Orlistat

What is orlistat?

Orlistat is the active ingredient in the obesity treatment Xenical. Orlistat is a prescription only drug in most countries except for the UK and USA. In the UK and USA it is available over the counter in a lower dosage, which is marketed as Alli.

Orlistat works to aid people who are overweight or obese to lose weight. If you have a body mass Index (BMI) of over 30, then you are medically considered to be obese and Xenical orlistat could perhaps be a solution for you. Alli orlistat is available for people whose BMI is over 28.

Orlistat prevents the fats consumed in your daily diet from being absorbed into the body. Rather than being absorbed, the fat passes through the body and is expelled through your regular bowel movements. In this way, unnecessary fat is not absorbed and weight loss will be more achievable.

How does it work?

Orlistat is a lipase inhibitor. Before understanding what that means, it’s important to first understand the very simple process of how fat is normally absorbed by the body.

Fat that is included in your regular daily meals gets swallowed into the stomach, where digestion begins. During digestion, 2 enzymes, gastric and pancreatic lipases work to break down the fatty molecules both in the stomach and the small intestine. Without being broken down, the fatty molecules are too large to be absorbed into the blood stream or converted into energy.

Orlistat, a lipase inhibitor, prevents the gastric and pancreatic lipases from doing their job. By doing this, many of the fatty molecules that are ingested through meals, approximately 1 third, are not broken down and absorbed by the body. Instead they are passed out of the body through your regular bowel movements.

How effective is it?

In studies, almost 70% of patients using Xenical lost 3% of their bodyweight within 3 months. Those taking Xenical orlistat over a year lost almost 16lbs. Over a 2 year period, over 2 thirds of people using Xenical along with a calorie controlled diet lost at least 5% of their body weight, which was enough to significantly decreased their likelihood of developing obesity related diseases.

How to get the best results?

Orlistat is not effective on its own. It must be taken in conjunction with an increased level of exercise and a calorie controlled diet for it to produce good results. Many people make the mistake of thinking that medications like orlistat will simply help them to lose weight without them needing to make any positive lifestyle changes.

If you want to lose weight, you need to realistically consider making lifestyle changes, ones that you can maintain. If you diet and then go back to your old eating habits, you will gain all the weight you lost. This medication cannot change your lifestyle for you, but it can assist with promoted weight loss. Sometimes this can be beneficial when starting a diet, as it gives you the confidence you need to continue.

There are several side effects that can slow the weight loss process down, or just make it uncomfortable. These side effects can be lessened if you follow the directions correctly when taking this weight loss medication, and also follow the correct diet and exercise regime.