There’s a pun in the title, but don’t worry if you don’t get it. By the end of this post, you’ll understand…

I usually just ignore anything about diet pills. Never took ‘em; doubt I ever will. But I thought I should talk about this one, because with the arrival of spring comes the cry of “Ack! Bathing suit season!” — and you might be tempted to look into diet pills like alli.

How Alli Works

When you take alli with a meal, it blocks 25% of the fat you eat by shutting down the enzyme lipase. (Lipase helps to break down fat so it’s more easily stored by the body.) What happens is, the undigested fat is excreted instead of absorbed. In other words, you, um, poop it out…

The total amount of fat blocked depends on how much fat you ate, but can be up to 200 calories a day.

Is It Worth It?

But alli comes with a price, and not just a hefty price from your wallet at $65 to $75 per month. One of the reasons dieters lose 50% more weight when taking alli is that it can cause sudden diarrhea if more than 15 grams of fat are consumed in one sitting. That doesn’t sound like much fat, but a McDonald’s Asian Salad with Crispy Chicken and low-fat sesame ginger dressing has 19.5 grams of fat. 8 ounces of lean hamburger has 21 grams. 2 tablespoons of peanut butter has 16 grams.

And you can’t “save” your fat grams from breakfast in order to spend them at dinner. Alli’s website recommends that you cut down on fat to no more than 15 grams per meal (45 per day) for a few days prior to beginning the program. It also recommends that you start on a weekend day so you can stay close to home and the bathroom. And finally suggestions are made to wear dark pants and bring a change of clothing with you to work.

Sounds like a fun time, doesn’t it?

Alli can’t distinguish between good fats and bad fats either. So you may end up “flushing” some good fats out of your body. (Pardon that second pun — I’ve been trying hard to restrain myself…)

The alli website also says that once you stop taking alli you may start to gain the weight back, even if you continue with a reduced calorie low fat diet and your exercise program.

So alli does work for those who are willing to either cut back to a low fat diet or suffer the pain and consequences of sudden diarrhea on a regular basis.

But maybe a low fat diet and exercise regime would work just as well and not have the dire ‘treatment effects’ of alli? Just something to think about…

Eat better, move more, and believe in yourself!

(About Me)