Orlistat

Orlistat is a fat blocker that is the active ingredient in such weight loss formulas as the prescription strength Xenical and the over the counter dietary aid known as Alli. This ingredient works by hindering your body’s ability to absorb all of the fat it takes in thereby leaving less of that fat behind on your frame. This compound is found in 60mg in Alli and in 120mg in Xenical. Orlistat does have current Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval at the time of this review.

The Good

Orlistat has shown a modicum of success in a few clinical trials. The results of these studies were not staggering or dramatic but a little less than half of the test subjects did see a 5-10% weight loss over a period of 12 months.

The Bad

Unfortunately, Orlistat is an ingredient that much more to discourage its use than to recommend it. Orlistat is, as mentioned above, not an overwhelmingly successful element. Even those that did achieve some weight loss results gained it all back once Orlistat was no longer a part of their daily routine. Further discouragement comes in the form of some pretty horrific side effects which are listed as oily or loose stool, frequent or urgent bowl movement, gas, orange spots and diarrhea. Such embarrassments hardly seem worth a not even guaranteed 10% weight loss over a year’s time.

The Skinny

If you take a product that includes the ingredient Orlistat you must follow a very strict no fats diet in order to avoid the adverse effects we have already mentioned. We suggest you skip pills using this ingredient and just follow a no fat diet on your own. You will probably lose just as much weight and you won’t have to invest in adult diapers prematurely. We do not recommend Orlistat as a proven supplement option.