Different Types of Diet Pills to Help You Reach Those Weight Loss Goals

As promised, I'm going to break down the different types of diet pills, to help you determine what products you are comfortable using to help you lose weight. I'm only going to discuss Over the Counter or OTC diet pills, as I have never taken, nor plan to use Prescription Diet Aids. Diet Pills generally fall into the fat-burning, appetite-suppressing, fat blocker, or even carbohydrate-blocker variety.


Fat burners, widely known as thermogenics are generally of the stimulate variety. Ephedra, which was banned in 2004, was usually the main active ingredient in diet pills with thermogenic qualities. Ephedra was very effective, unfortunately if misused, it is also dangerous. while ephedra is banned, natural sources of ephedra- such as Sida Cordifolia are still legal. Also, other stimulants have replaced ephedra in diet pills, some proving to be effective- some not so much. Some common stimulants used today are Caffeine or Guarana, Bitter Orange, or Country Mallow or Heartleaf; among others. Guarana is similar to Caffeine, as Country Mallow, Heartleaf, and Bitter Orange have similar properties to ephedra. These ingredients have thermogenic qualities, which means it aids the body in creating heat- therefore burning fat and calories. The downside to these fat burning pills are safety concerns and that many people simply don't like how they make them feel. They can make your heart race, make you feel jittery, and even inhibit your ability to get quality sleep. These are all things to consider and discuss with your doctor before deciding to go this route.

Appetite Suppressants can either be stimulant based, or based on a substance like Hoodia. Stimulant based appetite suppressants will speed up your heart-rate and metabolism and keep you from getting hungry.. sometimes. It also makes sense to say that since your metabolism is working in overdrive you would actually be hungrier- and for some that is exactly what happens. Hoodia Gordonii is a very common and popular appetite suppressant that has been used in Africa for thousands of years. the problem with this ingredient is that it is hard to find a pill containing good quality Hoodia- they are out there, just few and far between. Garcinia Cambogia and 5-HTP are both known to suppress appetite by raising the release of serotonin. There are obviously many, many other ingredients all proclaiming to suppress the appetite, these are just some well-known examples.

On to Fat Blockers. Oh, Fat-Blockers, how they have gotten some negative press. The idea behind fat blockers is that the product will inhibit the body from absorbing some of the fat from the foods you consume, therefore aiding weight loss. The obvious one to point out is Alli, which is FDA approved and definitely effective. The problem, which has been widely publicized is that if you eat more fat than recommended with these pills, you will experience very uncomfortable side effects. Oily stools, anal leakage.. really fun and attractive things like that. So if you are going to use this route, don't cheat on your diet! You would think Alli would be the most effective diet pill in the world considering that no one in their right mind would eat fatty foods while taking it, so I guess it's a double whammy- actually effective and a regulator to keep you sticking to the plan. Chromiun Chelate is also said to help aid fat absorption, and also help to suppress appetite.

And now Carb-blockers. Carb-blockers work much the same way as fat-blockers, except they stop your body from metabolizing some of carbohydrates that you consume. No this does not mean that you can take a few carb-blocking pills and then chow down on donuts- they are not THAT effective. That would be nice though. CitriMax or HCA is probably the most effective ingredient used in these pills. And it is also believed to suppress the appetite- another double whammy.

Hopefully this shed some light on the different types of diet pills now available on the market and will help you to make an informed decision in aiding your weight-loss.