As the number of overweight people keeps on increasing, more and more overweight and obese people are being treated with drugs. These drugs fall in 3 categories:

- Anorexiants that suppress the appetite.

- Drugs that increase the rate of metabolism in the body

- Drugs that interfere with the absorption of certain nutrients such as fats.

These drugs have side effects such as high blood pressure, fainting, increased heart palpitations, pain, over stimulation, nervousness, restlessness, dizziness, weakness, fatigue, insomnia, anxiety, tension, tremor, depression, headache, dry mouth, change in libido, nausea, vomiting, eye irritation, blurred vision, hair loss, chills and fever.

These drugs are addictive and anyone who uses them for a long time eventually develops tolerance. This typically leads to an increased dosage to achieve weight loss, which can have dangerous consequences for health.

In majority of cases, obesity is the result of a bad lifestyle and poor dietary habits. Many overweight people eat a high carb, low fat and a low cholesterol diet. This diet seldom causes any weight loss. In fact, it is largely responsible for weight gain and obesity. It causes sudden rise and fall in blood sugar levels and leads to carbohydrate cravings. When blood sugar rises rapidly, the excess sugar is converted into fat and stored in the fat tissue of the body. Therefore, eating a high carb diet leads to a rapid weight gain. It is also responsible for causing type 2 diabetes. 90% of the people who have type 2 diabetes are also obese.

The right way to treat obesity is to make changes to the diet and lifestyle. The first step is to cut down on sugar consumption by eliminating foods such as soda, cake, cookies, fruit juice, etc. from the diet. Replace processed foods that contain refined white flour with whole foods and whole grains. A diet high in protein and low in carbohydrates satisfies the appetite and increases metabolism.

Fruits and vegetables provide vital nutrients such as vitamins and minerals that are missing in the processed foods. They are also high in fiber. A diet high in fiber gives a feeling of fullness in the stomach and suppresses the appetite. It also reduces the absorption of fat in the stomach. Fiber also improves the health of the digestive system.

Exercise must be an essential part of a weight loss program. It increases the metabolism and helps the body in burning fat. Slow exercise such as walking does a better job of burning fat than strenuous exercise such as aerobics. A 30 min daily walk is easy on your joints and does a good job of burning fat and building lean muscle in the body.

A prudent diet combined with regular exercise is a much safer and superior way of losing weight permanently than using drugs that produce serious side effects.