What is Obesity
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention or CDC, being obese or overweight manifests itself with an accumulation of excessive fat. Unfortunately, this excessive fat creates a risk to the person’s health. Overweight individuals have a body mass index or BMI that is over 25 and higher but less than 30. Meanwhile obese individuals have a BMI over 30 or higher. Incidentally, over 105 million American adults are obese.
Consequences
Obese individuals are at risk for serious diseases like:
- Stroke,
- Coronary heart disease,
- Type 2 diabetes,
- Gall bladder diseases,
- Osteoarthritis,
- Sleep apnea, breathing problems,
- Many types of cancer,
- All-causes of death.
Also, obese individuals are at risk for serious health conditions like:
- High blood pressure,
- High LDL cholesterol,
- Low HDL cholesterol,
- High levels of triglycerides (dyslipidemia),
- Low quality of life,
- Mental illness like clinical depression and anxiety.
Typical Methods to Lose Weight
Practical methods to lose weight include changing your diet, regular physical activities, and weight-loss medicines. Now, changing your diet includes reducing your daily calorie intake by 500 calories or more. Also, physical activities should occur for 150 to 300 minutes every week. By the way, physical activities can include walking, jogging, or using exercise machines for working out in the home. Lastly, your doctor may prescribe weight-loss medicines. Incidentally, the above are only some of the most common methods to fight obesity.
FDA Approved Weight Loss Medicines
So far, the United States Food and Drug Administration has approved eight weight-loss drugs for adults.
Bupropion-naltrexone or Contrave –
Now, bupropion is an anti-depressant, while Naltrexone is used to treat alcohol and opioid dependence. Makes you feel less hungry or full sooner. However, it can cause constipation, diarrhea, dizziness, dry mouth, headache, increased blood pressure, increased heart rate, insomnia, liver damage, nausea, and vomiting.
Liraglutide or Saxenda –
This drug is used to manage Type 2 diabetes. Also, it causes the brain to regulate appetite and food intake. However, it can cause nausea, diarrhea, constipation, abdominal pain, headache, and increased heart rate. Also, this drug is given by an injection.
Phentermine-topiramate or Qsymia –
Phentermine lessens your appetite, while topiramate is used to treat seizures or migraine headaches. Makes you less hungry or feel full sooner. However, it can cause constipation, dizziness dry mouth, taste changes, especially with carbonated beverages, tingling of your hands and feet, and trouble sleeping.
Semaglutide or Wegovy –
Semaglutide targets areas of the brain that regulate appetite and food intake. Also, this drug is used to treat Type 2 diabetes. Also, this drug is given weekly by an injection. However, it can cause nausea, diarrhea, vomiting, constipation, abdominal (stomach) pain, headache, and fatigue.
Benzphetamine, Diethylpropion, phendimetrazine –
These medications increase chemicals in the brain to make you feel you are not hungry, or that you are full. However, these drugs can cause dry mouth, constipation, difficulty sleeping, dizziness, feeling nervous, feeling restless, headache, raised blood pressure, and increased heart rate.
Orlistat or Xenical –
Orlistat works in your gut to reduce the amount of fat your body absorbs from the food you eat. However, it can cause diarrhea, gas, leakage of oily stools, or stomach pain.
FDA Approved Over-the-Counter Weight Loss Drugs
Alli prevents about 25 percent of the fat you eat from getting absorbed into your body. Alli, along with a reduced-calorie, low-fat diet, can result in a 5 to 10 percent weight loss over time. Furthermore, clinical studies show most people lost 5 to 10 pounds over 6 months.
Alli has been shown to significantly reduce the following fats as early as 12 to 24 weeks of use.
- Abdominal subcutaneous adipose tissue (ASAT),
- Intra-abdominal adipose tissue (IAAT),
- Total abdominal fat, and
- Liver fat.
What is Alli
Alli is a 60-milligram, over-the-counter version of orlistat, a 120-milligram prescription drug. Both Alli and orlistat are meant to be used as part of a weight-loss plan, along with a low-calorie, low-fat diet and regular physical activity.
Alli is approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for use in adults 18 and older who have a BMI of 25 or more.
However, Alli can cause itching, loss of appetite, yellow eyes or skin, light-colored stool, or brown urine.
How Alli works
Orlistat (the active ingredient in Alli) promotes weight loss by decreasing the amount of dietary fat absorbed in your intestines.
Lipase, an enzyme found in the digestive tract, helps break down dietary fat into smaller parts, so it can be used or stored for energy. Orlistat blocks the work of lipase. When you take the Orlistat with a meal, about 25 percent of the fat you eat isn’t broken down. In fact, the fat is passed through bowel movements.
Studies
In some studies, more than 40 percent of people taking Alli while following a calorie-restricted diet and increasing physical activity lost 5 percent or more of their body weight within a year. Clinically meaningful weight loss, generally defined as 5 percent or more of body weight, means that there is enough weight loss to begin lowering the risk of heart disease, diabetes, and other diseases.
Furthermore, those who ate a calorie-restricted diet, exercised, regularly, and took Alli lost an average of 5.7 pounds more in one year than did people who only dieted and exercised.
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