SlimSpa is a brand name for diet pills. Although these pills are no longer manufactured, you can still purchase them from online retailers. You'll see them listed as "SlimSpa Z23." These pills are not endorsed or recommended by any reputable health or fitness professional. You should consult your doctor before taking any type of diet pill to ensure it won't adversely affect your health or interfere with any of your current prescription medications.
Identification
SlimSpa Z23 diet pills were marketed as a less expensive alternative to TrimSpa X32. Some online retailers list the ingredients and recommended dosages of SlimSpa Z23. One such retailer, Healthful Lifestyle, lists the following active ingredients: chromium, vanadium, glucomannan, citrus naringin, glucosamine HCI, cocoa extract, green tea extract and hoodia gordonii.
Method
According to online vendor Healthful Lifestyle, the instructions for SlimSpa Z23 tell you to take a total of six tablets per day: two capsules in the morning, two capsules about 30 minutes before you eat lunch and two more capsules about 30 minutes before you eat dinner. Each dose must be taken with 8 oz. of water. The water is necessary because the pills are meant to expand inside your stomach, causing you to feel full. If you do not take the pills with water, there's a chance they could become lodged in your throat and begin to swell, posing a choking risk.
TrimSpa X32
Online vendors who still market SlimSpa Z23 claim it contains the same ingredients as TrimSpa, a diet pill famously endorsed by Anna Nicole Smith. TrimSpa products originally contained ephedra, an active ingredient banned by the FDA after it caused several deaths. Following the FDA's ban on ephedra in March of 2004, the manufacturers of TrimSpa reformulated the product. The new name, TrimSpa X32, reflected a formula based on a new active ingredient called "hoodia gordonii," an African cactus extract.
Hoodia
Hoodia is a popular ingredient in weight-loss pills and is not unique to SlimSpa Z23 or TrimSpa X32. Native to Africa, the hoodia cactus contains compounds called steroidal glycosides that may suppress appetite. In the book "Herb-Drug Interactions in Oncology," the authors note that although these steroidal glycosides, called P57AS3 or just P57, did reduce food intake in rats, there is no evidence that the same effect occurs in humans. They also note that there are no clinical studies confirming or refuting hoodia's effect as a weight-loss aid.
Warning
You should not rely on diet pills to lose weight. According to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, many weight-loss pills contain harmful ingredients not declared on the product's ingredient label. In late 2008, the FDA had identified as many as 69 weight-loss products that contained banned substances, controlled substances, cancer-causing solutions, potentially harmful diuretics and even an anti-seizure medicine. Because these ingredients aren't on the label, consumers have no way to protect themselves. Before you take any diet aid, it's important to check the FDA's list of tainted products as well as get the go-ahead from your doctor.
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