Alli - Weight Loss in a Pill?

Glaxo-SmithKline is launching the first proven weight loss drug to be sold over-the-counter. The drug, Alli, a milder version of the prescription medication Xenical, has been shown to help subjects lose 5 - 10% of their body weight, when combined with a diet and exercise plan.

Let's look at this more closely. The drug, at double the strength being sold-over the counter, helped half of the subjects lose 5 - 10 % of their body weight, when combined with a diet and exercise plan. Somehow I don't think Glaxo will be highlighting that last phrase in their marketing. That's a 50% chance of a 200 lb person losing 10 - 20 lbs. 50 % success is pretty good by pharmaceutical standards, (anti-depressants are only about 20% effective), and Glaxo is expecting 5 - 6 million people to take the drug.

Alli works by blocking the absorbtion of dietary fats. The fats go in, but they aren't fully absorbed and neither are their calories. But they have to go somewhere, and that somewhere is out the other end. Side effects include cramping, flatulence, oily stool, and "ocassional loss of bowel control". Aiks. Not great for the social life I'd say.

The idea is that you eat the fat, and then take this pill so it doesn't get absorbed. That's like saying to Exxon, "don't worry about building a better Valdez, we'll just clean up the ocean" only in this case, the ocean is our own body. I wonder how many gooey birds Alli will leave behind?

As a coach whose expertise is in getting people to do what they know they should, especially regarding food and weight issues, I would love to see even a fraction of the advertising and promotional budget for Alli directed to teaching people how to get out of their own way and eat well in the first place. Don't they say, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure?