Can diet pills really help you to lose weight?

With the holiday season here, you may be tempted to pop an over-the-counter diet pill to help you shed weight. But are you wasting your money? Go into any high street chemist and you can buy a pill that claims to speed up your metabolism, curb cravings or even stop your body absorbing fat.

Those diet pills are mainly plant-based and totally different from prescription drugs such as Reductil and Xenical, which are only given to people who are clinically obese.

Every year, people in the UK spend £75million on natural over-the-counter slimming aids. But do they work or are they a waste of money?