Alli Weight Loss Pill Guide

Losing weight can be hard, and more and more often people are turning to slimming aids and pills to help them shift the pounds.  A recent estimate suggested that around half of all women living in the West have used a slimming pill at some point in their lives.  Alli is a slimming pill that you can buy without a doctors prescription, to aid you during weight loss.  The drugs foundations are not a new concept, however applying the drug in smaller dosages to allow people to buy it over the counter is, and has only been available for around a year.  Alli is a weaker version of an obesity aid called Orlistat, also known as Xenical, often used to help the severely overweight lose weight but only available on prescription within the UK.  Alli works similarly, but at a smaller dosage so that weight loss can be easily controlled and it can be applied to those who are not obese, but with a BMI of over 28.  Out of all of the slimming pills available Alli is the only one available with no prescription and that has FDA (Food and Drug Administration), approval in the US.  Alli should not be viewed as a wonder drug, you do need to use traditional methods such as dieting and exercise if you want to effectively lose weight as well as keep any side effects at bay.  Further, Alli can have some unpleasant side effects if you do not follow the advice given with it. 

How effective is Alli?

Alli works by decreasing the amount of fat that can enter your body through digestion in the intestines.  Alli helps to alter the productivity of Lipase enzymes, which can help you to prevent 25% of the fat that you usually absorb to enter your body and settle as fatty deposits.  This will help you to lose weight if you stick to a planned diet and partake in regular exercise.  If used properly, Alli can help you to lose an additional 1lb for every 2lbs that you would lose naturally.  The drug is not, however, a natural product and is completely made within a pharmaceutical laboratory. 


Ingredients of Alli

The ingredients of Alli are 60mg of Orlistat, Sodium Lauryl Sulfate, FD&C Blue 2, Gelatine, Iron Oxide, microcrystAlline cellulose, Providone, sodium glycolate, Edible Ink, Talc and Titanium Dioxide.  The Orlistat is the active ingredient, and is the part of the pill which affects your body.  If you have any allergies then it would be a good idea to seek medical advice before taking Alli, and due to the use of gelatine it is unsuitable for vegetarians.

Alli & changing your Lifestyle

Before you start using Alli you need to be completely committed to the idea of a lifestyle change to help you lose weight.  Although Alli can help you to lose weight it cannot just be taken without other changes to either your diet or the amount of exercise that you take.  Your pharmacist will give you advice on how you ought to apply the drug, and will help you to understand the diet that you ought to follow when taking Alli.  There is also a diet plan book that you can buy to supplement the weight loss pill.  Only people with a BMI of 28 or over can purchase the drug from a pharmacist, and although the drug is available online this same rule ought to be adhered to.

Problems with taking Alli

Alli does have some rather nasty side effects, which are more likely to occur if you do not follow the guidance given to you by your pharmacist.  A high fat diet ought to be avoided and you must be sure to be completely devoted to following all the advice given by the drug company and by your pharmacist.  A common problem that people have is soft stools, produced by the amount of fats not being digested within the intestine.  This problem can escalate with increased flatulence and some uncontrolled discharge.  Sometimes bloating of the intestine can also occur, leading you to be uncomfortable and sometimes making movement uneasy.  Due to the way Alli works, the Royal Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain has urged that people ensure that taking the drug will not put them at risk.  People who have problems with nutrient absorption, pregnant women, those on anticoagulants such as warfarin or anyone with a condition of the intestines or dietary system should be very careful if wishing to take Alli, and ought to ask their doctor for advice first.  It is more than likely that they should not start taking the drug as it might lead to major complications.  Recently there have been concerns about the lack of long-term studies done on humans who take Alli.  There have been some reports of liver problems, and on some studies on mice, Alli is thought to have increased the risk of liver cancers.  When taking Alli it is also important that you enrich your diet by taking additional vitamins and supplements.  Alli can prevent your intestines effectiveness in absorbing what you usually would from your food and can lead to deficiencies. 

Benefits of taking Alli

As well as helping you to lose weight of as much as 50% more than by simply a change in diet (according the drugs manufacturer GlaxoSmithKline), Alli can also have some additional health benefits.  Some studies have indicated the when used for over a year, Alli can help adults to lower their blood pressure.  The weight loss itself in conjunction with Alli helps to reduce the risk of heart disease and type 2 diabetes, by around 37%.

Buying Alli at your local Pharmacy & on the Internet

You will need to take an Alli pill with every meal that you eat throughout the day.  This means that you would usually consume 3 pills per day, and unfortunately they are not cheap.  Buying them at the pharmacy is probably the most expensive way, however it does ensure that you are provided with the right advice on how to use the drug, and ensures that any questions that you may have are answered.  Also, Alli is only recommended for people with a BMI of over 28, which means that you cannot buy the drug over the counter unless this is the case.  Usually at a pharmacy the drug will cost around £40 to £50 for a 28-day supply.  Online the prices are a lot cheaper, but you will not necessarily be getting any advice or guidance by someone trained to do so.  Online pharmacy/chemist sites sell the drug, as well as it being available on some other websites.  Here the prices vary as online discounts are often applicable, but generally it will cost around £34 for a months supply.  There are many promotions or offers that might affect the cost and save you money, often magazines will put offers through and some companies might sell it slightly cheaper than stated. 

If you buy Alli from a pharmacy then you will have a 15-minute consultation with the chemist in order to determine your health and suitability for the drug.  You will be taken to a separate room and spoken to confidentially during this consultation.  The pharmacist will ask questions about what weight loss programs you have already tried, any medication that you might be taking, any health problems you have and they will check your BMI to ensure that you are over 28.  These questions are very important and it is essential that you are honest throughout your consultation.  Taking Alli alongside certain medications can seriously reduce the effect that they might have and might put you at risk.  During this time you ought to ask any questions that you might have regarding the use of Alli and what you can do to ensure the performance of the slimming pill.  Your pharmacist will then give you some advice on how to use Alli, what changes you will need to make to your diet and some exercise tips to help you lose weight.  It is very important that you only purchase Alli for your own use, those who do not take this advice, or who do not know the risks could seriously put themselves at risk.  

Studies on Alli Weight Loss Pill

Alli has had a good track record with helping people to lose weight.  One study indicated that over a year of taking Alli, between a third and a half of individuals managed to lose 5% of their body mass.  Once the application of the slimming aid was stopped, a lot of these people then put weight on.  The stronger form of Alli, Xenical, has been used for around 15 years to help the obese lose weight, and continues to be used with good results.  Unfortunately the side effects can be really uncomfortable and might put people off.  Generally people lose between 5 and 10lbs over a six-month period.

Online Pharmacies

Online pharmacies have recently emerged as a practical solution for drug dispensing, as sometimes people find it hard to get to pharmacies themselves.  The first online pharmacy opened in 1999, and now over two million people use them.  It might seem dangerous, allowing people to buy drugs with no consultation, however often you will need a prescription to order certain drugs, and there are online questions that you have to answer for others.

There are many online pharmacies and these are all easy to find online, and provide all the services that you could expect to find in a normal high street pharmacy.

Online Pharmacy Regulations

Online pharmacies are regulated by the Royal Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain (RPSGB) and since 2007 have been given a green cross if they are deemed safe to use.  To gain a green cross the online pharmacy has to be dispensing drugs in a legal and safe fashion, and use appropriate measures to ensure that this is so.  With growing numbers of online pharmacies it is important to realise that the RPSGB accredited pharmacies are the safest to use.  You can find these online pharmacies by checking on the RPSGB website.

Online pharmacies have to follow the same codes of practice as any other pharmacy would.  If these codes are questioned then an investigation into the running of the pharmacy will take place.  The primary feature of this code of practice is that the patients care is the first concern.  This means that selling harmful drugs clearly goes against the code. 

Online Pharmacy Safety

As well as checking for the green cross, given by the RPSGB, there are other measures that you can take to ensure that the online pharmacy that you use or wish to use is safe. 

  • Check for a UK address
  • Check the pharmacists registration (possible on the RPSGB website)
  • Never buy a prescription drug if you don’t have a prescription
  • Usually you will have to answer a series of questions before you purchase the drugs.  If this isn’t the case then you ought to be suspicious. 

If you are unsure at any point when using an online pharmacy and are led to believe that it might not be registered then you can get in touch with the Royal Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain or the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA).

Online Considerations

The main problem with buying drugs online is the lack of a consultation.  You will have to answer specific questions when buying certain drugs to determine your suitability for them and to ensure your safety.  It is essential that you are honest when doing so in order to prevent putting yourself in any undue danger. 

Unaffiliated online pharmacies are often run by people with no formal qualifications to dispense drugs within the UK.  This could mean that you are given the wrong medication, that the drugs are substandard or not approved by a UK body.  Purchasing unregulated drugs could mean that you miss out on effective medication or, potentially, put yourself at risk. 

Online Pharmacies Selling Alli

Most of the online UK pharmacies sell Alli weight loss pill and it is worth using search engines to find the online pharmacy that will sell them the cheapest.  There are many deals available especially if you buy a lot of Alli at the same time.  For example, there are many £10 off deals among online pharmacies.  Buying Alli online is generally the cheapest way to buy Alli, although it is important to ensure that you are buying genuine Alli pills from an affiliated online pharmacy. 

When you buy Alli from an online pharmacy you will have to answer questions concerning your BMI (Body Mass Index), as well as your date of birth, other medications that you are taking and other medical conditions that you suffer from.  It will also lay out what you can expect from the drug and ask you to agree to this to ensure that you have been given all of the information that you would be given at a normal pharmacy.   Quite often online pharmacies will require you to register in order to use them.  This means that they can record your transactions and keep an eye on the medications that you order from them.

Buying Alli online could save you a considerable amount of money as well as avoiding the inconvenience that visiting a pharmacy could entail.  More and more people are choosing to buy medications online, and Alli is no different. 


How the Alli Weight Loss Drug Works »