Desperation can easily cloud your judgement and in spite of many marketing claims, the truth is that there are no magical fat-burning, silver-bullet type pills that will melt your fat away whilst you watch TV. If there were, the entire world’s population would be getting leaner, not more overweight as they currently are.
At our network of healthcare clinics, however, we have found that certain pharmaceutical products made weight loss far easier for many of our patients. Medication works because of its biochemical effect on the body. Whilst these effects are mostly beneficial, there are always potential side effects that need to be considered. In other words, one must always ensure that the benefits of treatment outweigh the risks.
Weight-loss products generally fall into the following categories:
Appetite suppressants
These do exactly what they say: they help control your appetite. Fighting hunger all day makes weight-loss a real uphill struggle. You may last in the beginning when your motivational levels are high, but constant hunger slowly whittles away your enthusiasm to stay on a diet. This is where appetite suppressants can play a crucial role. Unfortunately, the category has many side effects and long-term use is not recommended.
Ephedrine and pseudo-ephedrine
These agents also belong in two categories, namely appetite suppressants and agents that raise your metabolic rate. Medications that increase metabolic rate stimulate your metabolism leading to increased calorie burning. This category should be used with great care, especially if you have other medical problems such as high blood pressure etc.
Where can you obtain an appetite suppressant?
Owing to any appetite suppressant’s potential to cause side effects or drug interactions, you will need to ask your own doctor for a prescription. Remedial strategies to control hunger without medication are discussed in Chapter 5 – Stumbling Blocks Made Easy.
Fat blockers
Fat blockers inhibit the digestion and absorption of fat in the digestive system.
Agents that treat insulin resistance and the metabolic syndrome
Increased fatty tissue, especially when situated around the waist, starts releasing certain hormonal-like substances that communicate with other organ systems via the release of chemical messengers called inflammatory cytokines. This leads to the development of insulin resistance and the metabolic syndrome, which, in turn, causes diabetes, raises cholesterol levels and high blood pressure. Collectively, these medical complications lead to hardening of the arteries that may cause heart attacks and strokes. Whilst the individual disorders associated with the metabolic syndrome are treated separately, insulin resistance is usually treated with the anti-diabetic drug metformin.
Metformin
Whilst most oral anti-diabetic medication causes weight gain, metformin is the exception and therefore the most preferred form of treatment for type 2 diabetes in overweight individuals. Controversy, however, exists when it comes to treating insulin resistance in those who are not diabetic. In spite of being in use for many years, metformin has not received official registration by the FDA for treating insulin resistance. Speculations existed for a while that one of the benefits of metformin is that it stimulates weight-loss. A large, double blind, placebo-controlled trial involving obese patients with type 2 diabetes, found no such evidence, as after 29 weeks there was no statistically significant difference in pre-and post-trial body weight measurements. Metformin has a low side effect profile and is generally well tolerated.
AntaGolin
Another innovative option is AntaGolin from MNI, supported by 20 years of medical research, which specifically targets insulin resistance and the metabolic syndrome while actively stimulating weight goals. The aim of MNI is to solve the problem without causing side effects, while also being an affordable solution.
AntaGolin contains advanced ingredients that target various biochemical pathways to combat insulin resistance as the underlying cause of weight problems and optimize insulin’s function to regulate glucose levels and fat storage. The good news is that insulin resistance is reversible and responds very well to treatment with AntaGolin.
Furthermore, AntaGolin optimises your metabolism and targets the input, output and processing of sugars in the body. AntaGolin inhibits glucose absorption from your diet, optimises how your body uses and stores energy and facilitate the excretion of sugars from the body. The overall metabolic effect on excess sugar is excellent news for weight loss and improved blood sugar control. AntaGolin can be used for 12 years of age.
Where can you obtain AntaGolin and Metformin?
AntaGolin is manufactured from plant extracts alone and because of its extremely low side effect profile, has been classified as a natural product and can therefore be purchased without a prescription from any leading pharmacy. For metformin, however, you will require a doctor’s prescription.
Agents that raise your metabolic rate
Appetite Suppressants
The most popular and certainly most notorious agent that raises the metabolic rate is ephedrine, naturally occurring as ephedra in about 40 species of plants. Ma Huang, Mormon Tea and Sida Cordifolia are the better known sources of herbal ephedrine.
Pseudoephedrine and norpseudoephedrine are common synthetic derivatives. Ephedra functions bio-chemically as a “sympatho-mimetic”, meaning that it mimics some of the effects of the body’s own stimulant (sympathetic) hormones such as adrenaline and noradrenaline. But ephedrine is also a non-selective sympathomimetic, which means that it acts on all the sympathetic receptors without discrimination and affects many parts of the body simultaneously. These include the lungs, heart, blood vessels, adrenal glands, etc., and explains its common side effects on the nervous and cardio-vascular systems such as elevated blood pressure, heart palpitations, insomnia, irritability, mood disturbances and headaches.
Where can you obtain an appetite suppressant?
Because of the high side effect profile, which includes a few reported instances of death, most products containing these ingredients can only be obtained with a doctor’s prescription.
Emotional and mood controllers
These are indicated only if you suffer from a specific emotional stumbling block that triggers overeating. Depending on your situation, the suggestions that we have made in Chapter 6 – Stumbling Blocks Made Easy, may apply to you.
Other products
Agents like Apple cider vinegar, Capsicum, Coleus forskohlii, Caffeine, CLA, Garcinia cambogia / Hidroxi Citric Acid, Hoodia, Ginseng, Gotu kola, Synephrine, White willow bark and Yohimbe all make various weight-loss claims. Most of these products lack scientific proof regarding their efficacy and are therefore not supported by the medical fraternity. We advise that you investigate their efficacy independently at a website like www.wikipedia.com or ww.pubmed.com, or ask your own doctor for an opinion.
What about my current prescription medicine?
Stay on all your current prescription medication, unless your doctor advises you otherwise
