Need an "Alli" to help you lose weight?

by Brian White (Subscribe to Brian White's posts)
Jun 16th 2007 5:22PM

Let me be very clear here -- I am no fan of any kind of pill that "helps" people lose weight. Yes, many of you are sure to agree with me here, but if losing weight does not involve effort at all (as in, physical effort), then in my view the human body was not designed for it. That hasn't stop marketers and drug companies, though, from capitalizing on the naive public who love to hear about quick fixes.

Now, with that in mind, losing weight the proper way can still be a bit distressing. It takes time (months and months) to lose just 10 pounds or so (safely), and that time period can just be too long for some. Something that can give dieters a "boost" would be good in this process, and from appearances, Alli -- the first weight-loss drug ever approved by the FDA -- sounds like a decent alternative. Is it?

This review over at The Diet Channel breaks down Alli into what the drug is and how it works and would be of keen interest if you're considering the drug to assist you with losing weight alongside that exercise and nutrition program.

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Comments (6)

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

dalejrfan19745 6-16-2007 @ 8:58PM

Alli sounded too good to be true to me and it is. I just read in a magazine today that it can make you lose control of your bowel movements. This is gross and not an option for me. I'd rather not walk around with crap on me.

castawaydreamer 6-16-2007 @ 7:27PM

ummm brian?..............where ya gettin yer info bud?
months and months to lose 10 lbs ?
dude the average for a safe and reasonable diet is 1-2 pounds per WEEK!
i totally agree that most of our lazy society wants quick fixes, and feel that ANY new drug (and 99% of old ones)
should be avoidid like the plague, (" if you or someone you know took such and such call the law offices of......),
but lets get our facts straight shall we?
remember most people are sheep with the cerebral function of your average blue jay, just reading that might have discouraged dozens of people from even trying to lose weight without drugs (little hint people, the big drug companies don't allow their owners and major stockholders to afford a new coating of platinum on their buttplugs every 6 months by CURING anything!)
they do it by taking what people NEED to survive and what they WANT to magically do what otherwise would take willpower and effort FOR them, and then charging ridiculous prices for drugs designed to MAINTAIN THE STATUS QUO (keep you taking it)
they are a BUSINESS! and their business is to sell drugs
(do you REALLY think that even if there were a cure for aids,cancer, etc, the big business scum wouldp roduce and market it, costing themselves billions in lost sales?)
yea i know it's hard to believe anyone could do that but ........ummm.........look around you .
wake UP people,.................and umm.........brian.....keyword RESEARCH.

truthman 6-19-2007 @ 1:12PM

check out the unofficial "alli blog" ...

Seems that alli side effects can be a little smelly ...

And also it may cause vitamin deficiency and possibly colon cancer..

http://alliconnect.wordpress.com/

Terri 6-20-2007 @ 5:16PM

I blogged about this yesterday. Here are my thoughts:

http://www.mhlcoaching.typepad.com

Here we go again. Americans are trading the hard work of weight loss for a little bit of anal leakage. Sorry to be so graphic, but anal leakage is one of the side affects of taking Alli, the first over-the-counter weight loss drug to be approved by the FDA. The drug's Web site says Alli can cause diarrhea, uncontrollable bowel movements and gas with an oily discharge. Some suggested wearing dark pants and bringing a change of clothes with you to work. Hmmm.....I say no thank you. And Alli is flying off the shelves in LA! Just another sign that we are living in an era that is ripe for all kinds of predatory weight loss schemes, and the complicity ranges from cheap infomercials to multinational pharmaceutical companies. I'm not convinced that GlaxoSmithKline is sincerely interested in fixing America's obesity problem. If you think seriously about this whole issue around weight loss, most people know the basics. Eat less. Move more. Weight loss is not rocket science. But for some odd reason, Americans are obsessed with having more information, no matter how redundant, the newest solution and latest drug. It's the scarcity perspective showing up big time. A great read that I recommend to my clients is How Much Does Your Soul Weigh, by Dorie McCubbrey. The book's main focus is on tapping into intuition and really being in touch with your body to understand what it needs to stay healthy and maintain an optimal weight. As a former health educator who is now a life coach, I have worked with hundreds of people around weight loss and have recommended hundreds of strategies. This inside/outside approach, perhaps a bit counter-intuitive, is really working! After 20 years in this business, it's very exciting. But this doesn't discount the fact that weight loss is still hard work and weight maintenance is even harder. Over at Cranky Fitness, you can read what other health seekers are thinking and marinade in the realness of health improvement. Accepting the realness and rawness of a process can sometimes set the foundation for a breakthrough. My hope is that you never have to carry around a spare pair of pants, just in case.

Kurt 7-11-2007 @ 6:37AM

We've all seen the commercial for this probably 20 times by now. I never heard and reviews of it though. I went through google and found a bunch of reviews of it and compared it to hoodia results. If you're interested you can see it at http://www.marthasvineyarddetoxdiet.net/diet-reviews/alli-vs-hoodia-review-how-do-they-shape-up