If you are significantly overweight, diet pills and shakes can help you shed excess pounds and improve your health, according to Weight-control Information Network. But no pill or shake will serve as a "magic bullet," especially if you continue to engage in poor eating and exercise habits. Once you stop using diet pills or shakes, you risk regaining any weight lost.
Shakes
Protein shakes, diet shakes or meal-replacement shakes can help boost your weight loss, notes MayoClinic.com. But depending on such weight loss programs does not teach you the skills you need to manage a healthy lifestyle once you are off the diet. If you drink diet shakes on top of what you normally eat, you risk gaining weight. Eating lean proteins, low-fat or fat-free dairy products, whole-grain breads and pastas and plenty of fruits and vegetables combined with regular exercise is your best bet for weight loss.
Over-the-Counter Diet Pills
Many over-the-counter weight loss supplements or diet pills are ineffective or dangerous, warns MayoClinic.com. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has banned ingredients such as ephedra, ephedrine, country mallow and heartleaf due to their risk of causing severe cardiac problems. Other substances, such as bitter orange, may also be dangerous. At the time of publication, the FDA was investigating allegations that the over-the-counter fat blocker Alli causes severe liver damage in some patients.
Prescription Fat-Blockers
Your doctor may prescribe the fat-blocking drug orlistat, commonly marketed as Xenical. You take orlistat before eating meals containing fat; the drug prevents the fat in your food from being digested and passes it out through your bowel movements. But orlistat may cause uncontrollable bowel movements, oily and fatty stools, gas that leaks oil onto your underwear and severe rectal and stomach pain. Orlistat is the active ingredient in Alli.
Prescription Appetite Suppressants
If you are in generally good health, your doctor may prescribe an appetite suppressant such as phentermine or diethylpropion. You should only use these drugs for up to 12 weeks at a time and keep an eye out for any serious side effects, such as chest pain, heart palpitations, severe weakness or increased blood pressure. If you have a history of drug or alcohol abuse, you should not take appetite suppressants because the drugs are habit-forming.
References
- Weight-control Information Network; Prescription Medications for the Treatment of Obesity; December 2010
- MayoClinic.com; Over-the-Counter Weight-Loss Pills: Do They Work?; February 2010
- MayoClinic.com; Protein Shakes: Good for Weight Loss?; Katherine Zeratsky; April 2010
- Weight-control Information Network; Weight Loss for Life; January 2009
- PubMed Health: Diethylpropion
- PubMed Health: Orlistat
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