Celebrity-Backed Diet Pills

Flip through the pages of any magazine these days, and you’re sure to come across at least one advertisement for the latest celebrity-backed diet pill. Starlets like the Kardashian sisters have no problem crediting these supplements for their weight loss success. But before you buy your own bottle of miracle pills, it’s important to do a little digging and see if there’s any real science behind the sales pitch. Let’s take a closer look at the popular weight-loss supplement Alli, which features country star Wynonna Judd as its spokesperson. Anyone who’s seen the supplement’s commercials is familiar with their claim: People who took Alli lost 50 percent more weight than those who only dieted. Sounds great, right? But it turns out that the study alluded to in Alli commercials was conducted over 16 weeks and the difference in weight loss between the 2 groups was only 2.8 pounds. The Alli group lost 7.7 pounds, while the diet-only group lost 4.9 pounds. In case you don’t have a calculator on hand, losing 7.7 pounds over 4 months translates to less than ½ pound per week. It’s also important to know how Alli works in the first place. The active ingredient in Alli is called Orlistat, which works by blocking fat absorption.The idea is that the fat you eat won’t be absorbed, so it automatically reduces your calorie intake. Sound too good to be true? Unfortunately, it is. The extra fat that’s not absorbed has to go somewhere, which leads to a nasty side effect. According to the study, 33 percent of Alli users experienced at least one episode of “fecal urgency” compared to 11 percent taking a placebo. And 22 percent of Alli takers had at least one incident of “oily spotting” in their underwear compared to zero of those in the placebo group. The bottom line is that blocking fat absorption is not the best answer to losing weight. A combination of healthy eating and regular exercise is. Also, fat is an important part of a well-balanced diet. Alli isn’t picky about what kind of fat it blocks, so it may prevent you from absorbing omega-3 fatty acids, which are the good essential fats that most people don’t get enough of in the first place. To learn more about how Alli works and additional healthy ways to lose weight, check out other videos on this site.