ASK DR. BAUGHAN May 20, 1999
FAT WARS
George Lucas, O Jedi Master of American Culture, direct The Force where we desperately need it! We need not fear the diabolical plottings of the Evil Empire to take over the Universe. We need fear the progression at light speed of the U.S. population toward obesity. Give us the wisdom of Yoda before we all look like Jobba the Hut. Help us beware of the tricks and traps of those who seek our money or our health in our desperate search for thinness in a land of caloric excess and inactivity.
Two new warriors have appeared, claiming to help save us from the threats of sluggish metabolisms. Are they true Jedi Knights, or are they cunning impostors sent by the Emperor of Greed and Cynicism? First let us examine Xenical (generic name orlistat) from the planet Roche. The literature about Xenical comes in an attractive package called the Xenical Starter Kit, containing a Starter Kit Booklet, a Daily Diary, and a Pocket Reference Card. The Reference Card shows you how to read the Nutrition Facts tables on packaged foods to see how much fat they contain. Xenical works by preventing your body from absorbing 30% of the fat that you eat if you take a Xenical pill when you eat a meal with fat. The manufacturer recommends an 1800 calorie meal plan (don’t say “diet”) with 30% of calories from fat. Their research claims that Xenical patients “on average, lost nearly twice as much as those patients on diet alone.” The fine print explains that those who stayed on the program one year lost “an average of 13.4 pounds while those on a reduced-calorie diet alone lost 5.8 pounds.” That’s 7.6 more pounds. At $100 a month wholesale, that’s over $158 per pound. Are there side effects? When the 30% of fat is not absorbed, it “passes through the intestines.” What happens when fat “passes through?” The same thing that happens when another indigestible fat, mineral oil, “passes through.” As the information booklet describes it: “These changes may include oily spotting, gas with discharge, urgent need to go to the bathroom, oily or fatty stools, an oily discharge, increased number of bowel movements (read “diarrhea”), and inability to control bowel movements.” The higher the fat content of your food, the more that will “pass through.” Does this sound like a break-through? Probably only in the line to the bathroom.
Next contender - Tyrozene! Promotional literature from the American Weight Loss Clinic touts a patented thermogenic technology (sounds like your metabolism will become a veritable furnace). It is “proven 29% more effective than Redux!!!” and “Clinically proven to increase the rate of fat loss by up to 300%!” with citations from the International Journal of Obesity. What’s more, it is available without a prescription. I obtained copies of articles from the International Journal of Obesity. Tyrozene contains a combination of ephedrine (a medicine that has been around a long time as a decongestant or asthma treatment) and caffeine (150-200mg - about the same as a cup of coffee). The combination works better than either alone, but how well is that? In the cited study, patients in a controlled nutrition plan lost 15 lbs on Redux and 18 lbs on Tyrozene (29% better!). How about that 300% claim? People not on a “meal plan” lost 4.8 pounds in 8 weeks compared to 1.5 pounds if they took a placebo. That’s a 300% difference. Wow! Aren’t you impressed? When combined with diet for 6 months, the differences in another study were 36.5 lbs lost with the pills compared to 29 lbs with diet alone. At $45 a month for 6 months, that’s $36 a pound and $270 total.
Alas! I fear we find no Jedis to save us here. Perhaps the money would be better spent on membership to a fitness center. I am surprised some entrepreneur has not started a service offering to buy the groceries for someone desiring to lose weight so that high calorie foods never enter the home. It could probably be done cheaper than these pills. May The Force be with you, and may it be thermogenic.