03:48 PM EDT on Wednesday, May 26, 2004

We continue our weight loss Wednesday segment today with a look at a product that really changed the look of at least one Derby guest this year.

Everyone was talking about how thin Anna Nicole Smith is now, but we wondered: What's in the pill, and if its safe?

This was curvy actress/model Anna Nicole Smith, looking overly voluptuous. In eight months, the new Anna Nicole, less 69 pounds.

She gives credit to a diet supplement called Trimspa-X32.

Mindy Parker tried trimspa last year.

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“I like taking it, because if you’re an eater, you won't eat as much anymore ever. So that's a good part about it.”

The 19-year-old says she has battled a weight problem since she was a kid. She's tried all kinds of diets, but nothing seemed to keep the weight off long term. This was the first time Mindy had ever taken a diet supplement.

“I wasn't really working out when I was taking it. I was just watching what I was eating, doing high protein.”

After two months of taking one to two Trim Spa pills, three to four times a week Mindy said she lost eight pounds. Even though she saw good results she decided to stop using it: “Because it made you feel like your heart would skip a beat. It would do the whole time your taking it.”

She now feels eating right and exercising is the best route for her to take. We talked to registered dietitian Monika Woolsey about Trim Spa.

Monika says that while she believes that people could lose weight by taking Trim Spa, she's concerned about some of the ingredients.

One was hoodia gordonii and the other was vanadium.

According to an ingredient list on Trim Spa’s website, they are both natural appetite suppressants.

“It's a root and it's not something that I was able to find in the National Library of Medicine. Apparently, there are some isolated studies that show that it can help with insulin function, but I did find one study that suggested in large doses of vanadium can drain the appetite center in the brain of the chemicals it needs to function,” she says. “If you ever stopped taking the supplement it might set you up for more serious problems, because that appetite center also controls hormones, moods, sex drive and all kinds of things.”

Monika believes that if you want to see long-term results, eat natural foods and exercise.

“I would recommend highly to read what's in it and to look up information and it's important if your using the internet to look things up, and to not assume because it shows up on the internet is a valid source.”

We tried several times to get a response from the Trim Spa company addressing these concerns, but were unsuccessful.

This product is sold in stores around Kentuckiana and it costs around $40.

Web story produced by Jay Ditzer.