Do weight loss drugs work?

Studies show that many doctors overestimate the possible weight loss ability of weight-loss drugs. This is likely because some clinical practice guidelines that advocate these drugs for reducing obesity, and the main author of the guidelines had a “significant financial interest” in several pharmaceutical companies that also manufacture obesity drugs! (700) Compare these guidelines to the Canadian Task Force Preventative health care, an independent expert panel, who recommend against taking weight loss medications due to their ineffectiveness and serious health risks.

One of the more popular weight-loss drugs Alli (orlistat) blacks fat absorption but causes extremely unpleasant side effects such as urgent leakage of oily fecal matter (690). In a review of over a hundred clinical trials of weight-loss medications lasting almost a year, the greatest weight loss reported on these drugs was only nine pounds and you would have to take these drugs for life to keep the weight off because any weight lost was all regained after the drugs were stopped.

Weight-loss supplements are infamous for being adulterated with drugs. In a sampling of 160 weight-loss supplements sampled that claimed to be “100 percent natural,” more than half were tainted with drugs: active pharmacological ingredients, ranging from antidepressants like Prozac to erectile dysfunction meds like Viagra.

Around a third of apparently ‘traditional herbal’ and ‘purely natural’ diet supplements sold online contain banned ingredients, such as sibutramine, which was removed back in 2010 for heart attack and stroke risk and also caused supplement-induced psychosis. While manufacturers can be fined for noncompliance, violations are small compared to the profits and they can use labelling such as “not intended for human consumption;”

So what can we take instead of these drugs? The most general and safest alternative/herbal approach to weight control is to substitute low-[calorie] density foods for high-[calorie] density and processed foods, thereby reducing total [calorie] intake.” (In other words, more whole plant foods and fewer animal foods and junk.) “By taking advantage of the low-[calorie] density and health-promoting effects of plant-based foods, one may be able to achieve weight loss, or at least assist weight maintenance without cutting down on the volume of food consumed or compromising its nutrient value.”

A randomized placebo-controlled trial of the hundred of drugs found not a single one was more effective that the placebo containing sugar. While it is likely that certain banned supplements such as ephedra could help people lose weight, the very serious risk is that “This supplement may kill you, along with causing strokes and heart arrhythmias”732 Ephedra was used as a metabolic stimulant and resulted in about two pounds of weight loss a month in 19 placebo-controlled trials. If only there was a way to get the benefits of ephedra without the risks. Well there is and it is free and surprisingly unpromoted. Results published in the Journal of the Endocrine Society shows that its possible to get the metabolic boost without risking death just by drinking water.

A randomized, controlled trial randomly assigned overweight and obese men and women to two cups of water before each meal and they lost nearly five pounds more body fat in 12 weeks than those in the control group. Both groups were put on the same calorie-restricted diet, but the one with the added water lost weight 44 percent faster.

Within ten minutes of just drinking two cups of plain water, there is a 60 percent surge in the adrenal hormone noradrenaline and hence, we can get the weight-loss benefits of noradrenaline-releasing drugs, like ephedra, without the risks. Drinking two cups of water increased the metabolic rates by 30 percent. In the 90 minutes after drinking a single tall glass of water, the study subjects burned about an extra 25 calories. Do that four times throughout the day and you could wipe out 100 extra calories— more than ephedra!