“Craze” Supplement Has a Meth-Like Ingredient
If you go to sports websites to buy the body-building supplement, Craze, you will frequently get an “out of stock” message. This could be because a recent study has found that the stimulant N,alpha-DEPEA has been found in the powdered supplement, but was not listed as one of the ingredients. N,alpha-DEPEA is untested on humans and is similar to methamphetamine.
“If our findings are confirmed by regulatory authorities, the FDA should take immediate action to warn consumers and remove all N,alpha-DEPEA-containing supplements from the marketplace,” wrote the authors [of a recent] study.
In this study, researchers bought Craze from retailers online as well as in stores. Two independent labs identified N,alpha-DEPEA, causing the study authors to state that it is a “potentially dangerous drug.” The study was conducted by a team of researchers from Harvard Medical School, the National Institute for Public Health and Environment Health Protection from the Netherlands.
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) does not approve supplements the same way it does food and drugs. However, the supplement lists 10 ingredients, the most prominent being creatine monohydrate, which is an additive to help build muscle mass. The FDA has published a 20 page document touting that the ingredient’s safety. The other ingredients listed are naturally occurring substances.
That doesn’t tell us, however, more about N,alpha-DEPEA.
“What’s particularly alarming about finding a completely new drug, in this case a close cousin of methamphetamine, is that we have no idea how it will affect the body,” the lead study author, Pieter Cohen, M.D., of the Harvard Medical School, told Consumer Reports. “Will it be addictive? Will it stimulate the heart and increase the risk of heart attacks?”
It is shocking and frightening to think that all the ingredients in a supplement may not be listed on its label. Be very careful about what you take.
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