To keep the readers of this site updated on what’s going on in the diet world, I’m a frequent visitor to Google News in search of blurbs about “diet pills”. Today I came across this article from NBCnews.com and it raises a great question – why aren’t more people using diet pills? As it says in the headline: Weight loss pills can help. So why don’t more people use them?
I think that’s a very valid question. As you can tell by the name of this website, diet pills are a passion of mine – I have used them successfully to lose weight and there are thousands, if not millions, of other success stories just like mine. They aren’t a magic pill that will make you skinny overnight, but when combined with a proper diet and exercise regimen, they can provide the best you need to break through plateaus and get results. So why aren’t they more widely used?
What Keeps People From Using Diet Pills?
Here are a number of reasons why people may be resistant to using a diet pill to reach their weight loss goals. Some of them have been solved by the drug manufacturers, while others require the user to take a leap and just start.
Safety
The article starts off by detailing how in the early days of diet pills, the formulations that doctors came up with had a lot of adverse side effects. Doctors had been hard at work to create a pill that could melt away the pounds safely. It is acknowledged that losing weight is not only a matter of self-discipline, but it takes a rewiring of your brain as well. Starving yourself by going on a calorie-restricted diet can be a tough adjustment, and it is
particularly difficult on our bodies and mind. Our system is so used to storing calories and fat, it can be hard to reverse this hard-wiring.
In the early 1990s, it was thought that a diet pill had been made that can help solve this problem. This was a combo of fenfluramine and phentermine, and users began to see the pounds fall off when they were taking it. However, it did not come without risks. Patients reported some pretty serious side effects, particularly poor heart health (hypertension, high blood pressure, etc.) that no longer made it a viable option. It got to the point that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) had to step in and ban the use of fenfluramine, which was determined to be the culprit.
So, it seems like product safety is one of the drivers that may scare people away. However, given that a scary percentage of the population is overweight or obese, doctors went back to work to make a pill that was not only effective but safe as well. Given how much quickly science progresses, it is no surprise that the current generation of diet pills fit these criteria. No longer is fenfluramine used, which brought about the side effects. Instead, researchers have put together formulas with natural active ingredients that have proven to be moderately effective at weight loss, while avoiding the side effects that came with previous generations of pills.
If you’re looking for the best formulations out there that produce results, without any adverse effects, my top three recommendations are:
- https://www.dietpillreviews.com/brands/phenq/
- https://www.dietpillreviews.com/brands/phen24/
- https://www.dietpillreviews.com/brands/phen375/
As you can tell by the brand names linked above, phentermine remains one of the top buzz words in the diet pill industry. As you recall from what I wrote earlier, that was an ingredient used in the formula back in the early days, and it was determined that it was not the cause of the bad reactions.
Long Term Studies
Another thing that changed with regards to the research around diet pills is the period in which they followed test subjects. In the past, most studies only followed test participants for one year. New research is taking a 
more long-term approach. With most diets, people tend to lose a lot of weight initially, and then pack it back on (even surpassing their original weight). Doctors began to follow test subjects for three years (or longer).
As said above, losing weight requires a lifestyle change. You can’t just hop in and out of dieting. It needs to be a commitment that you make. And again, as said above, our bodies are hard-wired after years of gaining weight (and keeping weight on) to store excess weight. It takes a long time to lose weight and it can be a difficult process. However, we didn’t gain all that weight overnight, and it certainly won’t be shed overnight either. One thing that scares people away from diet pills is that they have had failures with dieting before. They lose a little weight, hop off the train, and then gain it all back.
By following long-term studies, which keep the test subjects committed to following the regimen for an extended period, and seeing results that are sticking, I think that more people will be motivated to committing to it so that they can see results as well.
Mindset
I think another deterrence to why people don’t use diet pills (or just try them for a little bit and then fall off the wagon) is that they aren’t using the right mindset. They only frame it as losing weight. This is the wrong way to go about things. Yes, it is an admirable goal, but it shouldn’t be the main goal. Instead, they should be seeking the health benefits that getting down to a good weight would provide. Being overweight or obese causes 
tremendous stress on the body, increasing the risk of so many complications.
If the focus is on getting healthy, the results will come. As Dr. Vijaya Surampudi says in the article I linked to at the beginning of this post, “People need to focus on the health benefits. Rather than thinking about how good you’ll look in that dress, you need to be thinking, ‘I won’t get diabetes now.”
Patience
The last thing that I think deters people is a lack of patience. When they want to lose weight, they want it to happen now. But as said above, all that weight wasn’t gained overnight, and it won’t be lost overnight either. you need to make a lifestyle change and commit to it.
To be more patient, track your results and celebrate even the smallest victories. Record your weight and keep a diary of it. Don’t weigh yourself every day or you’ll lose your mind, but try to do it once or twice per week. You’d be surprised at the progress you make. Take a picture of your body “before” and keep it in a place that you’ll see it often. Use this as a motivation of what you want to get away from, and believe that you are following a plan that will bring about the desired changes. Keep your nose to the grindstone, be patient, and over time you will see the results you are working for!
About Shaun Hudson
Shaun Hudson loves sports, being outdoors, and maintaining a healthy lifestyle. After many unsuccessful attempts to lose weight, he finally was able to drop 25 pounds and keep it off. The secret? He kept a journal of his activity, diet, and daily life. That journal changed his life, and has since evolved into this website. Read his full bio.