A SURVEY OF MARKETED AYURVEDIC/HERBAL ANTI-OBESITY PRODUCTS
Keywords:
Ayurveda, Herbal, Weight loss, Anti-obesityAbstract
Objective: Ayurvedic/herbal medicines are easy to access and hence are becoming alternative for obesity management. The present study was done to find out the availability of herbal anti-obesity drugs in pharmacy and online website.
Methods: A cross-sectional survey on ayurvedic/herbal drugs in local pharmacies was conducted in order to obtain data for accessible marketed anti-obesity formulations. A total of 15 pharmacies and 40 online websites were selected randomly and data available with respect to the anti-obesity formulations using predefined criteria was collected.
Results: The information revealed the presence of 65 formulations on these two outlets. The study showed 20 (31%) products were available in pharmacies, 15 (23%) were available only through online shopping while 30 (46%) products were available for marketing at both the places. The study results showed that highest 41% of the herbal medicine have triphala followed by garcinia and guggul as part of the composition or used individually. As per pharmacist, 60-70% of herbal anti-obesity drugs are being purchased without a prescription. There are many online websites available, selling herbal anti-obesity drugs with titles of safety and guaranteed weight loss.
Conclusion: The study revealed the rampant availability of ayurvedic/herbal drugs in the market possibly due to the attractive names, tall claims and assumed safety about these drugs.Â
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