You've heard the standard advice: To lose weight and keep it off, you should maintain a healthy, low-calorie diet and a regular exercise routine. Rapid weight loss often means that you are losing water weight or even lean tissue, not fat, according to Donald Hensrud of the Mayo Clinic. Taking diet pills can enhance weight loss efforts, but there are also drawbacks to taking them. Consult with your physician before taking any dietary supplement, including diet pills.
FDA Definition of Dietary Supplement
In the United States, diet pills fall under the category of "dietary supplement." The Food and Drug Administration defines a dietary supplement as any substances taken orally that contain "dietary ingredients" such as herbal or botanical products, vitamins, minerals or amino acids. Unlike drugs, supplements are not designed to cure, treat or diagnose a medical condition. The FDA does not require manufacturers to prove that dietary supplements are safe before they begin marketing the products. Manufacturers also do not have to prove claims that their products are effective, although any claims must also include a disclaimer that the FDA has not evaluated the statements.
Prescription Weight-Loss Supplements
If your body mass index, or BMI, is greater than 30 or your BMI is 27 or greater and you also have a serious health condition such as high blood pressure or diabetes, you may be a candidate for prescription weight-loss pills such as phentermine. Your weight-loss program will also include a closely monitored diet and exercise program that generally lasts 12 weeks or less. You can expect to lose between 5 percent and 10 percent of your total body weight within a year when using a prescription weight-loss drug, although you must maintain your diet and exercise plan to avoid regaining the weight you lose. Orlistat, marketed under the name Xenical, is the only prescription weight-loss drug that the FDA has approved for long-term use.
Over-the-Counter Weight-Loss Supplements
A number of over-the-counter supplements promise rapid weight loss, with or without diet and exercise. Alli, the non-prescrption formulation of orlistat, is the only supplement that has been proved to be effective. Other popular supplements such as green tea extract and chromium are probably safe, but the jury is out on whether they are effective. Other supplements, such as bitter orange or guar gum, either lack effectiveness or raise safety concerns, according to the Mayo Clinic.
Diet Pill Problems
Diet pills often aggravate or even cause serious health problems. Ephedra, now banned in the United States, began to raise health concerns such as dizziness and elevated blood pressure during the mid 1990s. The FDA warned consumers to stop using products marketed under the Hydroxycut brand in 2009 because of 23 reports of serious liver damage and one death in 2007. The makers of Hydroxycut use a proprietary blend of ingredients, although the manufacturers stopped including ephedra in their products in 2004. The FDA began a safety review of orlistat in 2009 after reports surfaced of serious liver damage associated with using the prescription and non-prescription forms of the drug, according to Donald Hensrud of the Mayo Clinic.
References
- U.S. Food and Drug Administration: FDA 101 -- Dietary Supplements; updated June 2011
- U.S. Food and Drug Administration: Adverse Events with Ephedra and Other Botanical Dietary Supplements; updated May 2009
- U.S. Food and Drug Administration: FDA Warns Consumers to Stop Using Hydroxycut Products; updated January 2010
- MayoClinic.com: Over-the-Counter Weight-Loss Pills -- Do They Work?; February 2010
- MayoClinic.com: Weight-Loss Drugs -- Can a Prescription Help You Lose Weight?; October 2010
- MayoClinic.com; Fast Weight Loss: What's Wrong With It?; Donald Hensrud; June 2011
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