Which brand of diet pills is better to choose?
Every year, pharmaceutical companies develop new fat burning products. However, their main disadvantage is the presence of synthetic substances in the composition, which can cause side effects when taken. Preparations with herbal components are safer for the body, but their effectiveness remains in doubt. The review presents the best diet pills from the following companies:
- Evalar is a Russian manufacturer of dietary supplements and medicines with natural composition. She is a recognized expert in the field of herbal medicine and nutrition. Produces drugs using innovative technologies. Works .
- Sopharma is a Bulgarian manufacturer and distributor of health products. Offers consumers high-quality products at affordable prices. The company constantly invests in new technologies, innovations, research and development. The low price of drugs is due to the improvement of their distribution model. Production is carried out in factories with modern equipment
- Promo-Med is a Russian pharmaceutical company that produces medicines from high-quality imported raw materials. All products undergo strict quality control at every stage of production in accordance with GMP standards. The basis for successful promotion is constant clinical research, market analysis, and study of analogues.
- Roche Holding , a Swiss group of pharmaceutical companies, is a leading manufacturer of biotechnological medicines. Most of the drugs were developed in conjunction with accompanying diagnostics, which makes it possible to effectively assess the degree of their effect on the body.
- Sanavi is an Indian brand of effective diet pills. The products are created based on the principles of the ancient system of medicine Ayurveda. The latter is known for its commitment to positive health, natural beauty, and long life.
- Sun Pharmaceutical is an Indian pharmaceutical company that produces drugs for the treatment of pathologies in the field of cardiology, gastroenterology, endocrinology, neurology, and oncology. The company's medicine is valued for its quality and low price.
- Jinlixin is a Chinese company producing dietary supplements of various compositions for weight loss.
- Hebei Lang Mei Biotechnology Co., Ltd. – Chinese manufacturer of multivitamin complexes and dietary supplements for beauty. The range includes natural products in various forms of release. The drug production plant is equipped with a chemical analytical laboratory that monitors the quality of goods.
- Cefak KG is a German pharmaceutical company that develops, produces and sells herbal, homeopathic preparations for dietary nutrition for obesity, prevention and treatment of cardiovascular pathologies. The quality of products is assessed by specialists at factories in Germany.
- Polpharma SA is a Polish pharmaceutical company. It produces over-the-counter and prescription drugs that are used in cardiology, neurology, and gastroenterology. The company's mission is to help people improve their health. The manufacturer introduces innovative solutions in all areas of its activities. Most users rate the quality of the products highly.
- Merck Sant é S.A.S. _ _ is a German science and technology company that operates in the pharmaceutical and chemical fields. Its innovative products make it possible to improve the situation in the treatment of various pathologies. The company's goal is to support people at all stages of life.
- KRKA is a pharmaceutical company headquartered in Slovenia. The main activity is the production of generic drugs and cosmetics. The main goal is to promote health and improve the quality of life of people.
- Industry Jamu is an Indonesian manufacturer of dietary supplements for weight loss. Medicines are made from natural plant or animal materials.
- San Jiu 999 Cogem BioEngineering Co ., Ltd . is a group of enterprises from China that produce effective dietary supplements to combat excess weight.
Modern medications for weight loss
From many years of struggle with excess adipose tissue, humanity has learned several lessons. First, sometimes there is too much of a good person, and then he needs to be treated. Secondly, it is not always enough to run in the morning and give up sweets. Third, not all treatments are equally beneficial. We have compiled for you a list of officially approved drugs for the treatment of obesity and tell you how and to whom they can help.
From the editor
We draw your attention to the fact that drugs officially approved by the regulator in one state may not be among those approved for sale in another or may be directly prohibited.
Look carefully at which country a particular drug is on the list of approved drugs, and do not try to purchase something that may cause problems with the law. Even if there is positive scientific research data about these substances. First, let's define what excess weight is. From a medical point of view, weight can be excess only for the body and its work, but not at all for the self-esteem of its owner. Therefore, when we talk about obesity, we are not talking about someone’s dress not fitting well. We are talking about the fact that adipose tissue “sits” on someone’s organs and prevents them from functioning normally. And this, you see, is a much more serious problem. The World Health Organization suggests that you should not trust the mirror, but the body mass index (BMI). Take body weight (in kilograms) and divide by the square of height (in meters). You can start to get nervous if the index is more than 25 - this is considered overweight. And only after 30 does real obesity begin.
Let's dig deeper and see where excess weight comes from. To do this, let's go over the path that food takes on the way to fat deposits.
- Absorption. We eat.
- Digestion. In the stomach and intestines, enzymes act on food, breaking it down into small parts that can be easily absorbed.
- Suction. Intestinal cells absorb individual molecules and transport them into the blood.
- Feeding the cells. The molecules circulate through the blood, from where they are gradually disassembled by the body's cells.
- Stocking. Liver and adipose tissue cells take the remaining fats and sugars from the blood to put them aside for a rainy day. At the same time, sugar is also converted into fat in adipose tissue.
- Energy consumption. If your blood sugar level drops, you have to use up your reserves. First of all, from the liver, since sugars are stored there, and only then from adipose tissue.
Where might this system fail? The most obvious is if food intake is greater than energy expenditure. In other words, a person eats too much or moves too little. In addition, the mechanisms by which organs regulate each other’s work may break down. For example, the connection between adipose tissue and the pancreas often breaks down. The latter releases insulin, which stimulates the uptake of sugar from the blood. If the body doesn't produce enough insulin (type 1 diabetes), people don't gain weight—their fat tissue doesn't receive the signal to store food. But with type 2 diabetes, the opposite is true: if a person has too many reserves (obesity), then his tissues may lose sensitivity to insulin, and sugar will accumulate in the blood.
But this is just the tip of the iceberg. Do not forget that all of the above stages are connected to each other by dozens of signaling molecules. The stomach signals the brain whether there is enough food. Adipose tissue secretes substances that reduce appetite. And the brain, in turn, gives the command to eat more or digest more intensively. And we don’t yet take into account the kilograms of bacteria in the intestines, which also have an opinion about our digestion and also actively express it, that is, they secrete signal substances. So when we're dealing with obesity, it's sometimes very difficult to tell what exactly went wrong. Anything could break.
Since there are many causes of obesity, it can be treated in different ways. There are simple methods: eat less or spend more energy. This includes all kinds of diets and physical activity. However, it often happens that they do not help. This means that the problem is not in the balance of reserves and expenses, but in the regulatory mechanisms. There are many dubious methods used by people with eating disorders: laxatives (to prevent food from being absorbed), diuretics (during dehydration, fats are also often broken down), antidepressants (to prevent the desire to eat), etc. These methods usually cause harm to health, but the problem is still not solved.
But there are also officially approved weight loss medications, and they work a little differently. Their list does not match in many countries, and we will start with the USA , where there are significantly more of them than in Russia. Five groups of drugs can be distinguished. |
Digestion blockers
These include orlistat (Xenical, Alli) - the only weight loss drug that can be purchased in the United States without a prescription. It blocks lipase, an enzyme that breaks down fats in the intestines. This allows you to reduce their absorption by 30% without affecting the rest of the metabolism. And since fat does not enter the blood, then we cannot store it. According to clinical studies, over 4 years, patients taking orlistat lost an average of 5.8 kg. In the control group taking placebo - 3 kg. Here we note that it is usually recommended to combine weight loss medications with diet and exercise. Therefore, it can be said that part of the weight loss of participants in such trials is almost always achieved not by the drug, but by lifestyle changes. Steatorrhea (fatty stools) is a possible side effect of orlistat, which can be avoided by eating less fatty foods. In addition, in some cases the drug had a negative effect on the functioning of the liver, kidneys and pancreas. However, these cases were rare, and we should not forget that obesity itself is often accompanied by disruption of the functioning of internal organs. Beneficial effects include the fact that orlistat reduces total cholesterol and low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol.
Insulin stimulants
In America they use liraglutide (Saxenda, Victoza). It is a glucagon-like peptide 1 (GLP-1) analogue that acts on the pancreas to enhance insulin production. And insulin, in turn, reduces appetite. This drug is designed for people with type 2 diabetes (low insulin sensitivity) and, unlike the others, is intended for injection. After 56 weeks of daily injections, people lost up to 8.4 kg. If used by people who do not have diabetes, hypoglycemia—low blood sugar levels—can occur, which in extreme cases can lead to coma. Other side effects from the digestive (diarrhea, constipation, nausea) and nervous (headache, dizziness) systems are also possible.
Anorexics
Signals between neurons in the brain are transmitted through small molecules called neurotransmitters. Depending on which neurotransmitters are released, different neurons are activated. If the signal travels along the sympathetic nerve fibers, a stress response is triggered. The body concentrates all its forces on survival, while the heart and lungs work actively, and digestion, for example, is inhibited. If the signal travels through parasympathetic fibers, the body relaxes. The heart and lungs work calmly, but more energy is spent on digestion and excretion. Anorexics imitate the functioning of neurotransmitters and trigger a stress response. This allows you to reduce the activity of the hunger center and increase the breakdown of energy reserves.
Today, two types of anorexics are used: 1) lorcaserin (Belviq) - reduces appetite by activating the serotonin receptor known as the 5-HT2C receptor - and 2) diethylpropion (Tenuate), phentermine (Adipex), phendimetrazine (Bontril), benzphetamine (Regimex ) are relatives of amphetamines.
Lorcaserin is the mildest. It was suspected of causing cancer and depression, but the fears were not confirmed. According to clinical studies, lorcaserin works best in the first months, and then its effect decreases. On average, over a year on lorcaserin, people suffering from obesity and overweight due to diabetes lost about 4.5-5% of weight (versus 1.5% on placebo).
Unlike lorcaserin, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) does not recommend long-term use of other anorexics because they are addictive (not for nothing that they are similar to amphetamines). Because of their addictive properties and possible serious side effects in case of overdose, anorexics are not sold without a prescription and are subject to strict government control in the United States.
However, not so long ago a milder option appeared - phentermine + topiramate (Ximia). It is already recommended for long-term use. The exact mechanisms of action of topiramate are still unknown. It was previously used as an anticonvulsant in the treatment of epilepsy; it increases the activity of the inhibitory neurotransmitter GABA (gamma-aminobutyric acid). This is likely to prevent phentermine from becoming addictive without interfering with its effects. Over 56 weeks, with the help of Ximia, patients lost up to 10 kg of weight. However, despite all its mildness, Ximia also has unpleasant side effects. It reduces the amount of the female sex hormone ethinyl estradiol in the blood, which worsens the effect of oral contraceptives and increases the likelihood of bleeding. In addition, among patients taking Ximia, the incidence of anxiety disorders and depression increases by 4-7 times. Therefore, it is not recommended for people prone to depression.
Antidepressants
This group includes the drug naltrexone + bupropion (Contrave). Naltrexone blocks opioid receptors - the same ones that are responsible for the invigorating effect of endorphins ("hormones of happiness") and many drugs (morphine, heroin, etc.). Naltrexone is used to treat alcoholism and drug addiction, while patients stop getting pleasure and addiction is relieved. Bupropion works differently. When one neuron transmits a signal to another, it releases neurotransmitters, but after some time it takes them back. Bupropion interferes with the reuptake of dopamine (a stimulating neurotransmitter) and norepinephrine, so it acts as an antidepressant, and the patient feels less hungry. With Contrave's help, study participants lost about 5-6% of their body weight over 56 weeks (1.3% in the placebo control group). Although this is not without side effects - nausea, dizziness, dry mouth, and so on.
Now let's return to Russia . Here the range of available drugs is much smaller. Most of the drugs used in the USA - Belvik, Adipex, Ximia, Contrave, Tenuate - are not listed in the State Register of Medicines. And, for example, phentermine (Adipex, Ximia) and diethylpropion (Tenuate) are considered narcotic substances. Let's see what's left on the list. |
0. Homeopathic medicines (Dietressa, Cefamadar). But we will not consider them, because homeopathy is unscientific and, in principle, cannot work.
1. Orlistat (Xenical, Orsoten, Alli). Permitted in Russia as well as in the USA. Suitable in cases where you need to lose a little weight and when there are no concomitant serious diseases (diabetes, depression, etc.)
2. Sibutramine (Reduxin, Slimia, Lindaxa, etc.). This is another neurotransmitter reuptake blocker - dopamine, norepinephrine and serotonin. Acts as an antidepressant. However, since 2010, due to the high risk of complications from the cardiovascular system, its use has been banned in many countries (including Europe; and in the USA, the FDA required the manufacturer to indicate in the instructions that sibutramine should not be used in patients who have had -or cardiovascular diseases). In Russia, however, it is still sold, although it is included in the list of potent drugs. In weight loss medications it is sometimes combined with metformin . Metformin was developed as a treatment for type 2 diabetes. It enhances the absorption of glucose by tissues and reduces its absorption in the intestine. In the US, it is not recommended for use unless the patient has diabetes. However, some studies have found that people without diabetes lose weight better than diabetics on metformin. The list of side effects of sibutramine is not limited to the cardiovascular system, including insomnia, rhinitis, and headache. And in complex preparations, the risks associated with metformin are added to them - disruption of the gastrointestinal tract and possible acidosis (blood acidification).
3. Antidiabetic drugs . These are metformin , exenatide (Byeta) - an analogue of liraglutide, and acarbose (Glucobay) - inhibits the digestion of carbohydrates in the intestine. These medications can help people with diabetes (and sometimes, as in the case of metformin, without it), but it is not recommended to use them without special indications or, in any case, without consulting a doctor.
4. Antidepressants (besides sibutramine). Prescribed for obesity associated with disorders of the nervous system, and are also not recommended without indications. Among them are fluoxetine (Prozac), venlafaxine (Velaxin, etc.) and others.
Let's summarize. Obesity is a serious disease. It can be pre-diagnosed by body mass index. You can fight it in simple ways by controlling your lifestyle and limiting your food intake. But if this does not help, treatment must be started.
Each of the drugs described above has its own characteristics and is not suitable for everyone. Moreover, none of them are a panacea and will not allow you to lose any amount of weight. Some are addictive and have side effects, others stop working after the first weeks. Finally, it is worth keeping in mind that clinical studies were conducted on people with a body mass index greater than 25-30 (and often with diabetes). And if medications helped them lose 5 or 10 kilograms, this does not mean that they will help a healthy person with a normal index who decided to lose a little weight to the same extent. In any case, before making any changes to your metabolism, you should consult your doctor .
Rating of diet pills
A large number of similar drugs are available in pharmacies or online stores. The classification is based on the division according to the principle of naturalness of the composition. Synthetic medications have different mechanisms of action, so it is recommended to consult a doctor before choosing. Moreover, their effectiveness has been proven by research. The effectiveness of dietary supplements can only be verified through personal experience. The selection of diet pills was carried out taking into account the results of comparative tests of their characteristics:
- Type of product;
- Active substance;
- Release form;
- Mechanism of action;
- Number of contraindications;
- Presence of adverse reactions;
- Possibility of taking with other medications;
- The degree of impact on psychomotor reactions;
- Ease of use;
- Best before date.
An important evaluation criterion was user reviews and price/effectiveness ratio. The nominees in the review are divided into 2 categories. The first provides a description of inexpensive products. The second section includes the most effective drugs for weight loss.
The best iron supplements
Which diet pills are best to buy?
The choice of a good complex must be made taking into account the individual characteristics of the body, since each product has a list of contraindications and adverse reactions. Before purchasing, it is recommended to consult a doctor for a comprehensive examination to determine the cause of excess weight. The following recommendations will help make choosing the best weight loss product easier:
- The most effective and safe option according to user reviews is Bilayt 96;
- Diabetics with obesity are recommended to choose the drug Glucophage Long;
- The best in terms of price/quality ratio is Chitosan Evalar;
- An inexpensive option with a short-term effect is Furosemide;
- Weight loss without harm to health will be ensured by the original drug Lida;
- A rapid loss of extra pounds is noted during treatment with drugs containing orlistat; Orsoten is considered the best;
- For nutritional obesity, it is recommended to choose Reduxin;
- Garcinia Cambogia has a minimum number of contraindications.
Buying diet pills at a pharmacy is not a problem, but their effectiveness depends on following the rules of diet and physical activity. They will not help you solve the problem on your own. Choosing the best option is not always easy. The rating will indicate the pros and cons of each product, which will make the purchase easier.
How to choose diet pills wisely?
All drugs designed for quick and effective weight loss can be divided into several typical groups:
- Anorectics - they reduce appetite, which allows the body to expend accumulated calorie reserves;
- Nutraceuticals and parapharmaceuticals;
- Diuretics and laxatives prevent calories from being absorbed, removing them from the body in an unprocessed form;
- Cellulose;
- Fat burners.
It is worth noting that there are no absolutely harmless drugs - each of them has its own contraindications and side effects. In addition, it should be remembered that the effectiveness of their use will be maximum if they are combined with proper and healthy nutrition and physical activity.
If drugs have appropriate safety certificates that have undergone appropriate clinical testing, then they will be the most effective and harmless for consumers. However, there are a number of Chinese and Thai products on sale that are distributed without a prescription via the Internet. Such drugs should be treated with the utmost caution, because it is unknown what effect they will have.
Unfortunately, not every person can concentrate their attention on exercise or proper nutrition, and visiting a nutritionist may not be within the means of every person. If you correct everything using medicinal fat-burning drugs, then this is quite possible. If you follow the instructions exactly, you will be able to achieve good success in terms of problem areas such as the sides or abdomen.
When we chose drugs to include in our rating of the best diet pills, we paid attention mainly to all the factors discussed above. In addition, reviews from specialists were taken into account, including nutritionists and pharmacologists, who accurately establish the effectiveness of a particular medicine, as well as the price-quality ratio.