At this point in time there are well over seventy five million people in the United States.
In the UK about 46% of men in England and 32% of women are overweight and an additional 17% of men and 21% of women are obese with a body mass index of more than 30 kg/m2.
The amount of people who are overweight and who are obesity is increasing.
The percentage of adults who are clinically obese has virtually doubled since the 1980's.
Much of the western world has an obesity epidemic and telling people to reduce fat intake and increase exercise does not seem to be having an effect on reducing these figures.
Over the past few years the medical world has come up with a number of drug based weight loss products, mainly based on Orlistat.
Xenical was the first Orlistat based weight loss pill available by prescription and Alli, a lower dose counterpart, was more recently released as an over the counter medicine.
For many people the drugs have literally been life saving, helping people to shed unwanted weight.
The Orlistat based products allowed fat to pass through the body unabsorbed, hence promoting weight loss.
Many people however do not want to take drug based products to help with their weight loss.
Proactol have come up with an all natural weight loss supplement known in weight loss circles as a fat binder.
It is a weight loss supplement that contains NeoPuntia, which is extracted from the dried leaves of the nutritious cactus Opuntia ficus-indica which, when it comes in contact with fat in the stomach, forms a gel-like solution around the fat making the body unable to absorb it.
This essentially means that you should lose weight if your eating habits remain unchanged.
However, Proactol also allegedly suppresses appetite so the craving for food and hopefully the intake of food will hopefully decrease.
The fact that Proactol have taken a significant amount of time undertaking research in weight loss and natural weight loss products shows shows an understanding of both the problems and solutions of being overweight.
Proactol has been thoroughly clinically tested for both weight loss efficiency and safety.
Due to its all natural components there are far fewer worries related to side effects when using Proactol than those related to the drug based weight loss products.
Indeed it is one of the few totally natural weight loss products on the market today.
For those people who want and need to lose weight but do not want to take medicinal drugs to help them reaching their weight loss goals Proactol and other Opuntia ficus-indica based all natural weight loss products may be the ideal solution.
Whilst Proactol may indeed help with weight loss in the shorter term, long term weight loss is more likely to be successful with an improved overall diet and a general increase in activity and exercise.
If you take in less energy and use more up then the body will use its own resources and you will lose weight.
In all cases, if you do intend on losing weight and intend to start an exercise program you should always consult your doctor first.