Are weight loss pills the best answer for effective weight loss and maintenance. The information below will answer that question.

Weight loss pills have been on the market for decades. Some have been recalled because of controversial ingredients and side effects. Others continue to be popular and to promise an easier path to reducing weight. However, there are some good reasons why you should avoid taking weight reduction pills.

Most are Not Approved by the FDA

The FDA’s purpose is to examine and study any medications that are introduced to the consumers to make sure it is safe and effective. However, most of the weight loss pills on the market do not have to be evaluated by the FDA before hitting the shelves. They fall through cracks in the legislation, just as most herbal supplements do. That can be a problem because not all weight reduction pills are safe. Some can cause serious addictions. Others include ingredients that can cause you to have a heart attack. Many of the others simply don’t work or only work if you also add "diet and exercise" to the routine.

If you have to take weight loss pills, look for something prescribed by your physician. These medications will be FDA approved. While that won’t guarantee 100% safety, it will improve the odds that what you are taking will have some positive effect.

Most of the Science is Bad Science

When you watch commercials or read advertisements for these over-the-counter weight loss pills, you’ll end up seeing charts, graphs, and all types of scientific jargon meant to persuade you that the pills do what they promise. Unfortunately, you can’t trust anything the company says most of the time.

Most of these weight loss products are studied and tested by the company selling them. That means the presented research was carefully selected by the people who have the most to gain from convincing you that the pills are going to work. In most cases, these folks are just trying to take advantage of the fact that most of us don’t know that much about how the body works or what causes us to gain weight in the first place.

None Replace Lifestyle Changes

Although weight loss pills can sometimes help you drop more water weight or give your metabolism a slight edge, none of them are going to be something you’d want to take for the next several decades of your life. But that’s what would end up happening. When you rely on any type of product to help you drop pounds, you are basically enslaving your health and body size to that product.

The better answer is to make concrete lifestyle changes which will help you lose weight now and keep it off in the future. Paying attention to the foods you eat, the sizes of your portions, and the amount of activity you are getting each day are really no more difficult than purchasing and taking these weight loss pills every day for the rest of your life. Plus, you have to consider that in the future those same pills may not be available and then you’ll be in a real fix.