Obesity is one of the common metabolic diseases which is tremendously on the rise. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the number of patients has increased three times since 1975. A person with Body Mass Index (BMI) equal to or higher than 30.0 is considered obese. Previously considered only as a cosmetic concern, obesity has now been shown to be an aggravating element for various diseases and disorders including diabetes and cardiovascular diseases (CVD). The most common drugs subscribed by physicians include orlistat, rimonabant, liraglutide and sibutramine which have been proven to be effective to reduce body fat in patients. However, in the long run, patients have complained about symptoms which are mild like nausea, insomnia and dizziness to severe complications such as increase in risk of heart attack or stroke. The following review provides insights about synthetic drugs, their classification and their side-effects on human health. Furthermore, a gist of natural products i.e. phytochemicals that can be used as an alternative to these synthetic drugs has also been discussed in the review.

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