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Can popping pills really help you lose weight?
By WLR Dietitian
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Want to lose weight quickly for your holiday, need help to
shift a couple of stubborn pounds or always find it difficult
to get started on a diet? Then take a trip to your local
health store or surf the internet and you’ll find a huge
number of slimming pills that promise the ultimate quick fix.
From fat-blockers and metabolism-boosters to pills that
prevent hunger and beat cravings, there’s something for
everyone – and more often than not, the promise that we can
get maximum results with minimum effort is simply too good to
resist!
But do slimming pills really work? Currently in the UK,
there are only two anti-obesity drugs available on
prescription – Xenical (Orlistat) and Reductil (Sibutramine).
These work in completely different ways. Xenical blocks the
action of lipase, the enzyme that digests fat in the intestine
and stops around 30 percent of the fat you’ve eaten from being
absorbed. As a result, your body loses around a third of the
calories provided by this fat so you start to lose weight! In
contrast, Reductil enhances satiety by indirectly boosting
levels of serotonin, a chemical that helps you feel full. This
means you feel more satisfied with less food and so eat
smaller amounts and lose weight.
The good news is that, unlike many of the slimming pills
you can buy at your local health store, Xenical and Reductil
are both clinically proven to help people lose weight and
generally receive the support of most health professionals.
Carey Halls, information pharmacist at the National
Pharmaceutical Association believes there’s a very good case
for using these prescribable drugs with people who are obese
and meet certain medical criteria. She says, ‘Many clinical
trials have looked at the efficacy of Xenical and Reductil in
the treatment of obesity and found them to successfully help
obese people lose weight.’ But like many health professionals,
Carey believes their success in treating obesity isn’t just
the result of their active ingredients, but is also due to the
lifestyle advice that patients receive. ‘People who are
prescribed Xenical or Reductil are closely monitored by their
doctor. They receive diet and exercise advice and get plenty
of support to help them along the way,’ Carey explains.
Unfortunately, it’s a far cry from the types of slimming
pill you can buy over-the-counter in chemists or health
stores. In general, there’s little evidence that the
ingredients they contain will work to help you lose weight.
‘There’s not much research to suggest that over-the-counter
slimming pills induce weight loss,’ says Carey. ‘Even if
research has been carried out, it’s usually only one or two
small studies, the results of which haven’t been repeated or
seen in larger studies.’
Many over-the-counter
slimming tablets also provide very
little information on the packaging, often even failing to
provide basic facts on how the product supposedly works to aid
weight loss. Carey explains, ‘Many of these products are not
licensed medicines. This means they’re not allowed to make
certain claims such as “speeds up metabolism” or “stops fat
from being absorbed”. This in turn means there’s often a
worrying lack of information on the packaging.’
But the problems with over-the-counter slimming pills don’t
just stop there. Carey believes some may actually do more harm
than good. ‘Certain over-the-counter slimming pills may not be
suitable if you have medical conditions such as
diabetes or
high blood pressure, yet this may not be clear from the
packaging with the result that women with these conditions
still try them. Some may also interact with other medications.
For example, taking a slimming pill that includes a
thyroid-stimulating ingredient could interfere with prescribed
medication for an underactive thyroid, potentially causing
problems. Again the packaging might not make this obvious.’
But unfortunately, a lack of information, little proof
they’ll work and potentially putting your health at risk is
not the only price you’ll need to be prepared to pay. Most
over-the-counter pills are extremely expensive, too, with the
result that you can be sure you’ll lose pounds – but probably
not the right sort!
Nevertheless, if you’re still tempted to try an
over-the-counter slimming tablet, there are plenty to choose
from. Bear in mind that most of them recommend, or come with,
a reduced-calorie diet plan and suggest taking more exercise,
which generally explains why they result in weight loss! Bear
in mind, too, that while some of these tablets may claim to be
supported by research, this is likely to be a ‘one-off’ small
study. See our
A-Z of popular
slimming tablets for some examples.
Juliette’s verdict
There’s certainly a place for Xenical and Reductil in the
treatment of obesity. If you think you might be a suitable
candidate to try these drugs, see your GP for advice. However,
there’s little scientific evidence to suggest that
over-the-counter slimming pills will help you lose weight and
keep it off. You wouldn’t expect vitamin supplements to
compensate for a diet that contained no fruit or veg, and you
shouldn’t expect an over-the-counter slimming pill to
compensate for a high-calorie diet and inactive lifestyle!
To lose weight safely and sensibly, you need to tackle the
poor eating habits and lack of exercise that helped you gain
weight in the first place. If you concentrate on making
long-term changes to your diet and lifestyle, you won’t need
to resort to quick fix remedies. But if you still can’t resist
the fantastic promises, at least avoid those products that
make outrageous claims. If a product sounds to be good to be
true, then it probably is!
Avoid slimming pills if they…
• Promise a quick fix – sorry, but you didn’t put the
weight on overnight so you can’t expect to lose it overnight!
• Promote rapid weight loss – that’s anything more than 2lb
a week!
• Suggest you don’t need to change your eating habits or
take more exercise – you know it’s not true!
• Fail to come
with dietary advice – or worst still, come with a faddy diet
that cuts out certain groups of foods, considerably restricts
your food intake or encourages you to eat vast amounts of one
particular food!
Do slimming pills ever work?
Sometimes over-the-counter slimming pills can work, but
this generally has little to do with their ingredients.
They’re more likely to help you lose weight because…
• They come with a reduced-calorie diet plan that generally
provides between 1,000 and 1,400 calories a day and recommend
taking more exercise. It’s this that causes the weight to drop
off!
• You usually need to drink large amounts of water with the
pills. This helps to fill you up so you feel less hungry and
eat less as a result!
• You’ve spent a lot of money on something you hope will
help you lose weight so without even realising it, you make
changes to your lifestyle such as eating less or exercising
more!
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