The Hidden Risks of Slimming Tea

Nowadays, people have this obsession with staying fit, and more importantly, slim, due to several reasons: the alarming rates of obesity and the risks surrounding it, the pop culture notion that staying slim is always in vogue, and so on. And it is because of these reasons that slimming tea is a fad among those people who want to shed pounds as quickly as possible, without having to rely too much on strenuous, not to mention time consuming exercise routines. It does sound too good to be true, does it? Well, that is because it maybe is too good to be true, as most slimming agents nowadays have a bunch of risks hidden within their ingredient lists. Take this article, then, as a guide to knowing just what these risks are.

The first and foremost risky ingredient of any slimming tea, tablet or any other food or drink supplement is the laxative. The most popular laxative in slimming agents used nowadays is the herbal extract senna. What most people do not know, however, is that despite its herbal nature, senna is actually a really powerful laxative, sometimes to the point that it is the one prescribed by doctors for people whose constipations are so severe that simple stool softeners are rendered ineffective. Furthermore, a senna prescription usually lasts for only a week, another testament to how strong this natural extract is, and how dangerous it is when ingested in large quantities.

Thus, excessive drinking of senna laced slimming tea can cause such symptoms as severe dehydration and complications in the digestive system, particularly in the intestinal area. When ignored, such grave symptoms can even lead to death. This is how serious abuse of said teas can get.

Another level of complication arises when the said product is taken by people who are affected with an eating disorder such as bulimia or anorexia. This is due to the fact that they may claim that the slimming tea they are using has a strong cleansing effect on their body, when the truth is that it is the laxative that is working, doing its job of draining your body of water and other precious fluids in the process. Needless to say, this sort of “cleansing” may prove to be fatal if used for long periods of time. In fact, many so called “health foods” and “health drinks” actually contain laxatives, usually hidden within their long ingredient lists.

What, then, is the best way for finding a slimming tea that will not simply drain you of water until you die, you ask? The first and best solution, as any fitness expert will tell you, is knowledge. Do some research on the product you intend to use, especially on the precise list of ingredients it contains. Also, be wary when a product advertises itself as a “slimming product”. After all, even green tea, healthy as it may be, can be a potentially fatal product when laced with too much herbal laxative.

In the end, however, for slimming down and staying healthy while you are at it, no slimming tea or other similar fitness fad, short of a miracle, can match the effects of good old actual exercise and a good old balanced diet. There are several little tricks you can do that go a long way to keeping you fit in the end: reduce the number of calories you take in each day, spend around half an hour each day doing an exercise worthy activity, eat small yet balanced meals, and so on. In the end, after all, it is better to slim down slowly and live than to slim down quickly and die.