Because of this huge obesity problem, a lot of effort has been put into finding ways to help people who are suffering from it. The health and fitness industry has developed into what it is today because of the huge demand for both short and long-term solutions to the problem. Out of this desire to find a quick and fairly easy solution came the invention of Diet Pills.

What are they anyway?

Diet Pills were invented to help people lose weight. Not everyone has the free time to exercise nor do they have the conviction to eat less. For these people, a little help in losing weight is needed. This is where the pills come in.

There are thousands of brands and manufacturers in the market today and you’ll find a number of different ingredients that are used for each of them. For the most part though all of these pills fall under three main types. These are the suppressants, the fat burners and the fat blockers.

Suppressants – are the first type of diet pills. They do exactly what their name says, they suppress our appetites. The idea behind them is that weight loss can be achieved by eating less. The method is fairly effective because a reduction in calorie intake if significant enough will lead to long-term weight loss. If the decreased food intake can be maintained for a long time, results are guaranteed.

Here’s a list of some of the more common safe ingredients used in diet pills, where you can get them and what their effect on the body is. And yes I said “safe” ingredients. There are some chemicals used by some manufacturers that have adverse effects on our health. The Food and Drug Administration have flagged some of them but there are still a lot out in the market that might have some health risks. There just hasn’t been enough research done on each and every ingredient so no final conclusion as to their effects can be made.

Hoodia Gordonii

The Hoodia Gordnii is a plant found in South Africa. It’s a leafless plant and has flowers that smell like old meat. The plant is used locally to treat infections and indigestion. It became popular as an appetite suppressant ingredient because of its local use as such. The hunters from the area have been using the plant for hundreds of years to lessen their appetite when they go on long hunts.

Opuntia Ficus Indica

The Opuntia Ficus Indica is a specie of the cactus that can be commonly found in Mexico. It’s grows in both arid and semi arid areas of the world. It’s commonly referred to in the English speaking countries as the prickly pear or barbary fig. It’s mainly harvested for it’s fruit but it is also used as an ingredient in diet pills. The Opuntia Fica Indica can lower blood lipid levels and decrease oxidative stress. This characteristic makes it an ideal fat binder ingredient especially since it’s a naturally occurring substance.

White Kidney Bean Powder

White kidney bean is a common food that you can find almost anywhere today. It has been a staple food in South America for a long time and has even been used as herbal cures for ailments such as bronchitis and coughing. As a diet pill ingredient it helps enhance weight loss by reducing the digestion of starch. This slows down our body’s uptake of calories.

Capsicum Extract

This extract is made from crushed chili peppers, vinegar and oil. They’re said to help our body’s digestive process and they also help us burn more calories. These are good for the heart and provide us with some essential nutrients like Vitamins A, Vitamin C, potassium and zinc.

L-Caritine

Carnitine is a compound that comes from the biosynthesis of certain amino acids. The compound is said to be an effective weight loss supplement and is very popular in the industry.  Studies have shown that oral intake of the compound can help increase metabolism and muscle mass.

Always look up the ingredients in your pills

There are many other ingredients not listed here and many more that are constantly being discovered. It’s important for consumers to become educated about them and their effects. Not all pills are safe and many of them in fact have dangerous side effects. Don’t be taken by marketing schemes and promises of quick weight loss. Decide wisely and always opt for long-term health rather than quick weight loss.

There are a few things that one has to know in order to filter through the useless and the dangerous. Despite the negative reputation that they’ve been gaining there are some pills that really do work. It’s just up to you to find them.

Decide what type of Pill you want

There are appetite suppressants, fat burners and fat blockers. What type of diet pill do you feel is most appropriate given the type of weight loss regimen you’re in? You need to ask yourself this question.

If you’re exercising a lot then a fat burner might be ideal in order to further increase your calories burned per day. If you don’t have the time to exercise because of a very tight schedule then maybe a diet suppressant might work better for you. Diet suppressants will make it easier for you to eat less. If you’re eating too many fatty foods then a fat blocker is what you need to take.

Research

Ask your friends about the pill you have your eye on. Talk to the person selling it and ask a lot of questions. You can also search for reviews on the Internet and join weight loss forums to ask even more questions. Make an informed purchase. Don’t just jump the gun at every potentially effective pill that you find. A lot of the companies in this industry employ very effective marketing to mask the many weaknesses of their product

Look for the bad side effects of the pill

Most of what you’ll find with you’re initial search will primarily be good things about the product. This is normal. Ignore this for now and specifically look for all the bad things about the product.

Does it affect your blood pressure? Can you over dose on the pills? Can it cause an allergic reaction? Does it cause cardiac related problems? Look for the dirt and if you don’t find any then that particular brand might just be legitimate.

Check with reputable sites and institutions

Check with organizations like the Food and Drug Administration and other similar institutions. The FDA releases its findings on some diet pills and their ingredients from time to time. Look at what’s on their banned list and make sure that the one you intend to buy isn’t there.

Pick Natural Products

It’s generally better to pick diet pills with naturally occurring substances in them. These are usually healthier than artificially made chemicals.

Make sure that the seller allows refunds for Pills that don’t work

Even if you’ve meticulously researched and filtered your choice pill, you can still either get counterfeit pills or a bad batch. Make sure that your seller has a money back guarantee for pills that have no effect. This way you save money in the event that you don’t lose weight.

Make sure that you make the proper choices when it comes to diet pills. Don’t just try the first thing you find and don’t try everything. Only pick the ones that work and have no adverse effect on you.

Here’s a reference list you can start with in your search for the perfect diet pill for you. These are the current best brands in the market.

Duromine

Duromine is one of the big boys in the industry. It has been circulating for a long time and many people swear by it.

Duromine is also known as Phentermine, its main ingredient.  It’s a very popular drug in Australia and New Zealand. It makes millions of sales per year and is probably the most heavily sold appetite suppressant in the world. It works by restricting the brain’s signals for hunger. The Pill is very effective because it has a slow release. This means that the appretite suppression will work through out the day.

Xenical

Xenical is also known as Orlistat or Tetrahydrolipstatin. It is part of the recently very popular fat blocker group. Xenical is very effective in reducing the calories we get from food by making it so that we don’t absorb 30% of the fat we eat. That amount of fat can be significant if we add up our daily fat intake from food.

1 gram of fat after all is equivalent to 9 calories as opposed to protein and carbohydrates, which are only equivalent to 4. So being able to prevent the absorption of 30% of our fat intake can be a big deal.

Bitter Orange

This is also known as Seville Orange. It’s not a brand per se but it’s a very popular diet supplement that you can get over the counter. Bitter orange is actually a fruit that is often used in marmalade production. Its extract is marketed as a dietary supplement that can increase the calories you burn per day. Nature’s Orange and Solaray are two popular bitter orange pill producers in the market today that you can check out.

Green tea extract

This is also very popular because it’s easy to acquire. It’s derived from green tea leaves and can increase ones metabolism. It can also decrease ones appetite and further improve a persons weight loss potential.

You’ll easily find these at your health shops and even at drugs stores. These are over the counter pills and can be acquired by anyone.

Guar Gum

Guar Gum is another fat blocker like Xenical. It’s made from ground endosperm of guar beans. These bind onto fat and prevent our bloodstream from absorbing them. They also have the effect of fullness making the user less inclined to eat a lot.

Start with the best

Start your diet pill research with these products. They’re a group of the most popular and statistically most effective products in the market. Start with the best ones and work your way to finding more that you can try out.

Slow and steady is the key to weight loss and diet pills will help you get there.

Learn to eat less with diet suppressants

In order to prevent weight gain we need to start eating less. We also need to start eating healthy foods and avoid foods that are deep-fried and fatty. The problem is that it’s very difficult to change our eating habits. We’re all so used to eating deep-fried foods and they taste so good that we often break our diets because we cant help it.

An appetite suppressant is the ideal solution to this problem. You can’t change your diet cold turkey but you can do it slowly with the assistance of a diet suppressant. You wont feel the urge to eat a lot of food and your cravings for those fast foods you’ve gotten so used to will disappear.

Increase the number of calories you burn with fat burners

The next step after going on a proper long-term diet is to constantly keep our metabolism high. Again there’s another problem that we have to overcome.

Most of us have work and with the economy being as bad as it is, we really don’t have that much time for exercise. So what do we do?

Nothing beats exercise but if you really don’t have the time then fat burners or thermogenics is what you need. They’ll keep your metabolism high allowing you to burn more calories than you normally would. You don’t have to take them everyday if you don’t want to. But you should at least take them when you aren’t able to exercise. They can make up for the lack of physical activity.

Overcome eating emergencies with fat blockers

Now that we’ve got dieting and exercise down, we still need to consider those moments when we can’t help but eat fat food. It could be your boss’s birthday and not eating might offend him. Your girlfriend might have cooked you this amazing deep fried meal and you can’t just tell her you’re not eating. For these moments fat blockers are brilliant to have around.

You may not be able to avoid eating what’s been served to you but you can at least decrease the number of calories you take in. Some of these pills can become very expensive so if you can’t take them every day then at least save them for occasions like these.

Stick to your new lifestyle

Once you’ve achieved your weight loss goal and once you’ve settled down with your lifestyle, stick to it. Learn to be happy with it and never forget how hard you worked to get there.