How effective is orlistat?
Studies have shown that, on average, orlistat, plus a weight-reducing diet and exercise, causes more weight loss than a weight-reducing diet and exercise alone. Some people lose 10% or more of their body weight within six months with the help of orlistat. In others, it is less effective. One reason why orlistat may not work is that you may think that you can relax your weight-reducing diet, and the orlistat will ‘do it all’. This is not true. You still have to eat less. Remember, orlistat prevents only some of the fat that you eat from being absorbed (just under a third). But, if you do not keep to a healthy weight-reducing diet, and eat more fat (chocolates, cakes, etc), the extra fat that you eat will easily cancel out the effect of the orlistat.
