Slimfast causing strokes & Heart Attacks???

Please can someone put my mind at rest.....I've just started on a self imposed Slimfast diet of a shake for breakfast, one for lunch and an evening meal of 600 calories.

I mentioned this to a friend today, who said I should be careful as Slimfast causes strokes and heart attacks? My first thought was "what a load of cobblers, if there was any proof of that, it would have been withdrawn from sale". Has anyone else heard of anything like this? I don't believe it at all and have never heard of any such thing, so I don't know where she's got her information from. I just wanted to check in case anyone else has heard anything.

Don't want to scaremonger anyone, as I simply dont think there is an ounce of truth in it.

Hi Gerry for every diet there will be a horror story somewhere, dont worry unduly as I am sure plenty of folk will be on here soon giving their opinions...good luck with it...xx

Hmmm this is the first I've heard of it but it's kind of ironic as I made an appointment with my Dr this morning because I started to get pains in my chest and my left leg and arm feel numb all the time. I'll mention Slim Fast to him and see what he says.

Don't worry too much.
I doubt very very much that slimfast CAUSES strokes and heart attacks it is more likely that the people who use it are overweight and therefore have a higher risk of suffering from strokes and heart attacks, -sorry to be so blunt!
Cek x

Well I got back from the Dr and he's not worried about my heart but he's getting me tested for MS because of the tingling

Slim Fast responsible for STROKE?

HI everyone, I'm a male 28 years old and my GF suffered a stroke about 2 weeks ago and about a week or more before the stroke she started taking slim fast. she is 41 not fat just a little chubby but still very young to have a stroke. like most here I would say to myself "slim fast" could not be linked to such a case cause they been around for along time. BUT! i have been doing some research and slim fast does contain a chemical called Aspartame which for along time has been know to cause alot of problems to health, but slim fast says that they're product contains such a small amount that its not hazardous to a humans health. but chemicals react differently in everyone's body, according to articles i been reading companies that use aspartame can not be touched if you will.... because lack of evidence of clinical studies of the effects of aspartame (artificial sweetener) I'm no expert in anything medical but i decided to take the slim fast that she didn't drink, for 2 days now i been taking it about 2 per day and i do notice a bit of a headache or little bit of pressure in my head as if my bp goes up or something. now my gf did and does have high bp and high cholesterol which if slim fast does what i think it does then for people that have High bp etc this would definitely be a possibility to cause a stroke. because their are 2 different kinds of strokes ischemic and hemorrhagic. Hemorrhagic stroke is when a blood vessel in the brain ruptures, and an Ischemic stroke like the one my gf suffered is when there is a blockage of blood to a certain part of the brain and so that part of the brain doesn't receive oxygen and starts to die. If this is true slim fast should state on the can and advertisement how certain people should consult a doctor before taking this diet drink. any input would be helpful thank you

100% behind you kazzy spoke to my doctor and he was so pleased with my weightloss he said i would have been more at risk with my weight than anything else. need to quit smoking though he told me to carry on with the ultra slim / slimfast for as long as i need to or feel i need to

I'm sorry to hear about your GF but i'm with Kazzy! I have had high BP since having my daughter but it has gone done since i've been losing weight. The fact that your GF had high BP and cholesterol is a more likely cause for a stroke than slimfast! here is no doubt that losing weight will make me healthier and slimfast is the way i'm choosing to do that right now.

i am sure if some one walked in to the doctors over weight then the doc would be happy for them to go on almost any diet to get their bmi and bloods down to the correct level.
there are dangers in everything these days. even the risk of blood clots from the controceptive pill but we still take the risk and take it.
tampons can cause toxic shock syndrome but we still use them.
when you are over weight we are improving our health by dieting in more ways than one.
life is a risk so we need to live it and enjoy it the best we can and if we are not hapy then should do whatever it takes to try and feel happy again

You know, I found this thread while I was googling "can slim fast cause arm numbness?". The association with the two is very strange. I started taking off brand slim fast probably abut two weeks ago. I noticed about four days ago, I woke up and my arm was numb. I shrugged it off as I just slept wrong. My pinky on my right hand remained numb still for a few hours though. About three days ago I started to notice the numbness waking up and falling asleep. I never even thought of the association with the slim fast until I about reached for one for breakfast. I only drank one of these a day while at work, usually lunch.

This is insane, how ever to the above comment about the aspartame I Believe in that. There used to be this alcoholic drink I bought, called twisted tea. Twisted tea contained aspartame I Believe and it would also give me numbmess in the arm , heart racing and high blood pressure. I stopped drinking it. I don't particularly have high blood pressure but my whole family does. Sometimes I can feel my blood pressure rising almost when I get angry or irritated.

I think from here on out after reading the post I am going to discontinue the slim fast. The links between the two are too close.

Thanks for your input and this post, crazy

IF it was a cause of heart attack and strokes it would be taken off the shelves. Who makes up this stuff.

Slimfast causing strokes & Heart Attacks???

I call bullshit- being fat/overweight/obese/ smoking and the list goes on causes the above.
Yes there has been stuff about aspartame in the media for donkeys years, its in most diet products as a sweetener as is saccharin and splenda.