I thought Yohimbine was banned?

Hi Mario

Yes, the US Dietary Supplement Health & Education Act (DSHEA, the legislation that regulates supplements in the US) basically dictates that substances that can be found in nature can be used in supplements unless and until they are deemed harmful.

Yohimbe has a fairly good safety record (although it depends what you compare it to - water? drugs? foods - see what I mean?).

Because yohimbe has had a few isolated cases of side effects (small numbers considering the amount of usage), the US won't ban it. Because everyone sues each other at the drop of a hat in the US, any product that caused significant harm and was shown to do so, would mean that the maker of the product would get sued into bankruptcy!

This happened to several companies with ephedrine - despite the fact that the bulk of the evidence reviewed by several judges in several hearings showed that only a tiny proportion of the initial deaths were probably caused by ephedrine.

In the UK, Canada and Europe, there is an unfortunate tendency to ban things that aren't dangerous (like the hundreds of forms of safe vitamins and minerals that were recently banned by the European Union). Canada even banned L-carnitine - like what are they thinking???

Anyhow, this leads to a few cowboys getting away with stuff in the US but at least it isn't a "Big Brother" state. The main fact to consider here is that supplements have a very enviable safety record, yet in Europe and Canada, taxpayer's money is being used to over-regulate this industry, which has an impact on these businesses.

The other thing to consider is that the US seems to be moving slightly towards the European model due to some big failures in the last few years by the FDA - they're trying to "flex their muscles" to show that they are still in control - it's all politics...and if it bothers you, make sure and write your local MP and complain!

Great answer guys, and thanks for that detail Mark.