'Biggest Loser' Drugs Contestants So They'd Lose Weight?

NBC's The Biggest Loser has already had their fair share of controversies in the past. One example was when trainer Jillian Michaels was caught giving her team caffeine supplements to boost their weight loss. But it seems that the controversy just keeps on coming for this show as more contestants turn to the media to expose more perverse secrets the show have.

In an article by the New York Post, The Biggest Loser's ethics was called into question by a number of ex-hopefuls. According to the publication's sources, these contestants were encouraged to lie about their weight and take street drugs while they starve themselves on the show. One of the accusers, Suzanne Mendonca, spoke to ET on Monday saying that the show hurts people.

"I have heard people take diuretics on my season and I did hear [trainer] Bob [Harper] speaking about ephedra pills." Ephedra is a substance that was banned by the FDA in 2004, and is used to promote weight loss and boost energy. Additionally, Mendonca claimed that contestants would take amphetamines, throw up in the bathroom, and pass out in Dr. Robert Huizenga's office at the finale weigh-in.

"They dehydrate themselves," Mendonca said. "I've seen numerous contestants pass out in his office. Throughout my season, contestants were rushed to the hospital."

Harper furiously denied the allegations against him stating, "These allegations are absolutely false and are in direct conflict with my lifelong devotion to health and fitness."

According to Medical Daily, a recent study from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) found that nearly all of the 14 contestants who took part in the Biggest Loser's eighth season gained a huge chunk of their weight back. The dramatic weight loss was based on starvation, drugs, and intense physical activity slowed their metabolism down to a point that made it much harder to maintain the weight loss in the following years. This caused the show's critics to see it more of a gimmick than a real weight loss program, as well as a negative way of viewing obesity.

The extent of the psychological distress caused by the unhealthy weight loss program, however, has yet to be measured. "'The Biggest Loser' doesn't save lives," Mendonca, who participated in Season 2 of the show, told the New York Post. "It ruins lives. Mentally, emotionally, financially - you come back a different person. Half the people from my season have gotten divorced. The ripple effect isn't just weeks or months. It's years."

The show's producers countered the attacks saying that the safety and well-being of our contestants is, and always has been, the most major concern of the show. "We prohibit the use of any illegal substances, in addition to the many other rules and procedures of the show that are designed to ensure safety," they said in a statement sent to the Post.

The Biggest Loser started in 2004 and features obese people who compete to win a cash prize by losing the most weight relative to their overall weight over the course of 2 months. They are assigned a trainer who worked with them to achieve the desired weight.

While the show may have maintained dishonest or unhealthy practices, it still holds the potential to be an effective obesity education tool. If the trainers and contestants approached weight loss from a more scientific approach, and concentrated on long-term weight loss and maintenance, then perhaps it could salvage itself.