Diet Pills That Swell in Your Stomach

A large appetite is partly due to genetics. According to Louis J. Aronne, author of "The Skinny: On Losing Weight Without Being Hungry," some people are born with a greater predisposition to gaining weight and to a condition called "fullness resistance." The condition makes you less likely to feel full after eating and to store food as fat instead of burning it off as energy. Diet pills that swell in your stomach can increase fullness and promote weight loss.

Psyllium is best known for its ability to help control cholesterol. When you take a psyllium fiber pill, gastric juices and liquid in your stomach cause the pill to expand, which makes you feel full. It further enhances weight loss by increasing bowel movements. However, you should not take psyllium too often since it enhances colon activity. You'll be going to the bathroom too often. Also, because psyllium soaks up a large amount of water, it's dehydrating. If you take it, drink lots of water.

Made from seaweed harvested from along the French Atlantic coast, Appesat also expands in the stomach to increase a sense of fullness. Best taken at least 30 minutes before a meal, the pill swells and stretches the stomach wall, triggering receptors that signal to your brain you're full, according to the "Daily Mail." It does not get absorbed into the bloodstream, so it's not considered a pharmaceutical drug. A few hours after you take it, it's excreted out of your body. While it appears to be a promising tool for weight loss, more studies are needed to prove its effectiveness.

This dietary fiber comes from the konjac plant, which grows in Asia. It's packed with nutrients, low in calories and contains no fat. It can hold 100 times its own water weight and swells in your stomach to reduce feelings of hunger and help you eat fewer calories. When taken as a pill, glucomannan may not expand properly in the stomach, as it can be restricted by the pill casing. She recommends emptying the glucomannan fiber out of the pill casing and mixing it into food. It will make the food feel heavier in your stomach without increasing its calorie content.