Orlistat Marketed as Alli is a Big, Fat Lie

By The Fit Advocate, Craig Pepin-Donat, International Fitness Expert and Author of "The Big Fat Health and Fitness 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 precancerous 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.

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