A narcotic substance was found in a popular dietary supplement for weight loss

Weight loss drugs "Molecule" and "Molecule plus", which gained popularity thanks to videos on the TikTok social network, contain the narcotic substance sibutramine, Izvestia found out during its own investigation.

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Dietary supplements, which, according to the instructions, contain exclusively natural herbal ingredients, have previously caused concern among users due to a variety of strange side effects such as dry mouth, palpitations, dilated pupils.

Izvestia conducted a control purchase and took the drug "Molecule plus" to the laboratory. Experts of the project of the international association "Anti-counterfeit" "Do not take risks. Check it out!" they found sibutramine in it, an anorexic drug that creates a feeling of false satiety in humans and is used in medicine to treat obesity.

Its sale without a prescription is strictly prohibited, however, in the "Molecule", which is freely sold on the Internet, it is contained in a "horse" dosage of 16.7 mg per capsule, according to the study protocol.

Sibutramine is included in the list of highly potent and toxic substances approved by the government, Alexander Nosenko, head of the Center for the Protection of Copyright Holders of the Anti-Counterfeit Association, reminded Izvestia.

Most medicines registered in Russia containing sibutramine have a dosage of this active substance from 10 to 15 mg. in one capsule, Sergey Zelenets, president of the Association of Organizations for the Examination of the Quality of Medicines and Other Products, told Izvestia.

"This dose was already considered the limit and was prescribed for a short time only in extreme cases — in the absence of an effect and good tolerability. 16.7 mg per capsule is an excess of even the maximum dose, which makes such a drug especially dangerous, especially for people with cardiovascular disorders," the expert noted.

Read more in the exclusive Izvestia article:

Side defect: a drug was found in the popular dietary supplement for weight loss "Molecule"