Alli Diet Pill Review

By Dietitian, Juliette Kellow

If current trends continue, it’s estimated that 60 percent of men and 50 percent of women in the UK will be clinically obese by 2050, so it’s great to see that new ways to help people lose weight are constantly being found and introduced.

The effectiveness of Orlistat in helping people to lose weight is proven and the drug has been extensively researched to ensure it’s safe. Equally importantly, as weight is lost, taking Orlistat together with a change in diet and exercise habits has the potential to reduce some of the risk factors linked to heart disease.

Alli Diet Pill - A Revolutionary Idea

Selling a half-dose version of a weight-loss drug that has only been available by prescription is certainly revolutionary and marks the start of an exciting new era in the area of weight management.

Hopefully, the availability of Alli from pharmacy’s will help reach a wider audience of overweight people than is currently seen by GP’s.

Lifestyle Changes Still Required with Alli Diet Pill

Providing pharmacists have time to give lifestyle advice and check the suitability of a person for the slimming tablets, there’s the potential for many more overweight and obese people to receive advice to help them lose weight – and that’s great news.

Pharmacy Protocol

It’s good to hear a protocol for pharmacists is being developed and that all people who want to buy Alli should receive a proper consultation, albeit a brief one. Hopefully, this will actually happen in practice.

On the downside, as is the case with any over the counter drug, there’s potential for it to end up in the wrong hands, but a short consultation should help to minimise this.

Body Mass Index Checks Essential

One area of concern includes the issue of identifying whether a person has a BMI of at least 28. It’s unlikely that consumers will be weighed, so pharmacists will be reliant on receiving accurate information from consumers themselves.

Buying Alli Diet Pills for Someone Else

There’s also the question of people buying Alli for other people who aren’t necessarily suitable candidates, for example, parents buying it for overweight teenagers. It will also be difficult to monitor whether people are taking it appropriately. The only way to combat these potential problems is to be totally honest with the pharmacist – the more honest you are, the more likely the treatment is to work. And remember, you should never buy it for anyone else.

Does Alli Work?

That aside, it’s also worth remembering that the amount of weight you can expect to lose by combining Alli with a change in diet and exercise – around 7kg in a year – isn’t massive.

Simply creating a calorie deficit of 1,000 calories a day through altering your diet and taking more exercise will help most people lose around 1kg a week. In theory, that adds up to a massive 52kg in a year!

Expensive Over the Counter Weight Loss Drug

It’s also expensive. Looking at the average weight loss identified by trials, it could cost you almost £530 to lose 7kg in a year! That price is on a par with an annual gym membership! Added to which, if a pharmacist thinks you are a suitable candidate for Allil, then so should your GP.

This means you should be able to get a month’s supply from GP for the price of a prescription. Better still, if you see your GP, you may also get tested for other health problems that are associated with being overweight or obese such as having your blood pressure, blood sugar and blood cholesterol measured – and that’s not something you’d get with a pharmacist.

Low Calorie Diet and Exercise

Ultimately, Alli may help some people lose a little weight. But you can’t simply ditch your diet and cancel your gym membership. You’ll still need to follow a lower-calorie diet and take plenty of exercise for the drug to be effective.

Alli Diet Pill Not a Wonder Drug

Bottom line: The Alli diet pill may help you on your way to losing weight but it’s not the wonder drug it’s been made out to be. If you want a body like Beyonce, you’ll need to put in the hard work – and as always that means modifying your diet and taking more exercise.

Read dietitian, Juliette Kellow's report