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04.11.2008

StarCaps diet pills contain diuretic bumetanide

In the US StarCaps have been the 'favourite dietary supplement of the jet set' for over a quarter of a century. Celebrities known to use StarCaps include Jack Nicholson, Melanie Griffith and Joan Collins. StarCaps is now so well known that the manufacturer, Nikki Haskell, has become a celebrity herself. Haskell will not welcome the discovery of the diuretic bumetanide in her pills by researchers at the University of Utah.

The analysis was published in the Journal of Analytical Toxicology. The research was carried out at the request of the World Anti-Doping Agency, WADA. The reason for the study is not given in the article, but it looks as though an athlete who took StarCaps was caught out by a doping test.

The researchers found that StarCaps pills contained 0.8 mg of bumetanide. They analysed five pills, and each one contained almost the same amount of the diuretic. The researchers therefore assume that the makers of StarCaps added the substance knowingly to the pills.

Patients for whom bumetanide is prescribed usually take a dose of between 0.5 and 2 mg per day. You only need a small quantity because the body absorbs the substance easily. The StarCaps manufacturer advises users to take two pills daily. This amounts to 1.6 mg bumetanide per day. That weight loss occurs as a result is hardly surprising. You urinate more and lose fluid. It's anything but healthy, and of course you don’t break down fat either.

The StarCaps label does not include the diuretic in its list of ingredients. The dietary supplement officially contains extracts of garlic and papaya. According to the manufacturer, StarCaps is an 'all-natural dietary supplement', that contains no bad substances like 'amphetamines, thyroid, [sic] nicotine and ephedrine'.

That's why StarCaps has been on the market for a quarter of a century, boasts the Wikipedia entry, no doubt compiled by Haskell herself. "StarCaps is one of the oldest and most successful products of its kind. Being all natural StarCaps never ran into any of the problems that fad products have. The product has been on the market for 25 years."

Update: According to Associated Press StarCaps has suspended sales after New Orleans Saints players Jamar Nesbit and Deuce McAllister tested positive for the bumetanide after using StarCaps. [AP October 31, 2008]

Sources:
J Anal Toxicol. 2007 Nov-Dec;31(9):S601-4.