In today’s materialistic driven society, people are judged in every possible aspect; from their appearance, background, social status, way or thinking to their friends. The need to be accepted by others captivates the minds of many men and women of today. This search for social acceptance becomes so real that the idea then becomes an obsession. The way we look plays a big role in our lives. It determines the way others see us and it will then determine how we feel about ourselves.
One major component of appearance is our weight. Do you ever notice that the most admired and most popular girls in school are the sexiest, slimmest, and most flaunting girls? They are the ones that make the guys stop and take a second look. From these observations, men and women are assumed to being obsessed with their weights. Turn on the television, or open a magazine, and all you see are beautiful people flaunting their beautiful bodies. This constant reminder implants a message in our minds that this is the way all men and women should look like in order to be accepted in today’s society. The typical “Barbie Doll” is said to be a woman’s role model, but why? This only makes women damage their health just to try and look good. I am talking about diet pills. Diet pills have been perceived in a healthy manner that no one knows the truth about them.

First, the allure of diet pills can make them very tempting, especially at times when one is getting frustrated with their weight loss. However, with each new generation of skinny pills they are proven more dangerous than affective (Redbook 1).

For example:
Karen, a now slim women in her thirties says she has personal experiences with the affects of diet pills. Most of the weight loss is due to a little white and blue speckled pill known as phentermine. This drug works as a supplement, which reduces ones craving for food. What Karen figured out was that diet pills can lead to some unhealthy side effects. She personally experienced mood swings, constant chest pain, tremors and an irregular heartbeat. If one overdoses, it can lead to hallucinations, seizures, severe headaches, blurred vision, and vomiting (Calman 1).To Karen it was not worth it to take the diet pills.

The problem with taking these pills is that a normal size woman will put herself at risk of suffering these side effects. However, to an overweight woman, the health risks of carrying around extra pounds, such as heart disease and diabetes, may outweigh the side effects of diet pills.

“According to recent scientists, diet pills not only help with the assistance of taking away pounds, but are tested in the laboratory before being put on the shelf for consumers to buy”(Mueller 2).

Although this may be true, not everything scientists send out on the market is completely risk free, for instance, the back of the bottle shows drastic side effects. Say an overweight person already has health problems, adding more health risks by taking diet pills could furthermore damage their overall health and view of themselves.
After discussing health risks, the idea of a pill that can cause weight loss can still be hard to turn down. However, do diet pills really achieve the results that they claim are possible? Think of it this way, there is no miracle poison out there to automatically shrink one’s body size drastically. These diet drugs work only if one changes their life style with it. To lose weight, dieting and exercising are required with or without the usage of pills. Diet pills should be taken three times a day and even then they might not work. Diet pills prevent one’s body from digesting twenty five percent of the fat consumed. This is why eating healthy is required to notice any drastic weight-loss change. The truth is that a person who takes pills and exercises will lose just fifteen pounds compared to ten pounds from someone who just dieted. There is only a one percent difference to those who take diet pills without any addition dieting or exercise (Redbook 1).

Finally, diet pills can be extremely costly. Both the top and bottom shelf pills can be very expensive. What makes them costly is not just their price, but the monthly payments. All diet pills last at max of thirty days, which means one, will have to purchase them every month. The top selling diet pills cost at least sixty bucks. This price is surprisingly cheap because the higher end drug stores up their prices for diet drug. On top of this price, one must be working out and eating healthy for the pill to work correctly. For instance, the average person works out at a local gym for around forty dollars a month. Remember, though, the average person does not get “buff” until at least six months of working out. Just think about the cost of how much money that will total up to per month. Why spend money on drugs such as diet pills when one could spend it on everyday necessities such as clothes, transportation, and bills. Diet pill are just not worth the risk or the money (Daily Spark 3).

In the end, the subjugation for social acceptance is not worth the hassle; if one feels they have to take diet pills. Recall what happened to Karen, do not make the same mistake by thinking diet pills will solve the weight issue without any consequences. Also, finding the right diet pill is extremely complicated and with all of the weak, poorly formulated diet pills on the market, it is easy to waste countless amounts of dollars and time on something that simply does not work.

The truth about diet pills? They are just another supplement that we think we need but in reality we do not.