Clenbuterol, the Illegal Weight Loss Craze

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Clenbuterol, or Clen for short, is the latest weight loss craze to hit Hollywood though it has been used in the weightlifting community for years. The fat burning results are spectacular, earning this drug the nickname of the “size zero pill,” but it is neither safe nor legal. Desperate dieters have it shipped in from Tijuana perhaps explaining why it has become so popular in California where the Mexican border is so close.

So what is Clen exactly? It turns out to be a steroid like drug used to treat asthma in horses. It might have anabolic properties as well and has been known to be illegally used to increase meat production in chickens. The drug has never been tested on humans and was never intended for human consumption but there will always be those who will go to extreme lengths and even put their lives at risk in the hopes of becoming thin.

Clenbuterol acts on the nervous system, increasing metabolism through an increase in core temperature, much like ephedrine or other thermogenics but supposedly without the sleeplessness though there have been recorded accounts of insomnia. Simple side effects include muscle cramps, increased heart rate, headache, sweating and jitteriness but the true risks may be more devastating. In tests on mice the drug has been shown to cause cardiac and skeletal necrosis.

Furthermore, one Clen user has come out to explain how although she lost 10 pounds almost immediately after beginning the drug, the weight loss quickly wore off as she became addicted to the pills, unable to understand why they no longer allowed her to lose weight. As with all other quick weight loss fixes, the body adapts and the dieter ends up with a significant gain often weighing more than initially as the result of a destroyed metabolism.