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Ingredients labeled “natural” may actually be harmful.

“All-natural geranium extract”, only sounds healthy.
However, according to a new study, it’s anything but natural—and it might even be lethal.

Makers of workout and weight-loss products—think diet pills and sports drinks—containing DMAA (1,3-dimethylamylamine) tout it as a natural stimulant, made from geranium plants, that can boost athletic performance. But new research from Daniel Armstrong, PhD, a professor at the University of Texas at Arlington, finds that DMAA is actually a synthetic substance—one that the FDA has received 42 complaints about regarding adverse effects, such as cardiac and psychiatric disorders, as well as death.

In April 2012, the FDA sent warning letters to 10 manufacturers that products containing DMAA are now considered to be “new dietary ingredients” and must meet FD guidelines for safety.

Even if the manufacturers had submitted safety documentation, the FDA probably wouldn’t have accepted it in light of clear evidence to the contrary.

There have been two deaths of U.S. soldiers reported—as well as multiple reports of kidney and liver failure—which led to the Department of Defense banning anything containing DMAA in military bases in 2012.