Popular Over-the-Counter Diet Aids

Topic Overview

There are many over-the-counter products for weight loss. Individual products often contain several ingredients. Some contain 20 or more. It's important to read the label before you buy.

The one thing all these ingredients have in common is that none of them have been proved to be both safe and effective. And taking any diet aid makes it hard for you to listen to your hunger signals so that you can have a normal relationship with food.

Most over-the-counter diet aids don't work. And those that do work come with warnings about their safety. Doctors don't recommend any of them.

Diet aid	What it claims to do	Is there evidence that it works?	Is it safe for most people?
Alli	Blocks fat from the food you eat	Yes	May cause side effects
Bitter orange	Burns calories	No	May cause side effects
Caffeine	Lowers appetite	No	Yes
Chitosan	Blocks fat from the food you eat	No	May cause health problems
Chromium	Burns fat	No	May cause side effects
Conjugated linoleic acid (CLA)	Burns fat, lowers appetite	A little	Mild to moderate side effects
Dandelion	Increases amount of urine so you lose water weight	A little	May cause health problems
Ephedra	Burns calories	Yes	No; banned in U.S.
Fucoxanthin	Burns calories and fat	No	Yes
Glucomannan	Acts as a laxative to absorb water, so you feel full sooner	A little	Yes
Green tea	Burns fat	A little	Yes
Guar gum	Lowers appetite	No	Yes
Guarana	Lowers appetite	Yes	Yes
Guggul	Aids weight loss	A little	May cause side effects
Hoodia	Lowers appetite	No	Unknown
Hydroxycitric acid (HCA)	Lowers appetite	No	May cause side effects
Psyllium	Acts as a laxative to absorb water, so you feel full sooner	No	Yes
Pyruvate	Burns calories	A little	May cause side effects
Spirulina (blue-green algae)	Lowers appetite	No	May cause side effects
Yerba maté	Lowers appetite	No	May cause health problems
Yohimbine	Burns calories	No	May cause side effects

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