The hype about the wonder-working powers of slimming tea lured Mrs. Mercy Ugoma to purchase one that almost took her life.
Narrating her experience to SUNDAY PUNCH, Ugoma, who is a pharmacist based in Enugu State, said a friend told her about the efficacy of the tea.
She said, “My friend kept pressuring me to try the tea, she said it could help me lose weight within a few weeks. I think she regularly sold the product which was why she had confidence in it. The first day I tried the tea, I drank it in the morning and by afternoon, my trauma began.
“I started to have palpitations; it was as if I was going to pass out. I was restless, I knew something was wrong. When I checked my blood pressure it was over 140; I had never battled with high blood pressure in my life. No one had to tell me to throw the remaining teabags away. I am glad that the situation did not aggravate into something else. Many cases of kidney disease are linked to slimming tea consumption. What makes matters worse for people like me who use slimming teas to lose weight is that there are so many in the market. One could buy a fake product thinking it is the original. “
In 2013, a Delta State-based Nollywood location manager, Chinedu Epeagba, reportedly died after a brief illness which was believed to have been aggravated by the slimming tea he consumed.
Shortly after he drank the tea, he was taken to a hospital after complaints of weakness but his body did not respond to treatment.
Just like Epeagba, the media was awash with the news of the demise of one Betty Kums in January 2014. An autopsy report revealed it was the side effects of a slimming tea that took her life.
Slimming tea craze
Thirty-year-old Zainab Hazeez is obese and desires a trim figure. Her desire is to have a slender shape which will earn her compliments and admiration.
Hazeez soon began to drink slimming tea and was told by many that it was the ‘miracle cure’ for fat.
Being eager to gain a trim form, she bought many brands of slimming tea. She religiously drank them day and night for weeks as prescribed. But her figure remained unchanged.
“It can be really humiliating when people stare because of one’s weight. I hate going out, most times I prefer to remain indoors. So, I started buying and drinking the tea. There were days I became broke because I had spent my last dime on slimming teas which I was told would burn body fat,” she said.
Hazeez told SUNDAY PUNCH that her battle with excess weight started in 2008.
According to her, in 2008, she weighed over 100kg and she was just 22 years old then.
She added, “That was indeed a lot for my frame, since I was only 5 feet 6 inches tall. I consciously lost some weight in 2010 but the fat found its way back into my body in no time, perhaps due to my carefree lifestyle.
“From time to time, my family and friends teased me about my weight. I got bigger each passing week, and for that reason, I stayed away from most outings; the occasion had to be really important for me to attend. Finding a suitable outfit was a constant nightmare. Shopping was a terrifying activity because most of the outfits I liked did not come in my size. Therefore, I compromised on my preferred beauty and fashion standards by picking clothes that fitted my large size.’’
She further said after her first child in 2012, she became really big and ballooned to her largest size ever.
Hazeez said at a time, she stepped on the scale and found out she weighed a whopping 111.3kg (about 245lb). “I was angry and scared. I remember asking myself two questions: ‘How did I get here?’ and ‘What is the fastest way to get out of here?’ That was how I turned to slimming teas which almost made me broke but they did not work for me. Many times I was also tempted to try herbal remedies,” she said.
Dolapo Adeyemi just like Hazeez, had drunk diverse slimming teas with no positive result to show for it.
The 29-year-old told our correspondent that she used different types so she could lose weight quickly
She said the teas could have affected her health if she had not heeded medical advice to stop taking them.
“As a child I used to wear adult panties because of my size. All through high school, I was mocked by friends. I always felt depressed. I was so desperate to lose weight. I bought all sorts of suppressants and slimming drugs. I also tried active diets but none worked. I believe it is God that preserved my life; some of the drugs I took could have harmed my health. I won’t advise anyone to use drugs for weight loss,” she said.
While it may seem that a person drinking slimming teas has lost a few pounds, doctors say the high laxative content acts as a diuretic (excess urine passage), which can cause dehydration in a healthy person. Dehydration, they said, can lead to other side effects such as fainting, nausea, vomiting and stomach cramps.
Speaking further, a nutritionist at the Federal Medical Centre, Abeokuta, Ogun State, Mr. Okunola Oladimeji, said he would not recommend slimming teas for anybody because of what he termed as their ‘undesirable side effects.’
He explained that the effects of taking slimming teas happen so quickly that the user may end up gaining more weight within little time.
The nutritionist said, ‘‘The source of slimming tea and the composition is sometimes hard on body organs. Hence, I do not recommend it. Weight loss is a serious issue; people have drunk so many things and consumed many things. One of them I consider to be the worst is dry gin. Some people will mix turmeric, cloves or other herb and call it fat burner. They believe it will help them lose weight.”
Describing weight management as involving a lot of discipline and patience, he said many people believe that weight could be shed by merely taking one thing or the other and expecting desired result within few days or weeks.
On his part, a medical doctor, Dr. Shabi Abidemi, said the benefits of tea — antioxidants and polyphenols — could be found in pure tea, adding that the ingredients that come under scrutiny most often are found in products hyped as “slimming tea.”
“It must be noted that the manufacturers and marketers of slimming tea products do not advertise their products as laxative teas. Obviously, they know that the product would sound less appealing to the consumer. Slimming laxative teas possess the same benefits as pure teas, but pure teas do not possess the risks associated with laxative teas. The risks far outweigh any benefits found in slimming tea beverages or slimming tea pills,” Abidemi said.
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