so i have been pondering on the alli diet plan.... i have heard great success stories that had me really excited about trying this diet, but after researching i came across some horror stories as well. im hoping someone out there has tried it. if so what are the side effects of the medication and do you have to take the medication for the diet to work correctly or can i just follow the meal plan.

the medication guide does not explain well enough and some of the side effects i read about were questionable how ever others have had great success with it

I've taken Xenical (which is the prescription version of Alli, so a stronger dose) and while I can't really speak to the results I will tell you that it made my stomach very unhappy and gave me some serious digestive issues for a while after I stopped taking it.

I have tried alli for a while, just the medication, didn't follow any particular meal plan. The point is you REALLY have to stick to a VERY low-fat diet and then I think.. if you're going to eat that healthy anyway, I'm just not sure the pill has any added benefit except for putting things into your body you don't know the effect of. A few weeks after I had stopped alli, I got my blood and urine tested (just a routine test) and my doctor had me thinking I had hepatitis for weeks because of some liver enzyme that wasn't normal. I turned out perfectly healthy after all, but still I wouldn't trust what alli does to your liver.

If you eat too much fat, you get the scariest diarrhea you have ever seen, but I'm sure you've read about that particular side effect.

Personally, I think the main perk of alli is that it can serve as an incentive to stick to your diet. You know what's going to happen if you don't eat well. But I don't trust it and if you kan motivate yourself to do the diet WITHOUT the pills, I would definitely do it that way!