Does Alli Work?
June 17th, 2007 by Paul JohnsonAlli is now a FDA approved Over the counter fat loss drug. Alli is a low dose version of xenical the prescription diet drug. The prescription form was not very successful with 90% not refilling the prescription. Glaxosmithkline the drugmaker of Alli is now getting ready to do some heavy hitting advertising to take advantage of the fact the drug is now over the counter approved. Alli is nothing but a fraud and I will tell you why in this article.
Alli works by blocking the enzymes in your GI tract from absorbing the fat. First off the side effects are horrendous. If you eat a fatty meal you could wind up needing a diaper! By blocking the fat from being digested it means it has to go somewhere and I’m sure you can imagine what that will be like. In fact only 10% of prescription users renewed their prescription. In order to reduce this effect they recommend low fat meals, but easier said then done sometimes.
Alli works on the mainstream myth that fat loss is all about the fat. That is completely false. At the core the most essential element is how many calories you take in a day compared to your metabolism needed to maintain your weight. By taking this drug people will use it as a crutch to take in more junk food or to cheat on their diet or excercise. In the end you may get worse results by using this as a crutch.
It is also a health issue. Because some vitamins are absorbed mainly through fat, it may cause deficiency in fat solulable vitamins. They also don’t recommend the drug to children younger than 18, people with kidney disease, patients on blood-thinners and certain other medications, and pregnant or breast-feeding women.
One study of Alli showed dieters who took the drug along with diet and exercise over a year lost only about three more pounds than people who only dieted and exercised. The results of this study proved concretely what a fraud this Alli pill is pushed
by the sleazy pharmeceutical companies.
Actually, the drug contained in both xenical and orlistat minimally reduces the uptake of fat-solube vitamins. Taking a vitamin supplement each day totally eliminates this problem… and lets be honest taking a vitamin supplement isn’t that big of a problem.
There is potential for abuse with ANY drug. Luckily, orlistat is otherwise harmless. I have used it before and followed the recommendations on not eating a meal containing 15 grams of fat or more and have had no problem and lost more weight than when I diet alone.
The fact of the matter is, whether or not the people taking the drug actually follow the guidelines of a low-cal, reduced fat diet is what makes it effective or not. The drug still binds to pancreatic lipases and keeps fat undigested. You can’t argue that. It’s FDA approved…. I work in Biotechnology… Do you have any idea the type of stringent validation studies that have to occur for FDA approval???? The science is completely accurate.
For the morbidly obese in America, half the battle is actually getting to a healthy weight so the patient is motivated to change their lifestyle. When you’re obese, the slow progress can be devastating… and whether or not patience is a virtue doesn’t matter… this drug can help bring obese people closer to success so that they actually feel like its not too late to start doing right by their bodies.
You make interesting points. This is a bodybuilding blog, so our reading audience is not the morbidly obese where cutting out a few fat grams in the diet would actually make a slight difference.