concern about the weight loss pill Alli

How does Alli work?

Alli promotes weight loss by decreasing the amount of dietary fat absorbed in your intestines.

Lipase, an enzyme found in the digestive tract, helps break down dietary fat into smaller components, so it can be used or stored for energy. Alli inhibits the work of lipase. When you take the drug with a meal, about 30 percent of the fat you consume isn't broken down and is eliminated through bowel movements.

Alli works by stopping you breaking down and absorbing the fat, so it just goes straight through you..

Only you can decide whether it's worth it to be honest. Personally, I don't think the risk of an*l leakage would be offset by anything for me. But maybe that's just me.

Do you really only have 25lbs to lose, like your ticker says?

Edited because apparently an*l is a swear word but considering it's a genuine medical complaint, I'm not sure what else I can put.

... did anyone else read that description and feel their entire digestive system clench in fear?

No offence meant to the OP, but I can't imagine a situation where excreting orange goo would be worth it to lose weight, especially if there's a possibility of it happening involuntarily. I'll stick with good old fashioned calorie counting; there's less body horror involved.

Hahahahaha KarenJanine. That is class. Love it !

KarenJanine wrote: »

Read this, it will tell you everything you need to know about Alli! http://thewvsr.com/alli.htm

I laughed while reading this, but mostly because I have seen many of those things happen to folks on Alli. My wife tried it once. Several coworkers tried it.

I thought wow, that's a drug that will teach you not to eat fat. I'm sure it will if the OP stays on it. My problem, and many others, is fat is helpful. You need some fat.

I need about 72g of fat a day. Imagine how much fat I would have to try to consume on Alli to keep 72g of fat?

I'd have to find a way to make a living while sitting on a toilet.

My concern with the product is the cost vs what you get out of it.

Do the math. You are limited to a certain amount of fat per meal, and it blocks 25% of that fat I believe? Its been too long since I've done the research to recall all the values. But at 9 calories per gram of fat, and 3500 calories for a pound, it works out to something like a 1 pound per month of weight loss.

All the Alli advertising claims comparing people who use Alli to people to lose weight on their own: factor in Alli users being active in community forums such as this for support and tracking their calories in. The non-users in the claims, do not. So the Alli users that lose much more than the opposite group? Can probably attribute most of their progress to the community support and food tracking.

About the only thing it does, in my opinion, is kind of force you to limit your fat intake. Which may or may not be useful for weight loss. As if you're not eating at a deficit (you can overeat carbs, protein also) then there is no loss. And in reality, blocking the fat can sometimes have a downside. Your body needs fat, and it does not absorb some nutrients very well without fat.

charles877 wrote: »

This might be nsfw-ish?

Hi, I wanted to ask the community about this. I've been on Alli for about four days now and so far its been working but my stools have been covered in an orange oil. After searching online I have found this to be a common problem but I've read that its common to leak some of that too. I haven't had that problem but i'm terrified I will lol. Has anyone else had this problem? Does it go away or will it continue to happen?

Reminds me of when Wow chips were introduced and quickly were rebranded and had a warning label

Some people with GI issues experience similar symptoms depending on their ability to break down fats. I have never taken Alli, but I had my gallbladder removed ~4 years ago. As a result, there is no storage of bile (just an ongoing trickle) to kick in and break down a higher-fat meal, so the excess fat can be excreted with stool. Unfortunately just because you haven't experienced leakage yet doesn't mean you won't - all it can take is a greasy meal. You might experience leakage or feel like you have gas and actually expel the unabsorbed fat. It's difficult for me to understand why someone would want to subject themselves to that - personally I find it quite embarrassing and a huge motivator to keep my eating on track.

Tell you a story, my mom decided to try this a few years ago. Her and I were out shopping one day at Macy's and I looked over and saw her kind of leaning against one of those support poles through the store. I walked over to her and asked if she was ok, and she was like omg, I just pooped my pants. I had to walk behind her as we went to the dressing room and I could smell it. She had orange goop all down her legs, pants and undies. I ended up having to go buy her a new pair of jeans (luckily we were shopping!) and she changed into those and put the dirty stuff in the bag so we could dispose of them. I took her home right away and asked her what she'd eaten that day, and she told me a burger and fries. I'm like well, you're not supposed to eat like that with that pill unless you're going to be by a toilet for the next 3 hours. She stopped taking it after that embarrassing experience.
So truth be told, I don't think it's worth it and like others said, it doesn't distinguish between good fats vs bad fats. But if you decide to keep taking it I would suggest bringing a change of pants with you wherever you go and maybe some baby wipes just in case it drips down you, because it's stinky.

Nsfw language but this is hysterical. http://www.craigslist.org/about/best/lax/182862349.html

This is what happened to one poor soul when he ate fat free Pringles made with olean/olestra.