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Diet pills and the appetite you have

It’s important to demystify the workings of a diet pill. Regarding the pill as bogus, magic, or ineffective may both keep you from using it, and potentially keep you from losing weight. The power of diet pills is real and is medically founded. Diet pills help people lose weight by affecting one of the following.

• The food you eat (fat blocking)
• The appetite you have (appetite suppressing)
• The energy you use (metabolism boosting)

This article explores how diet pills affect your appetite, and how that affects weight loss.

The Power of Appetite

You are what you eat. Although some people are more prone to food binges and overeating than others, most people who are overweight eat too much. Additionally, over 70% of dieters say that an overwhelming appetite was the main reason for diet failure. Therefore, it only makes sense to nip the problem in the bud—the taste bud, that is. Limiting one’s appetite means limiting the intake of excess food, which means the loss of additional weight.

The Prevention of Hunger

Drugs which reduce the appetite are called anorectics. The related term, “anorexia” can refer to an eating disorder that causes severe weight loss. An anorectic, however, is simply a pharmaceutical compound that suppresses the appetite. This means less between-meal snacking, during-meal gorging, and overall lower caloric intake. These drugs actually affect the hypothalamus—a brain command center that is responsible for forcing you to eat. The chemicals in the drug trick your hypothalamus into releasing serotonin and norepinephrine, two hormones that tell your body: “no food needed.” The result is a shrinking waistline.

The Sense of Satisfaction

Some drugs prevent the stomach and intestines from emptying as quickly as they normally do. When the intestines are full, they secrete a hormone that tells the body, “I’m full, and don’t need any food right now.” Several drugs are available that delay gastric emptying, which promotes a feeling of satiety. The end result is the same—lower food consumption and better diet results.

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