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Which Diet Pills Are the Most Effective?

Adding supplements to your nutritional regime is always a tempting way to lose additional weight while on a restrictive diet, but the cautious consumer will always want to get the most "bang for his buck." When it comes to nutritional supplements, the FDA has no ability to regulate the industry so what you see might not always be what you get. If you are looking for the most effective diet pills on the market today, it helps to go with ones that have obtained the coveted FDA approval.

  1. FDA and Supplements

    • The supplement industry is outside the purview of the FDA, which means that manufacturers of diet pills do not have to prove their label claims or verify product contents before being allowed to sell their product. This means that the ingredients contained in any pill of most diet supplements might be vastly different in quantity and type than what is claimed on the side of the bottle, making it difficult to fully trust makers of most supplements.

    Diet Pill Effectiveness

    • According to the Mayo Clinic, most popular diet pills are of dubious effectiveness to begin with. Furthermore, the long-term effects of these pills are unknown. Popular ingredients like ephedra and hoodia are of questionable efficacy, and promote various undesired side effects such as hypertension, irregular heartbeat or seizures.

    Alli

    • As far as over-the-counter prescription diet pills are concerned, the FDA has recently approved Alli, which is a lower-strength version of a prescription weight-loss medication called Orlistat. Alli works by blocking the body's ability to absorb fat consumed in the diet, facilitating improved weight loss. This occurs by blocking the action of the enzyme lipase, which acts throughout the digestive process to break down fat molecules.

    Other FDA-Approved Diet Pills

    • Alli is the only over-the-counter diet pill approved by the FDA, but there are other prescription medications available if you can get your doctor's approval. These include Xenical (which also works by blocking the absorption of fat), Meridia (which works by reducing appetite) and Phentermine (another appetite suppressant). As these (and Alli) are the only diet pills on the market that are guaranteed to do what they claim, these are the most effective diet pills you can obtain.

    Considerations

    • Note, however, that according to the Mayo Clinic, even a proven-effective diet pill like Alli will only help you lose a few pounds more than you would have with diet and exercise alone. This means that you must carefully evaluate whether a handful of pounds is worth the asking price for these diet pills. As there is no magic bullet, aside from regular diet and exercise, you might be better off saving your money to purchase higher-quality food or a membership at a better gym instead of throwing it away on "magic pills."

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