What to eat when taking Orlistat

When taking orlistat, the ideal diet must essentially be mildly hypo-caloric. This means that you will be consuming slightly fewer calories than you burn. To be able to achieve this, do this for each of your 3 regular daily meals; eat some starchy carbs like rice and pasta, bread, and potato. Orlistat also goes by the brand name Xenical, as well as a smaller-dosed weight loss medication called Alli which does no require prescription. The advice in this article applies to all three medications listed above.

You must make sure you reduce your fat intake to 30% of your overall calorie intake while you are under orlistat treatment.

Dietary advice when taking Orlistat

This health and dietary advice is provided by the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospitals. It will provide patients with some general info on making the right diet changes while taking orlistat tablets. For those who wish to have a bit of rather in-depth advice, you can follow a special diet or have problems making these diet changes, you can consult with your doctor or a dietitian to advise you further on the right diet plan.

Never delay switching to a healthier lifestyle

When you are overweight, you run the risks of developing a host of other medical problems as high cholesterol levels, high blood pressure, coronary heart ailment, osteoarthritis, joint pains, obesity-caused cancers, Type 2 diabetes, and more.

By making small but positive changes to your health, lifestyle, and diet – you are sure to lose weight and minimize the risk of developing any of these health problems.

Why take Orlistat and how exactly does it work?

Whenever you eat more calories than what you actually need, your body stores the extra calories, and this in effect results in weight gain. One way you can facilitate weight loss effectively is to do away with too much fat in your diet.

Orlistat works in the digestive system as it prevents about one third of fat from being absorbed and digested in the body. What orlistat do is to attach itself to certain enzymes known as lipases. Lipases are found inside the gut, they breakdown dietary fat, this simply means any undigested fat deposits can never be absorbed and they simply pass on your stools.

Fat intake and side effects

Someone who is into orlistat diet treatment must reduce fat intake to about 30% percent of overall calorie intake. There are several reported side effects of consuming too much fat in your diet. Here are a few of them: oily spotted on underwear, increased urgency to move bowels, loose bowel movement, and flatulence.

Basic guidelines on how to reduce fat intake

Here we have outlined some basic tips on how you can easily and gradually reduce fat intake in your diet to make orlistat weight loss treatment effective for you. Here they are –

1. Eat a lot of greens, vegetables, and more fruits.

2. Avoid frying foods, instead have them grilled, broiled, or baked.

3. Use plant-based milk rather than whole milk, or use one that is fat-free.

4. Whenever eating out, refrain from using dressings, condiments, and other sauces.

5. Cook food with spices, herbs, lemon juice, instead of using margarine or butter.

6. Stay away from hydrogenated fats and animal fats like lard, shortening, cream, butter, etc.

7. When using oils, you can go for olive, canola, or sunflower oils.

8. Snack on vegetables and fruits.

9. Stay away from any processed foods.

10. Choose only lean cuts of meat and get rid of any visible fat. Steer clear of chicken skin and any crackling on pork.

11. Do not use fat or oil when cooking as much as possible have them poached, baked, or microwaved.

12. opt for low fat or nonfat dairies like skimmed milk, yoghurts, low-fat cheese and spreads.

13. Go for low-fat cooking sauces, especially those with less than 5 grams of fat per 100 grams of sauce or condiments.

14. Increase fibre intake. Fibre is required in a healthy diet to help keep a healthy digestive system, plus it can lower high cholesterol levels.

15. Choose whole wheat pasta and bread. For rice, go for brown rice. Include some beans, peas, lentils, and pulses in your diet.

Always aim to have at least 5 or more portions of vegetables and fruits each day. They are very low in calories but offer you the essential healthy nutrients and minerals to facilitate healthy body, immune faction, skin, and overall wellbeing.

Final word of advice

Taking orlistat is indeed a proven and effective way of shedding that excess pounds, as long as those taking it follows a healthy and low-fat diet. Some of the known side effects of orlistat are fatty or oily stools, bloating, and flatulence. These are made worse by consuming too many fatty foods.

Although orlistat is guaranteed safe and very effective in losing weight, nothing beats a healthy diet and exercise to keep that unwanted fats away for good. Ensure you have a diet rich in fruits and vegetable, and your main daily means low in fat but high in protein and carbohydrates that your body will always need. The answer to successful weight loss relies on nobody but YOU, so make it happen! Read another article of ours about how you can get good results from using orlistat.