Here's
an amazing statistic - Americans spend more than 6 billion dollars a year on
diet pills! On this page I explain how these pills work, and list some of the
latest treatments and ideas.
Diet pills can be obtained in two ways - by prescription (e.g. Xenical, Meridia, Phentermine) or over-the-counter (e.g. Dexatrim, Zantrex).
This page contains some basic info, but for more details take a look at our Diet Pills site.
There are two main ways by which diet pills can help your weight loss:
Appetite Suppressants: These pills affect the appetite-regulating part of the brain, known as the Hypothalamus. There are two chemicals (Seratonin and Norepinephrine) that create that familiar feeling of fullness - many diet pills are designed to keep these chemicals at higher levels in your brain. Examples are Meridia, Tenuate, Adipex-P, Fastin, Phentermine. Another option is found in the plant Hoodia Gordonii, whose active ingredient P57 is also an appetite suppressant.
Fat Blockers: When fat enters the body, it is broken down and processed by an enzyme named Lipase. By inhibiting the activities of Lipase, these pills allow more fat to just pass straight through the body. An example is Xenical (containing Orlistat).
Acomplia - A promising new drug whose active ingredient, Rimonabant, acts on brain proteins named the Endocannabinoids. It prevents these proteins from moving freely, and reduces hunger pangs. Interestingly, it has also been shown to help dieters to quit smoking!
Phentermine - An appetite suppressant whose key ingredient is Phenethylamine. Sold as an immediate-release formula (Adipex) or a slow-release option (Ionamin, Duromine).
Xenical - A typical fat blocker that inhibits the activity of Lipase. It contains the active ingredient Orlistat.
New Treatments - The body is a complicated organism, and so its not surprising that some unrelated drugs have been found to help dieters. Some antidepressants, epilepsy treatments and diabetes pills have been found to aid weight loss!
With such enormous sums of money being spent on diet pills, huge research budgets are now flowing into research.
A new area on which some scientists are focusing is hormones. One new drug copies the effect of the hormone PYY, which tells the body that its full. Another blocks the hormone ghrelin, normally sent to the brain to increase appetite.
There are any number of weight loss pills on the market, too many to list here. Some of the most popular are Xenedrine, Dexatrim and Zantrex-3. These pills contain a number of different ingredients that may help with weight loss.
Here, I have categorized those ingredients by their reported effects:
To Block Fat Absorption - Chitosan (Chitin)
To Increase Metabolism - Caffeine, Guarana, Country Mallow, Herbal Ephedra
To Create a Full Feeling - Guar gum, Glucomannan, Psyllium
To Slow Fat Production - Hydrocitric Acid, Green Tea, Pyruvate
You may have noticed that I have mentioned some of these in other parts of my site - e.g. the Green Tea Diet and Cleansing (Psyllium).
Look for some combination of these ingredients in any diet pill you buy.
- Watch out for any pills containing Ephedra. This was banned in 2003 when it was linked to heart attacks. Many pills have substituted safe Herbal Ephedra (Synephrine) or a mixture of vitamins.
- Fat blockers may cause some cramping or diarrhea
- Appetite suppressants can increase blood pressure