Xenical Results: An Overview
Xenical® (
orlistat) is a prescription weight loss medication. As with most safe weight loss regimens, Xenical (along with appropriate dietary changes) promotes a gradual, modest weight loss.
Results With Xenical for Weight Loss
While many weight loss products advertise their results using "success stories" (the rare people who lose large amounts of weight), these individual testimonies of success are not the best way to measure the effectiveness of any weight loss product.
The best way to gauge any product is by using clinical studies.
Several studies have compared Xenical (plus diet) to a placebo (plus diet). A placebo is a similar-looking tablet or capsule that has no active ingredient and is sometimes called a "sugar pill." In randomized double-blind studies, subjects are randomly assigned to receive either the study medication (in this case, Xenical) or a placebo, and neither the subjects nor the researchers know who received the actual medication versus the placebo (a separate third party keeps track of the information).
In studies, after one year of taking Xenical (plus diet), people lost an average of 13.4 pounds, while the people taking the placebo (plus diet) lost an average of only 5.8 pounds.