Update 1/20/20. Several people have asked me about the weight loss supplement called Zi Xiu Tang. Let’s now review Zi Xiu Tang, its ingredients and see if its right for you. What you are reading now is the first review of Zi Ziu Tang. There is also an updated review of Zi Xiu Tang. Read this review first which covers the basic ingredients. Then, read the updated review which covers all the other ingredients and how it really works.
Update 4/8/14. The FDA warns people to immediately stop taking Zi Xiu Tang Bee Pollen weight loss supplements. It tested several Zi Xiu Tang products – including those that were said to be “genuine” and not counterfeit. The FDA found that some products contained not only sibutramine, an illegal weight loss drug but some also contained Phenolphthalein, a chemical that may increase the risk of cancer. See the FDA alert for more information.
Update. 10/24/12. The FDA has determined that Zi Xiu Tang contains an illegal weight loss drug called sibutramine. Do not take Zi Xiu Tang as it can lead to heart problems.
Update 6/26/12. I have written a review of ZXT Gold.
Update 6/18/13. I have written a review of Slim Trim U bee pollen weight loss supplement.
Update 7/25/12. Canadian health authorities have identified 2 drugs in ZXT Gold. See the ZXT Gold review for more information.
Zi Xiu Tang Ingredients
Zi Xiu Tang is composed of:
Bee pollen. One of the websites that sell Zi Xiu Tang says bee pollen is “known to stimulate metabolism” , “eliminate cravings” and “reduce appetite” but when I searched the National Library of Medicine for “bee pollen and metabolism” and “bee pollen and weight loss” no studies showed up. I wasn’t surprised because I've never seen any study showing that bee pollen raises the metabolic rate or promotes weight loss. Bee pollen appears to be the main ingredient in Zi Xiu Tang.
I did uncover a case report of kidney failure in somebody who was using a bee pollen supplement. Bee pollen may also cause severe allergic reactions (anaphylaxis). Be sure you are not allergic to bee pollen before you try Zi Xiu Tang.
Chinese yam. This name is a little confusing because it also goes by the name “wild yam”. Other names include Rhizoma dioscoreae Dioscorea opposite. when I searched for whether this ingredient might help weight loss, I actually did find something. A study does show that Rhizoma dioscoreae might help weight loss – in mice. Specifically, mice that were fed a high-fat diet.
No study in humans showing a similar effect could be located.
Barbary wolfberry fruit. A more scientific name for this is Lycium barbarum. Many people also know it by its other names, Goji Berry. In a small study titled, Lycium barbarum increases caloric expenditure and decreases waist circumference in healthy overweight men and women: a pilot study, this herb was noted to reduce waist circumference and boost metabolism (by about 10%) more than those who received a placebo. The amount that seemed to garner these effects was 120 ml per day. This study lasted 2 weeks and involved a small number of people (about 15 in each group).
How much Barbary Wolfberry fruit is in Zi Xiu Tang? They don't tell us.
Lotus seed. There is not enough published proof one or another to say what this stuff does.
Dietary fiber. Dietary fiber – like all fiber helps slow digestion and makes people feel full. Fiber also has no calories. These are the reasons why dietitians are always telling people to eat more fruits and vegetables (which have fiber). The problem is how much fiber does Zi Xiu Tang contain? I was unable to find the answer on any of the Zi Xiu Tang websites I looked at.
Some Zi Xiu Tang websites claim that the product can detoxify the body. Detoxify is the new-age word for “laxative” Since Zi Xiu Tang has fiber, it makes sense that it would have a laxative effect. Since the supplement is said to contain no stimulants like caffeine, fiber may be the mystery ingredient behind those who say Zi Xiu Tang promotes weight loss.
Many websites say that no diet is needed when using Zi Xiu Tang. Still, other Zi Xiu Tang websites say that people only need to take Zi Xiu Tang for a month after they reach their goal weight to maintain their weight loss. I'm skeptical of these statements also.
Zi Xiu Tang side effects
Here is a list of potential ZXT side effects.
Does Zi Xiu Tang Work?
People have told me that they have lost weight within Zi Xiu Tang. But based on the ingredients listed, I don’t see how it’s possible. Honestly, I'm skeptical.
- I'm skeptical because of the websites I see selling it. Some websites seem designed to get you to hurry up and buy it now before the price goes up.
- I'm skeptical because some websites say things that are not based in fact (e.g. bee pollen stimulating metabolism).
- I'm skeptical because I can’t discern any scientific reason why any of the ingredients (except fiber) would help weight loss.
- I'm skeptical because I don’t see any peer-reviewed proof on Zi Xiu Tang.
- I'm skeptical because many websites say people don't need to exercise while taking Zi Xiu Tang. This is unhealthy. Any diet that does not incorporate exercise runs the risk of promoting muscle loss. Some websites do advocate eating some extra protein (which can help preserve muscle during dieting) which I like, but leaving out exercise is disturbing.
While I think that fiber may be responsible for any weight loss seen with Zi Xiu Tang supplements, I would like to see an independent laboratory test the product to see if it contains any additional ingredients that are not listed.
If you choose to try Zi Xiu Tang and buy over the internet be certain to ask about any “autoship” programs and see if you can opt-out of this.
Here is my second Zi Xiu Tang review
Read also my review of SlimQuick weight loss supplement.
Hi Joe,
I am a herbalist and I’ve treated several people with hawthorn. Hawthorn lowers blood cholesterol, clears blood vessels, and strengthens the heart. I’ve given it to a patient of mine with hypertension with palpitations. She loves it because it calms her heart. Hawthorn is also a blood thinner, so people who are bleeders like me, should not take it that much because it makes me bleed more when I have some minor surgery, just like cantaloupes, which are blood thinners too.
My sister is now on her 2nd day of ZXT pill so is my brother. So far no palpitations, no headaches yet. Just dry mouth and lips. My brother’s BP actually went down in an hour of taking it. He is on the high BP side. I’ve been reading the comments here, and just cannot help but defend hawthorn. It is a very good herb and in fact the Chinese have a candy or snack made with it called Haw flakes. I give it to my 70 year old mom to lower her BP as she refuses to take any BP meds.
Jina, how did you have your body fat tested? Unless it was tested before and two months after you started zxt you can’t be sure that the 20 pounds was all fat.
In two months I lost 20 pounds of fat. And if it’s not working for you, make sure your getting the real stuff and make sure you check the security label on the bottle. Everyone I know who uses it has lost at least 20 pounds. I know a guy who lost 60!
Hi, I start with zixutang about a month ago at the beginning not different only experience dry mouth but 4 days ago I notice that I go to bathroom 3 or more times with loose stools. my weight went I start was 210 now is 200.
I started taking the pills six weeks ago. I started off at 255 pounds and now I am 221. I have tried every diet you can imagine with little to no success. It cleans you out and you go to the restroom a lot in week two and three; then it slows down to one or two bowel movements a day. All of my clothes are falling off and my rolls are disappearing. I used to eat chocolate every day, now I can’t stand the smell of it. I have to remind my self to eat every few hours; I don’t get hungry. You will have dry month the first few weeks; but that will end around week four. I strongly recommend it.
Hi Autumn, while I dont know anything about you, I can say that I don’t know how zi xiu tang effects cholesterol. If you have heart problems see your doctor before using this zxt. zxt has hawthorn which can effect how your heart pumps.
I am interested in purchasing ZXT pills, but I was wondering if it is bad for someone with high cholesterol?
Tami. As you get closer to the weight your body feels comfortable at its harder to lose weight. Remember as you lose weight your metabolic rate decreases also which reduces the number of calories you burn. Not sure if you are exercising but this should help you burn more calories – as well as hold on to your muscle tissue (remember just dieting results in a great loss of muscle tissue which does not return once its lost)
I’ve found the zxt pills to work for the first six weeks with all the side affects mentioned and about a 10lb wt lose. Not so anymore. I still take the pills, but with no side effects or further wt lose. I’ve even stopped for a few weeks hoping I could jump start my system. No such luck. What’s up with that? Help! I need to know why these pills don’t work for me anymore and if there is something I can do to get them to work like they did initially.
I started ZXT on 01/26/11. I haven’t felt any different than I did before I started taking them as far as my energy level, appetite, or bathroom breaks are concern. I will post again after a week of taking the pills.
Hi Maria, As far as I can tell there is no published scientific studies on the short term or long term effects of zi xiu tang.
It also appears to me that my reviews of zi xiu tang may be the only unbiased, science based reviews on the web. I may be wrong but if they are out there I have yet to find them. that is sad considering how many people are taking this stuff.
Remember that zi xiu tang is not a drug or medication. It is a supplement. The laws for supplements are different than for drugs. For more info read the “Supplement Questions” page at the top.
Michelle, remember as we lose weight our metabolism decreases. metabolism is the speed we burn calories. As you lose weight, it slows down, making it harder to lose weight. Just wanted to mention that this happens with any weight loss program.
Everyone has been talking about this pill and ordering like crazy. I have heard nothing but good testimonies thus far. Does anyone know how long this drug have been out? I have a cousin who lost 35 lbs since August. A friend who has lost 30 lbs since August and another person I know who lost 20 lbs in 3 months. I decided to try it because I need to get this baby gut fixed and after 2 days of taking it my stomach is down already. I am pretty desperate because nothing has seemed to work. Even exercising I was losing extremely slow if at all.
I plan to only take it for 4 months to get to a good weight and stop. I am always skeptical of meds and really I am skeptical of this one because it sounds too good to be true. No exercise, or eating right? That sounds unhealthy, but like I said I plan to stop after a few months.
My stools have been very loose, so maybe the weight loss is due to the fact that it is flushing me out, which I dont care, I need that. My appetite is lower too.
I really dont know right now and I am loving it. It does work though but I just hate to think that there are long term effects. But maybe the long term effects are only if you take it for a long long period of time. I just dont want to hear about something bad happening to someone.
So any research that anyone finds publish it because I really want to know.
Ok, I am back. My 3rd bottle is almost empty but I didn’t lose any more weight since last time I reported here. That means besides losing 13lbs in the first 3 weeks, I didn’t make any more progress in the following 2 months. And I am not the only one.
A friend at work has same experience. Well, on the other hand, it could’ve been due to the holiday season and I am happy I didn’t gain much with all those food. When I started the 3rd bottle, I can no longer feel the effect as I did before. In another words, zxt doesn’t work on me any more. The good thing is I never had bad/strong bowel movements or headache as some people did.
Hi Maria, thanks for sharing your thoughts and experiences with zi xiu tang. I know everybody will be benefiting from you taking the time to write 🙂
Hello Joe,
I recently purchased zi xiu tang on Amazon.com (and got a real bottle thanks to my reading the seller’s reviews / checking online). When I’d made this purchase, it was approximately five minutes BEFORE I found your site, and I immediately got worried about it. But then, with the mixed reviews, I figured while it may be a bit hazardous to my health, I’ve done other things in the past which would be considered hazardous as well. So I bit the bullet, and decided to try it, if only for a few days.
Well…
The first few days were kind of horrible (note, I say ‘kind of’). I had to make sure I was around a toilet every few hours, my guts were all in a jumble, I felt that if I’d been caught without a toilet – I would have been screwed. Yet… I wasn’t craving sweets like I normally do, and I wasn’t as hungry as I normally was. I wrote it off at first at just being a ‘gut reaction’ and the way it worked, was that it 1) took everything out of your body it could (there’s a good 4-5 lbs right there everyone, don’t forget that. When you get food poisoning, it’s not just cause you can’t eat anything, it’s cause you LOSE everything too).
Yet, I cooked what I call a medium dinner (thick spaghetti sauce and noodles, salad, and cucumber slices), and ate a small / regular sized portion of it all. I almost went without cooking, but having a hungry husband drove me into the kitchen, and that said husband said I had to eat as well – so I did.
I didn’t experience headaches at first like I have in the past with chemically additive diet pills (I’m a chronic migraine sufferer), yet I’ve experienced about two migraines since I started (about a week and a half now) which is somewhat normal. Surprisingly, I found that if I woke with a headache (a potential start to a migraine), and popped an Excedrin AND a zi xiu tang, my headache would go away within an hour… so I feel that any headaches experienced with this product are probably related to caffeine.
I’ve been drinking tons of water, my appetite is significantly down, and I finally have TONS more energy. As a bonus, my pants DO fit looser – yet I cannot make claims that this drug is an AMAZING fat loss drug, because I don’t own a scale. All I can say is that I feel much better overall (even with the first days causing me to rush to the bathroom) but no MAJOR body changes.
The main reason I wanted to take this drug was for the energy – as a full time student / part time worker / full time housewife, I’ve been growing excessively tired early on in the day. I’d want to work out, but wouldn’t have the energy. I’d want to clean, or cook, or have sex, but again… no energy.
This drug has helped boost my energy, boost my sex drive, decrease my appetite, and overall helped me feel much better about myself.
I know that everyone reacts differently to things, especially these kind of stimulants – I DEFINITELY do NOT recommend anyone sensitive to caffeine to take these, as it definitely could do more harm than good.
Yet as a long time user of caffeine (to help with migraines – it increases blood circulation via heartbeat and additionally causes blood vessels to constrict when vascular pulsating occurs), I’ve found it’s a nice addition to my life. I believe this is also why I haven’t had many problems sleeping – though I’m noticing now that I go to bed later, and get up at the same time, without experiencing being tired throughout the day.
With this new found energy, I plan to start my exercise regimen shortly, and feel that xi ziu tang will help me stick to that plan by continuing to suppress my appetite / keep my energy up.
If anything changes – positive or negative – I’ll be sure to update here and let you and your readers know about it.
I’m glad you have this website up for people to better educate themselves about the drug and be aware of what could potentially happen / what to look out for.
Speedy, thank you for your comments. I likewise have been trying to get access to a mass spectrometer to determine what is in zi xiu tang. I have had no luck finding anyone to help me. If you have any luck I would be interested in knowing what you discovered.
Currently, I am doing research on getting these Zi Xiu Tang capsules tested and the cost. Just to prove that they unsafe. I have taken them for about a week. But, yesterday was my last day until I can get them tested for what is REALLY in them.
After the first few days, I called my girlfriend and told her that we have been popping pills long enough for weight loss to know that it is something else in them besides bee pollen. At first I didn’t even care until I started doing research on diet pills imported from China, the woman that got arrested facing 243 years and the deaths.
The results are amazing for all of the people that I know that have used them and that are using them. People all around me are dropping weight fast. I only purchased them because I had an accident and can not exercise for the next eight weeks. Of course, I didn’t want to gain any of the weight that I lost by walking for one hour each day.
Haven’t lost a lot of pounds by walking, but a lot of inches and 2 dress sizes. On a few occasions, I went to the weight-loss clinic and received a prescription pill for weight loss. Although they were effective, it just cost too much. At least with the prescription you know how much of what you are taking.
I’m am having the exact same side effects with Zi Xiu Tang. Excessive thirst, not able to stay focused, blurred vision when at work on the computer for long periods of time, daily headaches and a feeling of being a little “high”.
Just about everybody I have talked to are justifying the side effects with the famous “detox” and the “high” with the B vitamins. Yes, they do have something in them that aids you to pass a lot stool. However, you can’t tell me that there isn’t something else in them that’s not listed in the ingredients.
Joe, thank you for sharing the information about the diet pills from China. Although Zi Xiu Tang are not specifically listed, I wouldn’t be surprised that in the future after something terrible has happen that we will be reading about the dangerous complications that women are having from taking zxt pills. I’m just not willing to compromise that there may be unregulated amounts of some unnatural substance that my cause complications in the future. Reading about the women that dead from liver failure is enough for me.
Thanks Bettina. Ill look forward to reading your updates. Perhaps dehydration was a cause of the headaches. It’s hard to say one way or the other.
I stopped initially because I had an ugly sinus infection and was on some pretty strong antibiotics and I wanted to be sure that I wasn’t on anything that would affect the way my body processed or absorbed them. I stayed off the Zi Xiu Tang for a month. I didn’t gain weight in that period, but I didn’t lose any either. I am a total light weight when it comes to medicine, alcohol, caffeine… anything stronger than Tylenol or chocolate really. 😉
I had wondered if the headaches might be caused by dehydration. I do drink lots of water and always have, but if this is somehow making me shed water…