Author: Jimmy Akin
Jimmy was born in Texas, grew up nominally Protestant, but at age 20 experienced a profound conversion to Christ. Planning on becoming a Protestant seminary professor, he started an intensive study of the Bible. But the more he immersed himself in Scripture the more he found to support the Catholic faith, and in 1992 he entered the Catholic Church. His conversion story, "A Triumph and a Tragedy," is published in Surprised by Truth. Besides being an author, Jimmy is the Senior Apologist at Catholic Answers, a contributing editor to Catholic Answers Magazine, and a weekly guest on "Catholic Answers Live." View all posts by Jimmy Akin
Is there much anal leakage?
I can’t wait for the reports of horrible side effects from this one! 🙁
When will people learn?
Stop eating so much crap and get off the couch!!!
There, I just saved everyone hundreds of dollars in personal training.
Diet and exercise are the only things that will melt away the flab!
If I may make an example of our friend Jared Weber:
See how fit he is? He’s that way because he controls his diet and works out like crazy!
I’m not too comfortable with this.
It seems like it will make it more likely that we will continue to have people eating too much nasty processed food, hardly exercising, and then trying to ameliorate the effects by taking this weird pill that makes fat pass through your intestines like a bullet train.
Yeah, let’s just millions of us start taking this drug and wait a decade or so to see what the long-term health effects might be. Good thinkin’.
Sheesh… put down the fork and spoon, go for a walk and save yourself the $30-$60 a month and the greasy flatulence (sorry).
There is apparently some internal struggle going on at the FDA between the arm that approves drugs for the market and the arm that does follow-up studies of these drugs. I’ll try to find out more.
About half of patients in trials experienced gastrointestinal side effects.
I noticed your previous post was on global warming. Perhaps these two are related?
You know, guys, it’s not all diet and exercise. I have struggled with my weight for 25 years and when I am my thinnest I am hungry all the time–no matter what I eat. Combine having 7 children (4 on earth and 3 in Heaven) and medications my doctor put me on for arthritis and thyroid problems and it doesn’t seem to matter what I do, starve or not, the weight isn’t coming off. I resent the fact that people assume I am sitting on the couch and eating too much.
Suzanne,
I anticipated getting a response or two like that, and let me point out that right now I need to lose more than 30 pounds, so I am preaching to myself, as well.
There may very well be medical reasons for your weight problems… I just doubt that, in general, that is the case for most people. IN GENERAL we tend to eat too much of the wrong foods and do too little physical work. I don’t think taking a pill is the sensible answer for most people.
Sounds like you need a doctor who will take an interest in your total health, rather than treating symptom by symptom. I know I do.
That is not to say that I believe these guys who say that, rather than taking a pill, we should take instead some macrobiotic cocktail of their own design, or buy food only from organic food stores, or eat only raw food… I don’t think most people need anything like that. I think what we need most is moderation.
A sensible diet (reducing BY FAR our intake of processed food – white flour and sugar), daily exercise and prayer. If most of us would do these things, I’ll bet we could cut our medical expenses in half over time.
Losing weight before menopause was easy. After my change of life, it’s been extremely difficult. A low carb diet works better than anything else, but even it, is not as effective as when I was younger.
GSK Consumer Healthcare, which will market the pill, said it chose the name alli — pronounced AL-eye
Reminds me of the made-up word “Oneders” from the movie “That Thing You Do” where everybody mispronounced it as “Oh–Need–ders” when, in fact, they meant the word to be pronounced “one-ders” such as in “one-hit wonders”.
In this case, it’s not that obvious; I mean, how is a consumer supposed to know that Alli is pronounced “Al-eye” with a spelling like that?
I just must “weigh in” on this. I also struggle with weight issues and am tired of everyone saying less in and exercise will result in weight loss.
In fact, people are different. There are subtle differences in metabolism, in the length and ability of the digestive tract to absorb and assimilate nutrients and in the way fat is stored.
I am sure that a 1400 calorie diet given two sedentary 200 lb. persons will almost always result in a much different rate of weight loss.
There are just too many variables. In fact, I would bet that if two sedentary 140 lb persons each ate 1400 calories a day, on might stay stable and the other gain weight.
Stock tip – buy stock in toilet paper companies and this drug company 🙂
Thank me later!
“Weighing” in, too. It’s NOT as simple as stopping “eating so much crap and get off the couch!!!” I do not eat at fast food restaurants. I do not eat sweets. I make all food at home from scratch, so I don’t eat prepared foods with additives. I do not eat so much that I am stuffed.
It might be that straightforward for some, but not all men are created equal. Ask my doctor, who has spent years helping me, testing, prescribing various meds, etc. I’ve tried everything short of bariatric surgery (including aggressive workouts, walking, swimming, doctor-directed diets, Atkins, South Beach, Pritikin, Stillman, Nutrisystem, Weight Watchers, and on and on).
I thank God that I do not suffer from any adverse side effects of my obesity (other than uncomfortable plane rides and hard-to-find clothing) — I have normal cholesterol, normal BP, normal blood sugar.
I’m just fat.
thann,
Have you tried to eat 6 small meals per day rather than the 3? your metabolism chases your diet so if you eat more often it will speed up. Also, do you do any cardio? even light cardio like walking an hour each day on a treadmill will be very helpful! Putting on a few pounds of muscle mass will also help burn additional calories each day if you can do it.
One problem is that metabolic processes are so variable, and much advice is based on assumptions that may be quite off target. Among the four major algorithms used for calculating the caloric value of resting metabolic rates, as well as for the net caloric equivalents for exercise, the variation is huge in terms of cumulative effects. The science has not caught up with the need. Far from it.
Another “weigh” in. Same story, different person. I have kept my weight moderate all my life until about 10 yrs ago. Then hormonal problems started for me, and I have been struggling hard every since. No it isn’t all about counting calories and working out. No, one thing does not work for everyone. So it is not helpful to say
“Stop eating so much crap and get up off the couch.”
I don’t know that Alli is any great idea, either. But I do know that not everyone who is overweight got that way by lying around stuffing themselves on bonbons all day.
Nor is that the approach they all are taking to trying to lose weight and manage their health.
Tim J.
“There is apparently some internal struggle going on at the FDA”
Was that gross pun intended?
“…In this case, it’s not that obvious; I mean, how is a consumer supposed to know that Alli is pronounced “Al-eye” with a spelling like that?”
No matter! With a name like that it should go over pretty well in the middle east!
Heck, if they sell enough of the stuff.. it might even increase the proven oil reserves!
“Losing weight before menopause was easy. After my change of life, it’s been extremely difficult.”
I had a full-blast hysterectomy last July, and I’m discovering the same thing 🙁 PLUS thyroid problems which started developing about that time…sigh…oh well, I’m still giving Atkins another shot.
I see “Alli” and want to pronounce it “alley.” Not that it matters because I’m not buying it anyway.
No matter! With a name like that it should go over pretty well in the middle east!
Sounds like the CHEVROLET “NOVA” situation way back when.
It is said that people at Chevrolet back then were wondering why their car “NOVA” wasn’t so popular in Spanish-speaking countries; they neglected to consider that “No Va” means “no go” in Spanish.
Now, would you really want to buy a car with that name?
I see “Alli” and want to pronounce it “alley.” Not that it matters because I’m not buying it anyway.
Annalucia:
I thought the same thing!
And, yeah, I wouldn’t buy it, too.
I wouldn’t necessarily trust products even with FDA approval as there have been certain other products the FDA had approved in the past which, nevertheless, proved very harmful to people’s health and, furthermore, caused terminal injury to them.
My guess is that there will be many people who think ” this is the OTC dose, which is 1/2 the prescription dose. I’ll ‘self prescribe’ and use the double dose, and get double the results!” and “if it weren’t perfectly safe, it wouldn’t be otc, right?”
Maybe I’m wrong, (and I’m never wrong) but if not this could be a reallllly bad thing.
What happened to the power of fasting? Alongside the rosary, this is one of the greatest weapons of the Catholic Church and the health benefits are suspected to be rather positive.
Ah, yes. The famous no-go Chevrolet. My first impression of the product’s name was in Spanish, pronouncing it ah-yee, which means “there”, and wondered why they’d call it thus.
Where do the pharmaceutical companies come up with the names, often with odd pronuciations?
It seems that I have touched a nerve with some people.
Yes, there are a few people who have thyroid issues, pancreatic problems, etc… but the vast majority of Americans eat WAY too much processed junk food and don’t exercise enough.
I forgot to mention that the “celebrities” who look the way they do are often genetically predispositioned to look that way, are surgically enhanced, take drugs (illegal and legal,) and/or work out at least 2-3 hours per day. Take your pick of 2 or 3 of these factors and you get the latest “star.”
Sounds like the CHEVROLET “NOVA” situation way back when.
It is said that people at Chevrolet back then were wondering why their car “NOVA” wasn’t so popular in Spanish-speaking countries; they neglected to consider that “No Va” means “no go” in Spanish.
Urban legend. Get the real story.
Procter and Gamble made this type of drug easy to swallow with their Olestra/Olean fat- free oil some years ago. Because of so many consumer complaints, P&G stopped production, I believe, as did Lay’s of their WOW potato and corn chips fried in Olestra. Is anyone making similar chips today?
Dr. Eric: You make me blush. I didn’t always need watch what I ate, though, and was very fit (mostly ’cause I had time to work out more than I can now).
Well, time to go train.
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Go away spammer.