With its claim to be the only FDA approved over the counter weight loss drug, Alli is marketing itself to those who want to work to lose weight, but could use a boost. Perhaps the most refreshing thing about this drug, and its ensuing PR, is that it doesn’t claim to help you lose 500% more weight while sitting on your couch and eating ice cream. Finally, a diet aid that admits that you have to put some effort into the weight loss battle!

From a technical standpoint, Alli is a low dose version of the prescription diet drug Xenical. The low dose version doesn’t pack enough of a wallop to generate any dramatic side effects, aside from one which can be a little embarrassing, thus the reason it is able to be sold over the counter. This may be the perfect solution for many who struggle with their weight, but aren’t ready to buy into the risks associated with many of the more popular prescription weight loss drugs.

That one embarrassing side effect doesn’t seem to be enough to keep new buyers from trying it out though. The side effect is a direct result of how the pill works. The effective ingredients in Alli block about 25% of the fat that you intake from being digested. That 25% then, has to be expelled from the body, making for some interesting trips to the bathroom during the first few days that you are on it. Despite the clear warnings from pharmacists and drug store employees, the drug is selling at a higher rate than expected. As an additional note on the side effect, it can actually help users to stick to the diets that they are trying to supplement. If you eat more than the recommended amount of fat in your diet, it will make that rather precarious side effect even worse. Think of it as a good way to help keep you honest.

Unlike many of the new diet drugs, which seek to block receptors in the brain that make you think you are hungry, Alli doesn’t have any effect on the nervous system. It simply reduces the amount of fat that your body is able to digest, and concurrently absorb. Many users find this to be a much safer alternative. With so many reports floating around the internet about diet pill induced psychosis, consumers have every right to be a little bit nervous.

Initial reactions from the buying public seem to be positive, even though it is still too early to say whether or not Alli will have staying power. At this point, sales are still being driven by the excitement of a new product that claims to address a problem that so many people have. Still, dieters should be encouraged by Alli’s claim to not be a miracle drug, but instead a helping hand, there to give a little boost to those who are ready to drop a few extra pounds.

Perhaps nothing has done more damage to the American perception of weight loss than the years of television commercials touting diet pills that work so you don’t have to. Somewhere along the way it has become burned into our brains that our problems are not our responsibility, but that we can simply take a little pill and it will all go away. Many people have gotten very wealthy by taking advantage of this lie. Alli, however, seems to circumvent this notion, and addresses from the very beginning in its advertising that it just doesn’t work that way. Maybe they really believe it or maybe it’s just genius marketing, but it seems like they are realizing that people who struggle with weight and obesity are tired of being lied to.

Whatever the motivation, the ad campaign is working. When the product was introduced into Southern California stores over the summer, it sold out almost immediately. People believed.

There are of course, those in the medical community who naysay any product that attempts to disrupt the body’s natural processes. Exercising control over what you eat though, is necessary with Alli, so it seems that serial dieters can’t rely solely on the drug to do all of the work for them. While the side effects, when the drug is taken as recommended, can be a bit of a nuisance, they aren’t inherently dangerous, and the long term effects of them are nil. That alone seems to be reason enough for many curious dieters to take the plunge and see what Alli can do for them.