Since ephedra was banned many of those people continued to search the internet for weight loss products with ephedra.

Why did all those people continue to look for a product the FDA said was dangerous?

They continued to search for ephedra because they did not want to be fat. Being fat or overweight is, according to doctors and the government, also dangerous.

It is claimed that being even just a little overweight can lead to an earlier death.

One study, in the New England Journal of Medicine, reported people who were overweight at age 50 had a 20% to 40% higher risk of death than normal-weight people. Overweight was reported as carrying up to 30 extra pounds.

Almost everyday we are bombarded with how fat we are and the dangers we are placing on our bodies, but millions of people safely took ephedra weight loss products and lost weight or kept weight off.

If ephedra had not worked, would people have used it for years? If ephedra had not worked for some people then why are tens of thousands of searches performed every month by people who want to lose weight?

So the FDA still allows expensive prescription drugs to dominate the market. These weight loss drugs are also very questionable as to their safety and side effects, but they are still allowed.

One of the more popular legal prescription weight loss drugs is Phentermine.

Here are some of the possible side effects: changes in sex drive; constipation; diarrhea; difficulty sleeping; dizziness; dry mouth; headache; impotence; nervousness; sleeplessness; bizarre behavior; chest pain; fainting; fast heartbeat; shortness of breath; swelling of the legs and feet; tremor.

While not a complete list of side effects, that FDA approved weight loss drug sounds pretty scary. It can also be habit forming.

While ephedra weight loss products were singled out as a dangerous herbal product there are strong indications that the FDA would like to remove even more herbal products from the shelves.

In the interest of protecting the public, of course.