Alli

Wynonna Judd has been struggling with her weight both in and out of the public eye. In 2003, she opened up to Oprah about how her cholesterol levels were putting her at risk for a heart attack, and three years later, she checked into a treatment center for food addiction. Wynonna will be turning 45 in May, and she recently opened up to People magazine about the changes she's making to become more healthy.

Wynonna is planning ahead for meals, cooking more at home, and taking walks with her children. She is also taking Alli over-the-counter diet pills to lose weight, and is even a spokesperson for the diet aid. These pills act as a fat blocker, preventing your body from absorbing a quarter of the fat you consume. To find out more about Alli and see if it's effective at losing weight, read more

Five out of 10 products in the Sixth Annual Most Memorable New Products Launch Survey are related to food and health. Most notably:

#4 Domino's Oreo Dessert Pizza (1/8 Pizza has 120 calories)
#5 alli Weight Loss Capsules
#6 Oreo Cakesters (250 calories for 2 cakes)
#7 Diet Coke Plus
#8 Subway FreshFit Meals

Does anyone else see the irony in this? As Americans we literally want to have our cake and eat it too. The combination of high calorie desserts with low-calorie quick fixes and a diet pill seems to summarize our issues with getting healthy. What do you guys think about this? I know you have a lot to say so share your thoughts in the comments section below.

Source

I have a pretty bad opinion of weight loss pills, I am not convinced there is a magic bullet. Nor am I convinced that diet pills are the answer to losing weight.

The FDA doesn't agree with me and has recently said the fat-blocking weight-loss pill Orlistat (aka Xenical), which has been available by prescription, can be sold in a reduced-strength version over the counter. The new version will be sold as alli (pronounced AL-eye by GlaxoSmithKline) and is the first nonprescription diet pill to be approved by the FDA. Alli is intended for people 18 and older to use along with a reduced-calorie, low-fat diet and exercise.

Alli will contain half the dose of Xenical prescription capsules and is expected to run $1-$2 a day. The company estimated 5 million to 6 million Americans a year would buy the drug over the counter. The important safety information directly from Myalli.com are as follows:

When using this product:

• Take a multivitamin once a day, at bedtime. alli can reduce the absorption of some vitamins.
• Follow a well-balanced, reduced-calorie, low-fat diet. Try starting this diet before taking alli capsules.
• Alli capsules work by preventing the absorption of some of the fat you eat. The fat passes out of your body so you may have bowel changes.
• You may get:
  -gas with oily spotting
  -loose stools
  -more frequent stools that may be hard to control.

• In studies, most people lost 5-10 pounds over 6 months.

To these points I say: Scary. Duh. Weird. Gross. That's it?!?!

The FDA also said that people who have had organ transplants should not take OTC Orlistat because of possible drug interactions. In addition, anyone taking blood-thinning medicines or being treated for diabetes or thyroid disease should consult a physician before using Orlistat.

I am seriously outraged that the FDA will approve something that causes anal leakage yet Stevia, the non-caloric herb has yet to gain the FDA's approval.

This is a backwards world we're living in.