The Stress-free diet – comment on the 'alli' pills:

                                      © 2008-2009

 

January, 2009

 

The pharmaceutical company GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) has announced that the European Medicines Agency has approved the sale of its diet pill, called 'alli' , for sale without prescription. GSK has said that they expect it to be on sale during the next few months. However, those wishing to lose weight should be aware that they cannot rely purely on the alli pills to lose weight - GSK has stated that the clinical trials only proved that it helps dieters to lose weight when they are also losing weight by reducing their fat and overall calorie intake. GSK states that if somebody's diet is resulting in weight-loss of 4 lbs per week, alli should increase that weight-loss to 6 lbs - but at a price, and with likely side-effects - see below.

 

If you're thinking of buying alli when it becomes available, you should be aware of the following:

 

·               alli can only be sold to people with a BMI of 30kg/m2 or more, or a BMI of 28kg or more with associated medical risk factors.

 

·               The pill works by reducing fat absorption from the digestive system, so if your meal doesn't contain any fat, then you have to remember not to take the pill.

 

·                According to the European Medicines Agency's 'Summary of Product Characteristics'  document for alli (link below), your diet is supposed be rich in fruit and vegetables, and your daily intake of fat, carbohydrate and protein should be distributed over three main meals when you are taking alli. This sounds like a healthy balanced diet… so if you were thinking that you could just carry on eating an unhealthy diet, you were mistaken.

 

·               Common side-effects include: abdominal pain/discomfort, oily spotting from the rectum, flatulence, liquid stools, increased defecation, faecal incontinence (!), tooth and gum disorders, and even rectal bleeding. Would you want to risk those side-effects? Also, the use of an additional contraceptive method is recommended to prevent possible failure of oral contraception that could occur due to severe diarrhoea.

 

The link for the European Medicines Agency's summary document about alli is:

 

http://www.emea.europa.eu/humandocs/Humans/EPAR/alli/alli.htm

 

Under the title 'Product Information' you will find a horizontal list of little diamonds with a 2-letter language code below each, click on the diamond under the 'En' for the English PDF file.

 

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·         Introduction - follow a balanced diet for weight-loss

·        Guidelines - balanced diet

·         Guidelines - fat

·        Guidelines - sugar

·         Guidelines - salt

·        Guidelines - alcohol

·         Food labels

·        Breakfasts and mid-morning snack suggestions

·         Lunch and mid-afternoon snack suggestions

·        Evening meal and supper suggestions

·         Eating out, special occasions, and holidays

·        Morale, motivation, and stress

·         Exercise – but first of all, relax!

·        Carbs, Glycaemic Index and Load

·         alli pills   <<<<<

·        Meal replacement weight-loss products  

·         Wholemeal muffins - about

·        Spiced choc-chip wholemeal muffins

·         Double choc-chip wholemeal muffins

·        Chocolate and prune wholemeal muffins

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