, and trick the brain into thinking that the stomach is full. Caffeine is a major ingredient in many diet pills.
Are Diet Pills Effective?
It is an erroneous claim that use of diet pills result in permanent weight loss and increased energy gain. In most cases the weight loss is temporary and is even accompanied by rapid weight gain, nervous breakdown, and depression. Eating disorders like bulimia, anorexia nervosa, and binge eating can further complicate the matters.
The Darker Side
Diet pills may result in weight loss but also may cause fever, frequent need to urinate, dehydration, headaches, thirst, menstrual irregularities, nausea, kidney failure, certain infections, change of appetite, gastrointestinal disorders, liver and kidney failure, and damage to the heart and blood vessels.
Some diet pills cause abdominal abnormalities, such as diarrhea, as they prevent fat absorption and simply let the fats pass through the body. Some other diet pills prevent the absorption of vitamins from foods.
Diet Pills Containing Ephedrine
Many pills contain ephedrine, which is banned these days owing to its suspicious record of causing extreme anxiety, sleeplessness, high blood pressure and heart problems. There have been many reports where ephedrine extracts have caused serious health risks like such as heart attacks, seizures, depression, strokes and nervousness. Ephedrine is similar to adrenaline in that it dilates the bronchial muscles, raise blood pressure, and stimulate irregular heartbeats. Taking diet pills containing ephedrine with caffeine can result in serious health problems because the ephedrine may over-stimulate the central nervous system.
Diet Pills: Samples
There are many varieties of diet pills available in the market. They include Fahrenheit Diet Pill, SlimQuick, Smartburn, Trimspa Diet Pill, NV Diet Pill, etc. Diet pills like Extreme A-AKG claims to boost Nitric Oxide (NO) levels in the body which results in speedy recovery and increase in muscle size, strength, endurance, power and a perpetually pumped up physique.
Diet pills are used with differing frequency in different sports. It is mainly used in weight maintenance. Sports with weight restrictions such as rowing or wrestling show the largest concentration of diet pill/diuretic use. The usage of diet pills are to be discouraged among sports women. Many resort to them believing the tall claims of the ads. However many sports associations have even banned their use.