This stimulant is banned in sports but found in dietary supplements. A doctor asks why
Dr. Pieter Cohen studies the borderline between drugs and ingredients billed as botanicals in dietary supplements. In one instance, his research led the Food and Drug Administration to crack down on weight-loss supplements illegally containing BMPEA, a compound chemically akin to amphetamine and linked to serious health risks. Its makers claimed it came from a Southwestern shrub but evidence pointed to its synthetic origin.
Cohen’s latest target is the stimulant higenamine, an ingredient listed on, and the serving sizes also varied, from trace amounts to 110 milligrams per day.
