Xenical Diet Pill Leads to Poorer Diet

Diet pills, they’ve had a rough go of it, links to heart disease, kids using them to get high, gross bowel movements and doubt as to whether they even work, a marketer’s nightmare. Time for more bad news!

A new study suggests the popular diet drug Orlistat, sold under the prescription name Xenical, doesn’t inspire people to improve their diets, instead individuals popping Xenical are more likely to eat worse. How’s that for irony.

Xenical works by blocking the absorption of fat in the intestines and people on the drug are advised to reduce their dietary fat intake, consuming no more than 30% of their calories from fat each day. Not doing so may result in loose stool, i.e. mud butt.

But people don’t follow the rules! Published in the Journal of Human Nutrition and Dietetics, researchers reveal of the 44 obese adults studied, men and women on Xenical, average daily calories from fat among Xenical users 33% and for the placebo group 28%. Participants were tracked over 3 years.

Scientists concluded that the drug did not place a governor on people’s diet choices, leaving Xenical’s manufacturer Roche Laboratories, Inc. scratching their collective heads; Reuters reports.

Makes sense, it’s a band aid approach, not a lifestyle. Oh, and did you know there was actually an appetite suppressant candy in the 80s called Ayds, pronounced AIDS! Talk about bad timing.