You may have seen the Alli brochures on display at your local pharmacy. Alli is the newest diet pill on the market and the first FDA approved over the counter diet pill. There is a major difference between this pill and the hundreds of other diet pills out there alli does not promote itself as a magic bullet, but rather as an adjunct to a healthy diet and exercise regimen. It even has you take a quiz before buying the pills to make sure you are ready to make lifestyle changes that are recommended. After you purchase alli, you are entitiled to sign up for free online nutritional counseling. It also comes with a starter pack that provides diet and exercise guidelines.

How does alli work?
It is taken with a meal and blocks 25% of the fat calories consumed from the meal. The clinical trials on alli showed that the people using alli lost an additional 2-3 pounds for every 5 pounds lost through diet and exercise. So what this means is that you can lose about 50% more weight by taking alli along with a low fat reduced calorie diet than by dieting alone.

The down side…
About ½ of the people in the clinical trials taking alli experienced gastrointestinal side effects including anal leakage, gas and oily discharges. Basically, the more fat you eat, the more side effects you will experience. These side effects will be lessened if you stick to the low fat diet plan.

Restrictions
Alli is not intended for anyone under the age of 18  or people with certain medical conditions or on certain medications. Check with your doctor prior to taking it.

My thoughts on alli:
1. Overall, I am not a huge fan of diet pills as I believe that many people who use then are looking for a crutch and do not put in the hard work that is needed to lose weight and keep it off. There are no magic pills for weight loss. Bottom line, you will need to learn how to change your eating and exercise habits.

2. However, as far as pills go, I like that fact that alli does not promote rapid weight loss, and stresses the importance of eating healthy and exercising. It also provides guidance on making behavior changes. It may provide an adjunct to losing weight for those people who feel they need an extra “edge” and are willing to be very compliant with the low fat diet.

3. If you already follow a low fat diet, this pill will likely not help you as it only blocks some calorie from  fat, not from protein or carbs.

4. The unpleasant potentially embarrassing side effects may be too much for some people. You may want to avoid those white pants until you test it out!

5. If you decide to take alli, I would recommend that you also take a multivitamin with mineral supplement.

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