Research
Hormonal
Metformin (1000 mg/day) produces a greater reduction in android fat mass (kg) compared to orlistat in obese premenopausal women, despite less total weight loss.
If your primary goal is reducing abdominal (android) fat rather than just total weight, metformin (1000mg/day) may be more effective than orlistat. This benefit comes with less overall weight loss, so the choice depends on your specific body composition goals.
GoodQualifiesHIGH confidence
DXA measurements revealed comparable reductions in android and gynoid fat in both groups; however, greater decreases in android and trunk fat, measured in kg, were seen in group M.
Why this rating
RCT, open-label, short duration.
Source
The effect of orlistat versus metformin on body composition and insulin resistance in obese premenopausal women: 3-month randomized prospective open-label study
Magdalena Kujawska-Łuczak et al. · Archives of Medical Science · 2016
DOI 10.5114/aoms.2016.62014
rct · n=73Cited 20×
Read the paper DOI resolved against Crossref · corpus check 2026-06-10
More from this paper
- Orlistat (360 mg/day) produces significantly greater total body weight loss and fat mass reduction than metformin (1000 mg/day) in obese premenopausal women over 3 months.Good
- Both orlistat and metformin produce comparable improvements in insulin sensitivity (ISI Matsuda) and post-load insulin levels in obese premenopausal women.Good
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