We've all gotten the spam messages in our inbox about pills promising immediate weight loss, without the help of diet and exercise. Sure, it may seem tempting, but new research [1] has found that weight-loss supplements widely available for purchase online often include ingredients that are potentially hazardous to your heart.

I am not a fan of weight-loss supplements — I believe that the benefits of exercise and eating healthy far outweigh losing a few quick pounds. However, I know a lot of folks still invest in weight-loss pills, so I wanted to be sure that if you do, you know which ingredients raise a red flag in terms of safety. For a starter list of ingredients in weight-loss supplements that could be dangerous [2] for your heart, .

• Ma huang (also known as Chinese ephedra)
• Bitter orange [3]
• Camellia sinensis
• Green tea
• Buckwheat
• Guarana
• Korean ginseng
• Licorice root
• Synephrine HCl
• Caffeine anhydrous
• Citrus aurantium

I was surprised to see that green tea made the list, but it does contain caffeine. It is better to drink your green tea than take it in a supplement form mixed with other questionable ingredients.

Source [4]