Health Risks of Diet Pills

Many people who are overweight or obese are tempted by mighty pills that allow them to lose weight for short period of time. Most doctors claim that it is better to lose weight steadily and opt for a healthy diet and regular physical activity than to take a pill that may cause more harm than benefit.

Most of the diet pills include substances that reduce appetite, so people eat less, leading to reduction in body weight. Some pills increase the rate of metabolism in human body and accelerate spending of calories delivered through food.

Diet pills can also act in the digestive system and bond fats are not allowed to be absorbed. This way the intake of calories drastically decreases. There are diet pills that enhance elimination of food from the gastrointestinal tract as well. In spite of reducing weight the various types of diet pills have various health risks as follows:

Health Risks of diet pills

• Diet pills that reduce appetite are called anorectics. Use of sibutramine, a commonly used anorectic have adverse effects ranging from minor forms like nausea, vomiting, constipation, lethargy, giddiness to severe forms like adverse cardiovascular events like stroke, heart attack, seizures, gastrointestinal bleeding, liver failure etc. It is banned in developed countries and most of developing countries like India.
• Another diet pill Orlistat (roche) reduces absorption of fats from intestine. The usage of this pill may produce loose clay colored stool, increased flatus, severe liver toxity, deficiency of fat soluble vitamins A, D, E & K, predisposition to breast and colonic cancer.
• Pills developed from Green Tea extract are used to increase the rate of metabolism. This causes risks like dizziness, insomnia, agitation, nausea, vomiting, bloating, gas, diarrhoea etc
• Some of the other risks of these diet pills include blurred vision, palpitations of heart, hair loss, urinary track problems and others.

The market is flooded with ‘magic’ products that assist in weight loss. Even if a person opts for such means of losing weight he/she should consult a health care provider and get all the information about the positive effects of the drug as well as the potential side effects. It is important to follow the instructions and always take the prescribed or recommended dose of a diet pill.

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