Last week, the Food and Drug Administration approved the first over-the-counter diet pill. The pill, called Alli, will subsequently be put on shelves to compete with all the non-FDA-approved weight-loss medications. And people seem to be almost singing its praises.
But I’m not.
I’m ready to start a food fight with the FDA for endorsing something that’s not only going to have negligible health benefits, but that’s also going to reaffirm the myth that weight problems can be solved with a pill.
Alli is almost exactly the same as the prescription weight-loss pill Xenical. They work by preventing the body from absorbing fat.
Last year, GlaxoSmithKline, the marketer of these drugs, experienced a decrease in profits from Xenical.
Why? Mainly because patients weren’t so happy with the results ““ they didn’t lose that much weight. And the side effects include greasy flatulence and uncontrolled oily bowel movements.
So they decided to try and make it available over the counter ““ except in smaller doses (but apparently it’s almost just as effective) ““ to be sold in stores to anyone who cares to come in and buy it.
And they succeeded.
But I’m left wondering exactly what good, if any, this pill is going to do.
The main argument in favor of Alli is that it’s a relatively safe alternative to the myriad of weight-loss pills available for anyone’s consumption, some of which can have nontrivial side effects.
If anything, Alli is simply going to rejuvenate people’s interest in the idea that there is a magic cure for weight problems, as opposed to teaching people to change their relationships with food.
Which is exactly what drug companies, such as Glaxo, want.
After all, who wants to promote the truth about weight loss and nutrition?
In a New York Times Magazine article, contributing writer Michael Pollan wrote about how simple nutrition can be. Simply put, his advice is to eat moderate amounts of unprocessed food, most of that being fruit and vegetables.
But that doesn’t do much for the marketing campaigns of food companies who would rather promote their packaged products as low-carb or low-fat and certainly don’t want you to buy moderate amounts of it.
Furthermore, if people follow Pollan’s advice, it definitely doesn’t do anything for companies such as Glaxo.
In other words, promoting honest health isn’t really in the interest of either the nutrition and food industries or the health industry.
And when capitalism fails at providing the best for the U.S., it’s the federal government’s job to make sure the interests of the people are met ““ or at least that we have the correct information to make healthy decisions.
After all, that’s why we elect officials, is it not?
But as Pollan pointed out, if the federal government has been doing anything, it has been contributing to people’s confusion about what to eat and in some cases, such as that of corn subsidies, actually doing harm. Corn subsidies are the reason why high-fructose corn syrup is so prevalent in processed food ““ because it’s now cheaper than sugar. Some scientists have linked the advent of its consumption with the U.S.’s weight problems.
And an over-the-counter weight-loss pill is just another thing that’s not going to help.
I realize that obesity is a clinical condition, and that maybe in some situations an effective pill could help. But Alli is neither effective nor targeted toward obese people; it’s targeted to people who need to lose 10 to 20 pounds.
This just seems like they’re asking people to abuse it: How many people do you know who think they need to shed pounds but are actually at a healthy weight?
Glaxo and the FDA have recognized the potential for abuse, but they think the side effects would deter people from abusing it. And since the side effects lessen when you eat less fat, they believe it’ll encourage people to cut fat from their diets.
Considering people are already known to abuse laxatives, I don’t think so. Furthermore, as Pollan also pointed out, the effects of fat on our health are ambiguous and it may not be a good idea to cut it out.
So if the government really wants to do something to help the U.S.’s weight problem, they can start by promoting a clear message about what to eat. And more concretely, ending corn subsidies and removing all that high-fructose corn syrup from sodas and food.
Then maybe we’d have something to sing about.
E-mail Loewenstein at lloewenstein@media.ucla.edu. Send general comments to viewpoint@media.ucla.edu.