Starling Fitness: Daily writings on Fitness, Diet, and Health

Alli is an over-the-counter weight loss drug that recently came out. There have been some commercials for it.

Unfortunately, the commercials don’t tell you about the embarrassing side effects. Even if you go to their website, they don’t give you full disclosure of the side effects.

This parody of the commercial is a little more honest, if not vulgar:

This video would have been MUCH more effective if it had only included the REAL side effects instead of adding all those fake ones. There are enough real side effects as it is. Here is the complete list of Alli side effects from Ask Doc Web:

• Abdominal discomfort or pain
• Anxiety
• Arthritis
• Back pain
• Diarrhea, generally mild and goes away
• Dizziness
• Earache
• Fatigue
• Fatty or oily stools - 20% of patients
• Fecal urgency or incontinence - 22.1% of patients
• Flu
• Gas with fecal discharge, generally mild and goes away - 23.9% of patients
• Gum problems
• Headache
• Increased defecation
• Incontinence (fecal) - 7.7% of patients
• leaky stools in some patients temporarily
• Menstrual problems
• Muscle pain
• Nausea
• Rectal discomfort or pain
• Respiratory tract infections
• Skin rash
• Sleep problems
• Stomach cramps
• Tooth problems
• Urgency to have a bowel movement
• Urinary tract infections
• Vaginal inflammation
• Vomiting
• Less common side effects may include dry skin, ear/nose/throat problems and joint disorders.
• Side effects that usually occur after the first year of treatment include depression, leg pain, swollen feet and tendonitis.

With all these risks, I can’t imagine why anyone is even buying Alli. I deal with symptoms very similar to this when I have an outbreak of IBS. I wouldn’t wish them on my worst enemy. Don’t spend your hard earned dollars to make yourself so sick that you will eat healthy.