Weight Loss

Not many might have noticed it but Alli is the first FDA-approved over-the-counter (OTC) weight loss pill available in the market. What this means is that all those who were overweight and wanted to lose those extra pounds can now take recourse to a medically safe method of weight loss. And for this they do not need a prescription from the doctor.

Alli is not any other type of weight loss pill available in the market. To begin with, Alli is not an appetite suppressant. The way it works is radically different. Instead of suppressing our appetite, it interferes with the absorption of the fat that we eat in our daily meals. As a result, the body gets less amount of calorie from the food eaten and the deficit is filled by burning the fat stored inside our body.

The real manner in which Alli works is as follows. The drug is made up of an active part and a weight loss drug. The active ingredient in the drug (which in this case is Orlistat) gets attached with the natural enzymes present in our digestive tract. The fat then remains in its original form and is then expelled from the body.

The amount of fat expelled in this manner can be up to one-fourth of the total fat eaten by us. However, this does not mean that you can increase your consumption of fat. Excess of it in a meal can have strange side-effects. Also, eating less amount of fat would means that the body would have less amount of calories available for it, which it would come up with by burning the fat stored inside the body.

The chemical composition of Alli is half-part of a prescription-only weight loss drug called Xenical. The other half is Orlistat. The total weight of these two drugs in a pill is 60 mg. The drug is available in three different types of packing- a 60 pill starter pack, a 120-pill starter pack and a 120 pill refill pack.

Though it is an over-the-counter drug, it is to be sold only to those who are 21 years or above. Further, the drug is not meant for diabetics, thyroid patients and those who need to take blood thinners. They need to first consult their doctor and only on the recommendations of him/her are they supposed to take Alli.

Though this may seem an absolutely wonderful and easy way of losing weight, the amount of actual weight loss may vary from individual to individual. The variance is caused by factors such as how much is the original body weight, how much exercise the individual dose and how much fat the individual consumes in a single diet. These factors vary from one case to another and so does the result.