What are the best weight loss pills? Which pills will give me the best results the fastest? These are the holy grail of us in the “need to lose weight” community. If there was an easy answer then the weight loss industry wouldn’t be a billions of dollars a year industry. The easiest answer you can probably get to these questions would be as follows: the best weight loss pills are those that give ME results. Now I know you are probably calling me names at this point, but there is some real truth to this statement.
Because our bodies and DNA are different we will react differently to medications. What works for me may not work for you and vise versa. For instance, caffeine has no real effect on me. My brother uses caffeine religiously and it works for him. I drink coffee and can go right to sleep. So the important question to really ask is: what are the best ones for ME?
There are two major categories of weight loss pills on the market today. We have “prescription” and “over the counter” as our two categories weight loss pills fall into. Setting aside the dangers and possible side effects that any medication can cause, the basic difference between the categories is that prescription pills have ingredients in them that require medical supervision. The other major difference in the categories is testing and results. Prescription drugs have more testing and analysis required than the over the counter supplements. This doesn’t necessarily make them safe, in fact sometimes it has been the opposite. I’m sure some of you remember the recall on ephedra products which were stacked with (term meaning included in the pill) caffeine. This was a staple in the bodybuilding world for years, and also went through clinical trials before the recall (which I believe, was mainly due to the side effects that women suffered on the ephedra/caffeine stack – not as many women body builders throughout the years).
Over the counter pills are in all reality, even more frightening. The FDA (Federal Drug Administration) reviews the claims of all the supplements on the market. This is the check in the system to keep us safe. The issue is that there are some many new supplements coming out that the FDA is overwhelmed with products to test, and there is really no way for them to keep up even if the staff and budget was tripled. In fact, take a look at the supplements you have in your cabinet, or the next time you are in the store and you will see on the bottles where it says something to the effect of “these claims have not been evaluated by the FDA”. This means, that when the FDA is able to test the claims they may very well find out that it was all made up information. So be aware of this when you put your money out for an over the counter weight loss pill.
Some quick notes:
When a label says “Natural” it doesn’t necessarily mean that it is good for you. Arsenic is also a naturally occurring element and thus would be considered, natural.
In summery, you may have very good results with some of the over the counter products, but be careful or at lest cognizant about the ingredients and how the pills effect you once you start taking them. Prescription weight loss pills also have risk associated with their use, but at least you have some medical supervision wile taking them which should mitigate some of that risk.
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