healthy yo
Can a Pill
Help You
Lose Weight?
What to really make of all those
weight-loss claims.
BY KELLY G A R R ETT PHOTOS M ARTY BALDW IN
aining weight
usually
involves
r
.
putting too
much in your
mouth. It’s
'
J
ironic, then,
that so many people have tried the
same thing to lose weight. At various
points, weight-loss supplements
have included pills and potions
made with mineral oil, arsenic,
parasites, and even an ingredient
used in insecticides and explosives.
Fast forward to present day. The
U.S. Food and Drug Administration
frequently issues warnings about
adulterated diet pills that contain
dangerous ingredients, some deadly.
Yet, according to one estimate,
Americans continue to spend almost
$2
billion a year on weight-loss pills,
desperate to beat obesity.
So do pills actually help you lose
weight? The answer is clearly yes.
But only a very few pills have been
proven to help. And the key word
is “help.”
“Medications that are FDA-
approved for the treatment of obesity
can be a complementary tool to
weight-loss efforts,” says Dr. Howard
Eisenson, who directs the Duke Diet
and Fitness Center, associated with
Duke University in Durham, North
Carolina. “We emphasize that, at best,
medications are an adjunct to, not a
replacement for, the core of any real
BETTER HOMES AND GARDENS MAY 2009 207
