The Truth Behind Weight loss Pills.

Ritu 5'5" feet tall, had weighed in at 66 kg on her wedding day, but the weight had steadily crept on and she found herself 20 kg heavier three years later at the young age of 24. She had made numerous attempts at losing weight and Raj who was a great husband, humored her while she tried and failed to keep the weight off. She always returned to her old eating habits of munching on heavy snacks and her favorite mutton biryani once she stopped the program.

Lately she had got hung up on trying out weight loss pills. Two of her office/ gym mates had lost 7 & 11 kg's respectively while they were on them the past six weeks. Christine, her gym instructor knew of a similar product which had a combination of natural herbs and minerals as well as a medically approved supplement. Christine promised Ritu to help her exercise while she was on the pills. She  further assured Ritu that once she lost the weight she would be more motivated to control her weight and avoid reverting to her earlier eating habits. This was her justifying argument with Raj, as she kept telling him that Christine was a decent, highly trained fitness instructor and would not want her to get sick from these pills.

Ritu finally had her way and started that Saturday morning on a daily regimen of a capsule with every meal. The pharmacy where she purchased them told her she should avoid eating fatty foods and to walk or exercise everyday. The pharmacist also told her to look out for some common side effects such as loose stools, gas, stomach pain, irregular menstrual periods, headaches, anxiety and difficulty controlling bowel movements. He also told her to be careful and to consult her doc if she didn't feel right.

Ritu's Weight Lost Diary:
Day 1. Saturday. She was excited at the prospect of losing her extra weight. The first night after the pill, while dining out, people on the next table glared at them as Ritu kept passing foul smelling gas.

Day 2. Sunday was their day to hang out at the mall together. That afternoon, Ritu made frequent trips to the restroom as she had awful diarrhea. All this simply because she had got tempted at lunch time and eaten chhole with one bhatura. Hey, she had only one instead of her usual two bhatura's. That evening, Raj being his supportive self, agreed to go along with her weight loss obsession, by helping her prepare a fresh salad, grilled tuna and some creamed spinach. This was healthy, but unknown to Raj and Ritu both the fish and spinach had high fat content. The fat from lunch, combined with the fat from dinner had put Ritu over the 30% limit of consuming calories from fat, thereby causing loose motions. Ritu spent the night jumping out of bed every few hours to pass watery stools that smelled awful.

Day 3. Monday morning, she had a glass of skimmed milk, a banana and some oatmeal cereal. The medication must be working she told herself, as she already felt a lot lighter.   

Raj and she went and had dinner at Ritu's parents place that night. Her mother was livid with Ritu for taking the pills. She told Ritu in no uncertain terms that she was worried these capsules may stay in her system for a long time even after she had stopped taking them, and could possibly affect their future pregnancies.

Right after dinner, her mom brought out Raj's favorite, gulab jamuns and as usual Ritu couldn't resist the temptation and had one piece. Soon after, while driving home, Ritu had the strong urge to pass a bowel movement. Traffic was crawling and Raj kept telling her to hold on, they would be home in 15-20 minutes. It was the most agonizing 20 minutes Ritu had ever tolerated.

Day 7. Friday. Came along and Ritu had lost 2.7 kg, Not bad, Huh!

Day 14. Friday. Ritu got into the jeans she hadn't worn in over a year. She felt on top of the world but she didn't look so good. There were dark circles under her eyes, Raj seemed to be getting upset with her more often, her heart raced faster for no reason, she wasn't sleeping well at night, her skin looked pale, her diarrhea was terrible, and the flatulence unforgiving. She tried to laugh it off, but it didnt pass over well with Raj after the first few days.

Day 19.Wednesday. Ritu had lost an additional 2 kgs, but was angry not just because she had these awful side effects, but also because she felt she had fallen for another quick weight loss gimmick.

At the end of week three Ritu stopped taking the pills.

What Are The Options For Weight Loss Pill Users.
In Ritu's case, or for those individuals taking weight loss pills like her-

• Be herself, eat sensibly and smaller portions. Raj advised her to start keeping a daily log of her calories consumed and calories burned through exercise, to help keep her honest.
• Move onto the next weight loss fad.

Most of these modern day weight loss pills are a concoction of the following: Herbs, botanicals, vitamins, minerals, caffeine, sometimes laxatives and some herbs like Yohimbe, Ma Huang, Medohar gugal, Vinopectine and Synephrine. If users dont understand what these names stand for, does that mean they are safe. No way! These ingredients interact individually and collectively on ones body in different ways.

Weight loss pills do provide a valuable service for specific patients who are seriously obese by helping them get started and then maintaining their weight loss while they lose some more by exercising and diet control.

Certain diet pills are not recommended for people with specific medical condition. For e.g. phentermine is not recommended for people with heart disease or high blood pressure, and fenfluramine and dexfenfluramine for people taking anti-depressant.

There are only two FDA approved weight loss drugs - Meridia and Orlistat. Both of these are a type of obesity reduction pill, with Meridia acting as an apetite suppressant, and Orlistat acting by preventing the absorption of fat in the digestive system. They and other similar weight loss pills must be medically supervised by a physician as the side effects can often have severe adverse reactions and impact ones long term health.

In December 2008, The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued a warning to consumers on the safety of 28 different marketed weight loss products.

There are no shortcuts to permanent weight loss.

Disclaimer: These reactions are seen frequently, but are not a given. At NutritionVista we highly recommend that all users be under medical supervision before starting on and during any weight loss pill regimen.

By. Kanupriya Khanna. Dietitian, www.NutritionVista.com

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