By Dr. Joseph Mercola
     with Rachael Droege

You’re likely already aware that diet pills are not going to solve any overweight or obesity challenges you may be facing. Still, the ads are tempting and the claims that you will "Reduce calories and slim down automatically ... not only lose weight, but look younger, have improved drive and concentration, and become free of stress and anxiety," as one diet pill ad put it, may sound too good to pass up.

Or, you may want to lose weight so badly that you decide to take your chances and give the pills a try, but the risk with diet pills isn’t whether or not they will help you lose weight. The big risk is whether they will result in severe health problems.

Some of the more serious side effects of diet drugs include:

• Problems With Brain Function: Most diet drugs decrease appetite by increasing serotonin or catecholamine--two brain chemicals that affect mood and appetite. However, other functions regulated by serotonin, like sleep, cognition, memory, and mood, can also be affected by the drugs.

• Primary Pulmonary Hypertension (PPH): The risk of PPH, which limits blood flow to the lungs, can increase 10-fold among those who use appetite suppressants.

• Heart-Valve Irregularities: The popular diet drug Fen-Phen was recalled, partly because it was found to cause heart-valve problems in some patients.

• Mental Problems: Depression, mania, hallucinations, and anxiety disorders have all been reported.

The more common side effects include:

• Skin irritation, bruising, rash or hives
• Numbness on one side of the body
• Headaches
• Insomnia
• Increased blood pressure
• Nausea, vomiting, stomach cramps
• Dry mouth
• Anxiety or irritability

You cannot rely on the government to regulate these drugs, as it took 155 deaths and more than 16,500 complaints before the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced it would be banning the weight-loss herb ephedra. More than 3 billion doses of drugs containing ephedra, also known as ma huang, were sold in the United States each year, with sales reaching $7 billion.

Many believed ephedra products were safe, as they were sold over-the-counter like many other popular diet drugs, but now the FDA says ephedra is a stimulant that raises blood pressure and stresses the circulatory system, effects that have been linked to serious heart problems, strokes and deaths.

And, according to a study in this month’s The Journal of the American Medical Association, "A single dose of a dietary supplement containing ephedra and caffeine can increase blood pressure and cause changes that have the potential to affect heart rhythms."

Other pills that are touted as being safe still remain on the market, but if you want to lose weight safely, the only way is to change your lifestyle. This will take more effort than simply popping a pill, but it will also preserve your health and give you truly lasting benefits with only positive side effects, such as increased energy and resistance to infections and disease.

Most people want to normalize their weight because of a desire to feel and look better right now, which is why diet pills are so popular, as they promise that you’ll "lose weight and feel great fast."

Fortunately, when you follow my nutrition plan, and individualize it with metabolic typing, and start exercising, you can get those results almost immediately. For most, the dietary problem is too many grains and sugars in the diet. No matter what metabolic type you are, if you are overweight you will need to discontinue eating all grains and sugars until you normalize your weight.

The bottom line is that you can take control of your health, and you can achieve a healthy weight and ultimately a more healthy life. The "masterwork" of my entire dietary and lifestyle program--Dr. Mercola's Total Health Program: 150 Delicious Grain-Free Recipes & The Proven Plan to Prevent Disease, Optimize Weight and Live Longer--will help you do just that.

This book is no "quick fix" but instead is the culmination of my last 20 years of work, and everything, from A to Z, is included. You will get everything you need to know to prevent disease, optimize weight, look younger, feel better, and live longer. Plus, it will provide you with the ability to assess your general nutritional type and give you a full plan to start eating the right macronutrients--proteins, carbs and fats--for your type.

Also included in the book are 150 delicious and original grain-free recipes for all types of meals, created by a nutrition expert in collaboration with my program. The program in the book will leave you feeling healthier, full of energy, free of illness, and more upbeat throughout the day.

If you are having difficulties with the emotional component to weight loss, which is a challenge for many, I would also strongly advise you to use psychological acupressure techniques like EFT. The "magic" about EFT is that when you tap for your goals, such as weight loss, most of us will come up with a reason why we can’t achieve it. This self-limiting belief is sabotaging your efforts to achieve it. The beauty of EFT is that you can tap on this negative self-limiting belief and help transform it so it is not serving as a roadblock to your success.

I know many of you have not read the free EFT manual yet, but I encourage you to give it a try as I have updated it recently and it is much easier to use. For some, the technique may sound a bit odd at first, but it is also relatively simple; the results, meanwhile, have left many of the loudest naysayers quite convinced!

Continued Insanity--Diet Drugs Still Popular

Use of Obesity Drug Increases in Britain

Metabolife (Ephedra or Ma Huang) Can Cause Stroke

Obesity and Diabetes: A Growing Problem Among Americans

How to Prevent, or Reverse, Childhood Obesity

The Scientific Definition of Obesity and its Dangers