Orlistat is a medication used for weight management. Orlistat helps with weight loss by reducing the amount of fat absorbed by your body. Instead of storing the fat, this medicine allows your body to pass fat through the bowel and out of your system.​Orlistat does this by attaching to an enzyme found in the digestive system called lipase. It stops lipase from breaking down fat from your meal. This means less fat is digested by your body, leaving through the stools instead.​For maximum effectiveness, orlistat must be used alongside a reduced calorie diet (with no more than 30% of your calories from fat) and increased movement. This will also help you to minimise any unpleasant side effects.

Orlistat helps with weight loss by reducing the amount of fat absorbed by your body. Instead of storing the fat, this medicine helps your body to stop 30% of the fat you consume per meal from being absorbed and taken to your body's fat stores. It has been proven effective in clinical trials, where it showed that it was possible for participants to lose between 5% and 10% of their body weight during each cycle of use.​Orlistat does this by attaching to an enzyme found in the digestive system called lipase. It stops lipase from breaking down fat from your meal. This means less fat is digested by your body, leaving through the stools instead.​For maximum effectiveness, Orlistat must be used alongside a reduced calorie diet (with no more than 30% of your calories from fat) and increased movement. This will also help you to minimise any unpleasant side effects.

If you’ve previously tried losing weight through diet and exercise without results, you may consider other treatments. Orlistat is clinically proven to help you lose 50% more weight than just dieting alone.​Orlistat is only suitable for people with a BMI over 30, or people with a BMI over 28 who have conditions related to weight, such as diabetes or high blood pressure.

Take one 120mg pill with a drink at each main meal that contains fat, up to a maximum of three per day. Each time you take it, your meal should contain no more than 30% of calories from fat. This can help you lose weight and reduce the potential gastrointestinal side effects from the medication.​You should evenly divide your daily intake of fat, carbohydrates and protein across three main meals. Take orlistat during meals or up to an hour afterwards. If you occasionally miss a meal, or eat a meal without fat, you can skip your dose. Taking more than three 120mg capsules a day hasn’t been shown to have any extra weight loss benefit.​Orlistat interferes with your body’s absorption of fat-soluble vitamins. You should take a daily multivitamin supplement that contains beta carotene and vitamins A, D, E and K once a day, at least two hours before or after taking orlistat.

In clinical trials, almost twice as many people lost 10% or more of their body weight in one year when taking orlistat, compared to those who were dieting without treatment. Orlistat is clinically proven to help you lose 50% more weight than just dieting alone.

All medicines have the potential to cause side effects on the body, although not everybody experiences them.​headachesabdominal pain, urgentsudden or more frequent bowel motionsoily spottingfatty or soft stoolswind, with or without oily spottinglow blood sugar levels (in people with type 2 diabetes)rectal painincontinencebloating (in people with type 2 diabetes)tooth/gum disorderNot everybody experiences them, but if you do, they usually settle after a few weeks once you get used to the medication​Some people can also have allergic to this medication and the following symptoms are indicative of this:Skin rash and itchingSwelling of lips, face, tongue or throatDifficulty breathing or swallowing.​If you experience these signs it is essential that you stop taking the medication and see your doctor immediately.