Diuretic pills for weight loss: truth and fiction

It is not known for certain who came up with the idea of promoting diuretic pills for weight loss. But it is obviously connected with the desire of people suffering from excess weight to lose weight and their simultaneous unwillingness to limit themselves in food, eat right and burn off excess calories with physical activity.

Ignoring the postulates of dietetics, over-the-counter diuretic diet pills are used today in an attempt to lose weight, although water weight - despite the fact that a person is two-thirds water - adds only 2.2-2.5 kg to the total body weight.

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Indications diuretic diet pills

Diuretics, i.e. water pills, are prescribed by doctors to relieve swelling in kidney diseases (nephrotic syndrome) and liver diseases (cirrhosis with increased portal pressure); heart failure and arterial hypertension (to eliminate stagnation of blood circulation); swelling of the brain and lung tissue; late toxicosis (eclampsia) during pregnancy.

Diuretic tablets are used to lower the pressure of fluid inside the eyeball in patients with glaucoma, to reduce elevated cerebrospinal fluid pressure in idiopathic intracranial hypertension.

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Release form

Although the names of diuretic pills are numerous, and the drugs of this pharmacological group are divided into loop diuretics (Furosemide, Triphas, Uregit), thiazide (Hydrochlorothiazide, Chlorthalidone), potassium-sparing (Amiloride, Triamterene, Fluxinar), osmotic (Manit) and carbonic anhydrase inhibitors (Acetazolamide, Methazolamide), Furosemide, a fast-acting and potent cheap diuretic drug, is most often mentioned in recommendations for the use of diuretic pills for weight loss.

The diuretic effect of Furosemide tablets begins a maximum of one hour after taking a standard dose - one tablet (40 mg) once a day - and lasts for an average of 7 hours.

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Pharmacodynamics

The pharmacodynamics of this drug is based on blocking the absorption of sodium and chlorine in the structures of the kidney - the tubules and the ascending branch of the loop of Henle. By disrupting the reabsorption of these ions, loop diuretics cause an increase in urine production, which in turn reduces blood volume. Furosemide (other trade names - Frusemide, Furozan, Lasix, Diusemid, Driptal, Renex, Urosemide) also dilates peripheral vessels, mechanically reducing blood pressure, while vasodilation does not depend on the diuretic effect.

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Dosing and administration

The instructions for diuretic tablets do not include the indication “for weight loss”, nor do they provide the method of use or dosage of diuretic tablets for weight loss.

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Side effects diuretic diet pills

Taking diuretic tablets Furosemide (or other diuretics) can temporarily reduce weight without reducing fat deposits by reducing the vascular, interstitial and intracellular fluid volume, i.e. dehydration of the body.

Systematic use of diuretics has side effects, which include:

• violation of hemodynamics and microcirculation due to thickening of the blood, which causes hypotension (decrease in A), headaches, tinnitus, dizziness and fainting;
• excretion of sodium in the urine (leads to abnormal heart rhythms, constipation, muscle spasms and cramps);
• increased levels of uric acid in the blood (hyperuricemia);
• increased concentration of uric acid in urine and its pH (accelerates the deposition of urates in the bladder and joints);
• increased blood sugar levels (hyperglycemia);
• ionic and acid-base imbalance of the body;
• loss of potassium and magnesium, which manifests itself as weakness, loss of appetite, increased fatigue, depression and confusion;
• dryness of mucous membranes, skin and decreased elasticity of the skin.

As the American Dietetic Association (ADA) notes, once you stop taking water pills for weight loss, your body will restore the lost water, replenishing its reserves, but the destructive side effects may be irreversible.

Therefore, to achieve sustainable weight loss, you need to follow a low-calorie diet and exercise regularly.

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The idea of using diuretic pills for weight loss is probably borrowed from those who suffer from eating disorders. After all, it is those suffering from nervous bulimia who practice so-called "purging" - the use of diuretics, emetics and laxatives as a way to lose weight after bouts of overeating.

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