[paulpauper]

weight gain. With CF the pancreas is blocked, so you lack in digestive enzymes, and it's a struggle to maintain a healthy enough weight to battle respiratory infections. After Trikafta, I gained some 30 pounds, and have a big belly on my small frame

This seems like a no-brainer way to treat obesity, by restricting or blocking such enzymes. Obviously the downside is diarrhea and other malabsorption symptoms, but obese people have too much nutrition. Blocking absorption seems easier than dieting, as no willpower required. You shit out the undigested food.

[derefr]

They sort of tried this in the '90s — not in the form of suppressing the required enzymes for nutrient absorption, but rather in the form of diet foods that contained inherently non-absorbable nutrients. The downsides were basically the same — the non-absorbed nutrients had to come out. People didn't generally respond well to these products. See e.g. https://web.archive.org/web/20060113084223/http://www.zug.co...

[vrc]

Olestra! I ate a whole bag of the Lay’s with Olean as a kid. They had the audacity to say that they assumed that people would only eat a handful at a time. Of near zero calorie potato chips that taste like potato chips…

[vrc]

Orlistat. Look at Alli — very available to buy. A very common side effect is steatorrhea. Oily leakage/poops. But not like, “oops I gotta run to the bathroom” but like, a tiny bear down and oil shoots out your bum. There is a clear warning on it about malabsorption as well of fat soluble vitamins.

[Scoundreller]

Having taken orlistat in low/intermittent doses, I can say it really matters what you eat fatty stuff with, on top of quantity. A regular "balanced" low-mid fat diet, and you're (well, I've been) okay.

If you eat a tub of ice cream as dinner, you're going to have a bad time.

[patmorgan23]

Appetite suppression/regulation seems like a much better route to pursue than intentionally inducing malabsorption.

[bdcravens]

I've played with my enzyme dosage, and there are a lot of unpleasant side effects as you've mentioned. Overall, the best approach has been what everyone else has to do: watch carbs and sugar, reasonable exercise, etc.