Synthetic "Speed" marketed as "All Natural Acacia Rigidula"

Dr. Bomi Joseph

Peak Health Foundation

April 12, 2015

The supplement scam involving Acacia Rigidula

“All Natural” labeling with “All Synthetic” compounds

You only need a supplement if you are deficient in it. 99% of us are 100% OK (“Supplements Not Needed”). Yet the industry is booming because people assume (incorrectly) that there is no harm in taking a supplement, especially a "natural" one.  However, even a "natural" component can be toxic in high dosage or with chronic consumption.

What happens when you think a supplement is natural but is not2? This is the case for many ingredients peddled by the Supplement industry. I will pick one recent example- Acacia Rigidula.

Acacia Rigidula

Acacia Rigidula is also known as “Vachellia rigidula” and is commonly called “Blackbrush Acacia” or “Chaparro Prieto” by the Hispanics.

A patent application by Jared Wheat, and various supplement manufacturers, claim that several amphetamines (that are produced in the laboratory) are found naturally in Acacia Rigidula. The highest concentrations (200-10,000 ppm) were phenethylamine, N-methylphenethylamine, tyramine and N-methyltyramine.  Low concentrations (1-40 ppm) of N,N-dimethyltryptamine, mescaline, and nicotine, were also found.

These “amine” compounds are very important in weight loss dietary supplements because they are “adrenergic.” They stimulate our beta-receptors into raising our metabolic rate, decreasing our appetite and increasing lipolysis (burning fat.)

Great? Absolutely not. Read on.

The amazing presence of such a large range of psychotic compounds, never ever found in nature in a single plant, got us suspicious. We obtained 16 samples of Acacia Rigidula from Texas and Mexico and sent them for testing a reputable lab. We found NONE of the above compounds in them. Not even in trace amounts. They were all duds.

The problem

The adrenergic amine compounds that are claimed to be “naturally” present in Acacia Rigidula are soft variants of “speed.” Methamphetamine has two amine groups and that is why it is so potently addicting. These compounds have one amine group. They are “Meth Jr.”

Taking any supplements that contain these ingredients will turn you into a Jr dope fiend. High on “Jr Crank.” Buzzed on dope and thinking you are buzzed on life.

I can easily tell when someone is taking Meth or Meth Jr. Their liver gets stressed and their ALT and AST levels shoot up. These are blood markers that indicate a stressed liver.

All this, if Acacia Rigidula actually contained what they claim it contains, which it does not. Have I confused you enough?

Recently it was found1 that 52% of supplements labeled as “containing Acacia Rigidula” contained BMPEA (β-Methylphenethylamine or 1-amino-2-phenylpropane) a synthetic isomer of amphetamine (Meth Jr or Crank Jr or Speed Jr.) Kudos to Harvard Medical School Professor, Pieter Cohen, for his efforts. We got set up. The supplement industry quietly filed for a weight loss patent for a plant “naturally” containing synthetic compounds. After the initial puzzlement wore off and they got no reaction they started selling products with the “All Natural Acacia Rigidula.” Except Acacia Rigidula is a dud. In order to get the effect they market they added the synthetic Meth Jr- BMPEA. The Slip-in-the-synthetic-under-the-“all natural”-label trick.

This has started the usual cycle. Some companies pull the products off the shelves, only to “supplement” it with some other new synthetic “Meth Jr” and put it back on the shelves. Others don’t even bother to do that. They just yawn and keep selling. Consumers keep buying because the only thing they read are the marketing materials from these companies. The FDA keeps its hands off the supplement industry. They have their hands full with the Food and Pharmaceutical companies.

In this case, the products included Jetfuel T-300 and Jetfuel Superburn, sold by German American Technologies (GAT). The products are marketed to body builders with the standard claims that these supplements can “increase fat burn”, “suppress appetite” and “enhance alertness.” Vitamin Shoppe pulled the products off the shelves (wanna bet they reappear?).  HiTech Pharmaceuticals, Vitamost and GNC didn’t bother to.

The bothersome part is that I could change the names of the supplement, product and companies and keep posting similar articles every week

References

1. Cohen, Pieter A.; Bloszies, Clayton; Yee, Caleb; Gerona, Roy (2015). "An amphetamine isomer whose efficacy and safety in humans has never been studied, β-methylphenylethylamine (BMPEA), is found in multiple dietary supplements". Drug Testing and Analysis. doi:10.1002/dta.1793.
2. Major retailer pulls amphetamine-type diet supplement, By JESSICA FIRGER, CBS NEWS, April 10, 2015, 5:24 PM http://www.cbsnews.com/news/amphetamine-type-supplement-pulled-off-shelves/