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Home » Long Term Weight Loss » The diet pills that may help you lose weight and are backed by scientific research – Insider – INSIDER

Just about anyone who's tried it knows that losing weight is hard. When calorie restriction and cardio workouts leave you tired and hungry, anything that could hurry progress seems worth a try especially something as easy as a pill.

Americans invested $2 billion dollars on weight loss supplements in 2015, despite the industry's complicated history. When it comes to diet pills, there are two different types: prescription drugs and over-the-counter supplements. And they are not created or regulated, equally.

Here's what you need to know about each and whether they can help you lose weight.

The FDA has approved five prescription drugs for long-term overweight and obesity treatment based on research proving their safety and effectiveness:

A few other medications, most commonly Phentermine, are approved for short-term use. But prescription weight loss medication isn't for everyone. Doctors often reserve these treatments for patients with a BMI over 30 kg/m or those who have obesity-related health complications, like high blood pressure or diabetes.

These pills aren't a magic bullet for obesity. Weight-loss medications are used along with a healthy diet and exercise regimen, which needs to be continued following treatment with prescription diet drugs. Also, side effects are common and can be severe.

There is a much larger selection of diet pills available that are neither FDA approved or regulated. In fact, "Federal law does not require dietary supplements to be proven safe to FDA's satisfaction before they are marketed," according to the FDA website.

Since over-the-counter diet pills don't have to be vetted for safety or efficacy, it's much easier to get them onto shelves and into your medicine cabinet. In fact, most manufacturers of weight loss supplements don't test their products in humans before taking them to market. So, if you're considering a diet pill supplement, there are a few things you might want to know first.

These types of diet pills often contain ingredients like vitamins, minerals, enzymes, and herbs. The most common ingredients can be found in a database from National Institutes of Health. It will tell you everything that researchers know about an ingredient so far. Is it safe? Does it work? That's where you'll find out.

For instance, there's Garcinia Cambogia, which comes in products like HydroxyCut and Plexus Slim. It's supposed to suppress appetite and decrease the number of fat cells your body makes. Though its considered "fairly safe", there's no evidence that it actually helps with weight loss, and excessive use has been linked to liver problems.

Other diet pills may contain chitosan, from the shells of crabs, lobsters, and shrimp. In theory, it's supposed to bind fat in your digestive tract so your body can't absorb it. In reality, the NIH states that the amount of fat it binds is probably not enough to help you lose a significant amount of weight.

However, the most common group of ingredients is stimulants like caffeine, Yerba mate, bitter orange, or Guarana. And when it comes to the data on these ingredients, there's not a lot to suggest they help in any way with weight loss, says Kathering Zeredsky, a registered dietician at Mayo Clinic.

For example, a 2019 study showed that rats given caffeine burned more calories than rats doing the same amount of exercise without a stimulant. But there is no evidence that the effect carries over to humans.

Theoretically, all of these ingredients should help with weight loss, but it's extremely difficult to figure out if they work in practice, Zeredsky says. That's because most diet pills are made up of multiple ingredients and the directions suggest you take them with a diet that's restrictive in calories. So, it's hard to tell if you lost weight because of the product or because you simply ate fewer calories.

No matter what diet pill ingredient or program you're considering, it's critical that you talk to your pharmacist first, Zeredsky says, especially if you take other medications.

Though many of the long-standing ingredients are considered safe, they can have toxic effects at high doses. And it's possible that they could interfere with your other medications. Your pharmacist can walk you through the cryptic ingredient list, and point out any red flags.

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The diet pills that may help you lose weight and are backed by scientific research - Insider - INSIDER

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Home » Long Term Weight Loss » The diet pills that may help you lose weight and are backed by scientific research – Insider – INSIDER