The Medifast Diet: Can You Take Alli While On The Medifast Program?

Alli is a recently popular over-the-counter weight-loss drug. It is what is known as a lipase inhibitor. Therefore, it blocks the absorption of a significant amount of dietary fat. If you plan to lose weight with Medifast, you may be wondering if adding Alli to your weight loss plan would make it even more effective. I have to say the answer to that is no. Let’s take a look at why.

First of all, Medifast is a restricted diet low in fat, carbohydrates and calories. Since it is already fairly low in fat, Medifast itself does not recommend that you use Alli at the same time you are using Medifast for weight loss. While Alli does exactly what it’s described, it blocks fat absorption, it really won’t be very helpful on a diet that’s already low in fat.

Alli is an over-the-counter version of the drug called Orlistat or Xenical. The FDA has approved it for use in weight management, but that basically assumes you’re eating a regular diet, not a diet as low in fat as Medifast. If you were to use Alli at the same time, it would block up to 30% of your dietary fat absorption. The thing is, you actually need some fat in your diet. It is important for the absorption of certain vitamins and minerals. So you don’t want to go too low.

However, I think there are other good reasons not to use Alli and they all come down to your GI tract. Side effects are quite common with both Orlistat and Alli. Diarrhea isn’t even the worst. How about some wet farts? Yeah, not too pretty. Most of Alli’s side effects are related to the GI tract and the fact that if your body can’t absorb the fat you eat, there’s only one place it can go, through your bowel movements.

Alli can also prevent the proper absorption of certain fat-soluble vitamins. Remember when I told you that you need some fat in your diet? Well, you definitely need it to absorb vitamin D properly, and many people are deficient in vitamin D (especially in the winter), so that’s not a good thing either. The other important fat-soluble vitamins are A, E, and K.

If you decide to try the Medifast program, I think you’ll find that you don’t really need the extra stuff that Alli does. Medifast can work quite quickly if you follow the program on your own. So there really is no need to use fat blockers or appetite suppressants along with it.