Orlistat Marketed as Alli is a Big, Fat Lie

Orlistat Marketed as Alli is a Big, Fat Lie
Every year more than 70 million people resolve to lose
weight by going on a diet, which feeds the big, fat $58
billion diet and weight-loss industry. After all the money
is wasted, the cold, harsh reality is that fewer than 5
percent of dieters will realize long-term results. The
other 95 percent will regain all the weight they lost, and
then some. How can an industry survive with such a low
success rate? How can it be legal to market and sell
something that has a proven track record for failure? Now
consumers have a brand new diet deception being marketed to
them backed with over $150 million in marketing to spin the
weight-loss lie.

Consumers desperately searching for solution to their
weight challenges now have easy access to the new
FDA-approved over-the-counter (OTC) weight-loss drug
Orlistat, marketed under the name Alli. Lest you think this
is a brand new drug that will deliver the much sought after
solution to the obesity epidemic, think again. This "new"
drug isn't new at all. Orlistat is simply a lower-dose
version of the prescription weight-loss drug Xenical, which
has had zero impact on moving the fat meter in our society.
Making Orlistat available to consumers over-the-counter
only means that tens of millions of people will now have
false hopes of sustained weight-loss while being exposed to
toxic, synthetic chemical compounds.

Prior to the Orlistat approval, manufacturer
GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) was reeling from the negative reports
that their blockbuster diabetes drug Avandia
(rosliglitazone) was linked to death from heart attacks and
other cardiovascular events. Enter the Federal Drug
Administration (FDA) to the rescue with the much needed
approval of Orlistat that will surely pick up the slack
from the Avandia fallout. But at what cost?

In just one year between 1996 and 1997, over 18 million
people learned the hard way that weight-loss cannot be
safely achieved with a pill when it was revealed that the
weight-loss drug Fen Phen caused heart valve problems and
led to many deaths. The approval of Orlistat is yet another
example of how the FDA and Big Pharma fuel the quick-fix,
pill-popping mentality of consumers who hope to loose
weight without making the necessary lifestyle changes to
produce lasting results.

Not convinced? Orlistat is marketed under the name Alli,
supported by the Web site MyAlli.com. GSK entices visitors
to join the MyAlli community with language that confirms
the simple fact that weight-loss cannot be achieved with
Orlistat alone. The company stresses the importance of a
good balanced diet and regular exercise, which is the same
disclaimer you will find on any weight-loss product that
advertises unrealistic results.

The best Alli can muster is to offer users to lose 15
pounds versus 10 pounds that one might loose with diet and
exercise alone—with a few problems and side affects.
The drug is designed to block the absorption of 25 percent
of the fat in the food you eat by preventing the enzymes in
the intestines from digesting food properly. This also
interferes with the absorption of fat-soluble vitamins A,
D, E, K and beta carotene, so users are instructed to take
a daily multivitamin to make up for the lost nutrients.
Other disturbing side effects indicated by the manufacturer
include digestive and elimination issues including gas with
oily spotting, loose stools, stools that may be hard to
control and abdominal pain.

Even though this should be enough to prevent people from
using the drug, there are many more reasons. Any
weight-loss that you might experience by risking your
health with this drug is not sustained over time. The
information presented on MyAlli Web site states that most
weight-loss occurs in the first six months of use followed
by a decrease in the amount of weight loss. Additionally,
no longitudinal studies have been done on the drug to
determine its long-term effectiveness on weight loss or
implications for other health risks or mortality.

If that isn't enough to deter you, the greatest alarm about
Orlistat is its carcinogenic potential. Beginning with the
list of inactive ingredients there are two known
toxins—FD&C blue and the solvent Sodium Laruel
Sulfate (SLS). FD&C blue is a coal tar dye, which contains
heavy metals and is a possible endocrine disruptor. The
greatest risk of Orlistat is that studies of the
prescription version Xenical revealed that it clearly
causes pre-cancerous lesions of the colon (aberrant crypt
foci or ACF). On April 10, 2006 Public Citizen (the public
advocacy organization that helped inform the public about
the risks of Vioxx and Ephedra) petitioned the FDA, urging
them to remove Xenical from the market. Despite the known
hazards, the FDA not only kept Xenical on the market, it
approved the OTC version Orlistat. It is shocking that
despite the clinical evidence of the carcinogenic
properties of the drug that the FDA has not taken a stand
to protect consumers. Buyer beware.

Between the lack of evidence for the benefits of taking
Orlistat, coupled with the documented risks associated with
the drug, people looking for the solution to weight-loss
should avoid this product at all cost. GlaxoSmithKline will
need every penny of their $150 million marketing budget to
spin this big, fat lie. But the one thing that marketing
can't spin is your common sense.

----------------------------------------------------
Craig Pepin-Donat is uniquely qualified to speak about
issues related to health and fitness. Craig led several
high profile fitness organizations as president and also
served as executive vice president of sales and marketing
for the world's largest fitness organization, 24 Hour
Fitness.
He founded http://www.fitadvocate.com as an ongoing
platform to "protect and enhance the lives of health and
fitness consumers