Two over-the-counter diet pills Alli and Appesat go on sale this week
The first helps slimmers lose 50 per cent more weight than through willpower alone, by preventing the body absorbing fat.
The second tricks the brain into thinking the stomach is full, leading to weight loss of 10lb over three months in trials. With three-quarters of Britons overweight, both the alli and Appesat pills are likely to be seized upon by millions of failed dieters. But doctors and obesity experts have warned against tablets being used as a 'quick fix' for a problem that can also be tackled by diet and exercise.
And they question how much weight people will lose away from the carefully controlled conditions of clinical trials. Manufacturer GlaxoSmithKline has described Alli, the first drug of its kind to be available without prescription, as a 'significant milestone'.
In trials, slimmers who took the £1.50-a-day tablet with every meal typically lost 50 per cent more weight than those who relied on willpower. The 10lb average weight loss after six months is the equivalent of a dress size. But some dieters lost more than five stone.
However the pills do have side effects. The undigested fat which can't be absorbed passes through the body rather than being stored, making slimmers prone to wind and diarrhoea.
Alli can also interfere-with the absorption of some vitamins and slimmers are advised to supplement their diet with a daily multi-vitamin pill.
Want to lose weight? Buy Alli!
The drug, a half-strength version of the prescription-only diet pill Xenical, will be available to those with a body mass index of 28 and over - or verging on obese.
It will be displayed behind the counter and will come with recipes and information on healthy eating, exercise and calorie counting.
Glaxo stresses that it is not a 'magic' pill and is designed to enhance, rather than replace, the effects of diet and exercise. Dr Ian Campbell, a GP and medical director of the charity Weight Concern, said: 'We know it works. It helps weight loss and it is safe - the worst that is going to happen to you is some diarrhoea.'
But Gareth Williams, editor of the textbook Obesity: Science to Practice, said the weight loss seen in medical trials was unlikely to be replicated in real life.
Professor Williams, of Bristol University, said: 'It is a distraction. It gives people a fake way out of a problem.' The second diet pill on sale this week is Appesat, a seaweed extract which expands in the stomach, curbing appetite. Costing £29.95 for 50 capsules, it is said to carry no worse side-effects than an upset tummy.
Source: Dailymail.co.uk
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