Alli & Laxitive Abuse

 

 

A convo over at BigFatDelicious has inspired this post.  So, go check out Vesta’s post!

So, what kind of ally (okay… “alli”) causes:

What are treatment effects?

alli™ works by preventing the absorption of some of the fat you eat. The fat passes out of your body, so you may have bowel changes, known as treatment effects. You may get:

• gas with oily spotting
• loose stools
• more frequent stools that may be hard to control

Right.  Gas with oil that accompanies it.  Frequent stools that MAY BE HARD TO CONTROL.  For those of you who are more familiar with eating disorders, does any of this look familiar to you?  It does to me anyway.  It reminds me of laxitive abuse or any kind of product abuse that is used for the purpose of causing food to fly through ya.  Oh sure, the FDA approved this one, but it also approved Fen-Phen, so call me crazy for wanting to be extra cautious. 

This potentially triggering, diet friendly site even goes so far to say:

One-third of Alli consumers may experience gastrointestinal problems like diarrhea, spontaneous oily discharge, flatulence with discharge and oily stool, according to the company’s studies.

Another concern: Alli blocks absorption of fat-soluble vitamins like A, D, E, K and beta-carotene, which are key to many physiological functions, including energy, metabolism and immunity.

That’s why it’s recommended that Alli users also take a multivitamin with meals.

#1 – Is weight loss really worth spontaneous oily discharge?  Beyond that, this is a form of chemical fat restriction and purge.  In the long run, how does this effect the metabolism?  How much ya wanna bet that it  s l o w s  it in the long-run – like every other diet gimmick on the planet. 

#2 – Does a multi-vitamin truly make up for the lost vitamins that alli causes you to flush?  The research has been all over for years that the effectiveness of vitamins is variable and sometimes vitamins even cause horrible things like cancer.

#3 – While alli may cause weight-loss, is there any evidence that it ultimately IMPROVES HEALTH?  I haven’t seen anything yet to this point, except the pat kind of article that equates weight loss with a gain in health, which I know from first-hand experience isn’t always a real correlation.  For example, the weight loss I had via calorie restriction caused me to get sick every time I even walked out in the drizzle.  My complexion went gray and my hair thinned and still hasn’t rebounded completely.  I was always covered in bruises for mysterious reasons.  I was starting to wonder if I was some kind of hypochondriac, because it seemed to me that EVERYTHING was going wrong (there are so many things, I’m not going to list them all unless ya’all wanna see the horrible thing).  The only weight loss I have ever experienced that contributed to my health was a by-product of self-acceptance and daring to eat what I truly wanted.  That meant really getting to know my hunger and my cravings.  It meant that sometimes when I craved cookies, I ate cookies, because I dug and found out I really wanted cookies.  Sometimes when I craved cookies, I’d end up eating soup instead, because I realized what I really wanted was nice, warm veggies, broth and a slow, stable release of energy.  Intuitive Eating is great stuff.  😉 

To me, alli sounds like Eating Disorder Lite – and maybe it’s not all that lite.  Time will tell. 

Friends and readers, you deserve better than alli.  You deserve better than “spontaneous oily discharge” and “hard to control” bowel movements!  Even if you’re overweight and even if you have the “death fat”, you are worth more than this bullshit.  Our bodies are wiser than common culture gives them credit for.  How about we make allies with our own bodies… rather than spontaneous oily discharge?   Ew.

–AngryGrayRainbows