Researchers just discovered untested, dangerous chemicals in several common supplements

On a bad day, it could be filled with dangerous, untested, or illegal chemicals that slip past government regulators and provide a dangerous high that could stop your heart.

Researchers at NSF International, a global public health organization that tests products for harmful ingredients, recently discovered four unapproved stimulants similar to 1,3 DMAA—a banned substance—in six common over-the-counter preworkout and dieting supplements. In an interview with Men's Health, John Travis, a Senior Research Scientist at NSF International, described finding a tangled rabbit hole of banned substances and their chemical cousins (chemically similar, but not identical, ingredients with similar effects) present in a half-a-dozen products marketed as preworkout or weight-loss aids.

"We were astonished when we saw these results," Travis said. "When we embarked on the analysis we figured that at least the products would be labeled accurately."

The products are, as follows: "Game Day" manufactured by MAN Sports; "Infrared" and "Triple X" by Gold Star; "2-aminoisoheptane" and "Cannibal Ferox AMPED" by Chaos and Pain; and "Simply Skinny Pollen" by Bee Fit with Trish. As Travis and his team found out, these products were not labeled accurately—and as they investigated, the team started finding more and more untested, banned, or potentially dangerous ingredients.

When people use these preworkouts, Travis explained, "they're sweating, becoming dehydrated," and often using the supplements "in conjunction with caffeine." But DMAA variants and similar compounds are potent enough that "you start to see a cascade of events" that lead to higher blood pressure, higher heart rate, and an increased risk for cardiovascular problems.

NSF International suspects that 1,3-DMAA and its "chemical cousins" are similar to ephedrine or ephedra, which the FDA banned in 2004 because it was causing serious side effects or death.

"Ever since then," Travis said, "A number of supplement manufacturers have been searching for a successor to replace ephedra, to provide that same stimulant, that same kind of kick."

The compound 1,3-DMAA was seen as one such "successor" to ephedra. But in 2011, two U.S. soldiers diedafter using a preworkout called JACK3D, which was loaded with DMAA. After their deaths, the FDA launched an investigation into the drug's potential to contribute to hemorrhagic strokes and sudden death, banned the substance, and pressured JACK3D's makers, USPLabs, to destroy their stocks of the product.

Over the last 18 to 24 months, NSF started noticing an ingredient listed as "2-aminoisoheptane" cropping up in multiple over-the-counter supplements. The products' labels often suggested that "2-aminoisoheptane" was derived from Aconitum kusnezoffii, a rare species of plant in the nightshade family, commonly known as wolfsbane or monkshood. But the NSF researchers were suspicious that 2-aminoisoheptane wasn't a plant byproduct at all, and instead was a disguised name for 1,3-DMAA or a similar compound (known as an "analog" or "chemical cousin.")

What the team found was that not only did several of the products contain 1,3-DMAA, but several of them also contained additional banned or untested substances that could be harmful to users, including chemical cousins of DMAA and "octodrine," another substance unapproved for use in supplements. In total, five of the products contained a DMAA-associated compound, and one, "Game Day," contained octodrine.

In other words, these six preworkouts were filled with a list of sketchy chemical compounds, and people who bought them would have no idea.

Travis told the Daily Mail in a separate interview that it's possible the supplement makers were "duped" by a supplier of "2-aminoisoheptane" or other untested chemicals, or that they accidentally mislabeled the products.

“Consumers need to be careful when taking supplements, especially preworkout and weight-loss products. You can’t always trust what’s on the label,” Dr. Pieter Cohen, an Assistant Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School, and co-author of the study, said in a news release. “These hidden stimulants are drugs, not natural ingredients, and have no place in over-the-counter supplements.”