HCG Diet - Not a Good IDEA!

k8edge

Haters are gonna be haters... Enjoy!

With that being said it is my OPINION that the HCG diet is by far one of the worst ideas that for some reason many American's have grasped onto. It is interesting how so many people jump head first into what they believe is the easiest way to loosing weight without thinking about the consequences. Dr. Oz (not one of my favorite people... but eh) actually has research to prove that this "diet" if you can call it a diet is extremely dangerous. Then again -- Eating 500 calories a day is dangerous. It doesn't take a doctor to figure that out.

Here are a few highlights...

1) You don’t keep the weight off. Decades of research have demonstrated that if you diet by eating only 500 calories a day, you regain a lot of weight after the diet ends.

2) Common sense tells us that starving is not very good for our bodies. In fact, scientists have proven this as well. If you only eat 500 calories a day, there are serious health risks.

3) The hormone HCG has never been approved to be in any product sold directly to consumers. The leader of the FDA’s Internet and Fraud Team has said all such products are illegal. (So those of you that are buying it of the internet are either not buying the real thing or are doing something illegal)

Furthermore... "The HCG diet pills contain small doses of HCG to help your body tap into stored fat and burn it off. They also suppress your appetite so you can consume as little as 500 calories a day. Initially, this diet may help you rapidly drop pounds. Ultimately, it destroys your metabolism, as you are essentially starving yourself. Another negative side effect is the loss of muscle mass, so much that you will no longer be able to effectively burn calories." (Diets Dr. Oz Would Never Try)

Also... "he hormone is known to cause headaches, blood clots, leg cramps, temporary hair thinning, constipation, and breast tenderness. The FDA has received at least one recent report of an HCG dieter developing a pulmonary embolism, a potentially fatal blood clot in the lung, says agency spokesperson Shelly Burgess. Yet, the hormone's full risk profile is unknown." (US HEALTH) Sounds like a wonder drug?? I don't think so...

I used this information to back up my post.
http://www.doctoroz.com/videos/hcg-diet-fact-vs-fiction
http://www.doctoroz.com/videos/shortcuts-dr-oz-would-never-take
http://health.usnews.com/health-news/diet-fitness/diet/articles/2011/03/14/hcg-diet-dangers-is-fast-weight-loss-worth-the-risk?PageNr=2

Angry comments commence! I am in a bit of a combative and sassy mood today... However, I probably won't post about this again. I have deleted many friends who were eating 500 calories a day... Doing the HCG diet and seeing results! Wow... sounds too good to be true! That is because it is too good to be true. Read the facts people... Stop starving yourselves. If you want to starve yourself, MFP isn't really the place for it because that is not what this is about. Nothing is easy... Especially loosing weight.

atomdraco

bump

sarahlong09

Get em killer!!!!

runnermel

love this post!

catecn

i like that u cited your sources, lol. its cool that you posted the links where u got ur info as help for us to look it up too

kellywaller1

I totally agree!!!! well said!!!

dayzeerock

I really hope that everyone sees this.

AlsDonkBoxSquat

Yes, you have the opinion (as do I) that it is a terrible idea, but at least you can back it up with some fact. There is no fact behind HCG being a good idea, just opinion.

bethgarzonie

Thanks for that. My step daughter was on that diet for a while. Bad stuff!

vim_n_vigor

This topic is starting off very mildly. I bet it won't stay this way!

Eating only 500 calories does not at all seem to me to be the easy way to lose weight. That is such a small amount of food!

bethgarzonie

Love your pic!>dayzeerock

Jorra

The Better Business Bureau of Minnesota issued an alert as well. This stuff is dangerous.

http://www.myfoxtwincities.com/dpp/news/hcg-weight-loss-bbb-alert-aug-3-2011

bcattoes

I've never heard of this diet, but then again once I heard "500 calories a day" I'd move on because there is no way I could live on that. I hate feeling hungry.

dosesr4winners20

I'm on the HcG modified 800/daily. Never any side effects and being limited has forced me to make smart choices. Now veggies are second nature to me. Getting fast results has kept me motivated too.

There's nothing wrong with this diet. It's done in 28 day cycles and is not intended for long term to stay on it. the weight doesn't just pile back on either. that's untrue. you should try it before you knock it.

If someone is obese then the weight loss of about 30 lbs in 30 days most certainly outweighs the continued neg. effects on their health.

Hollirot

When I first heard about the HCG diet, I was intrigued. I visited several websites that were selling HCG drops. One of my favorites raved about how fabulous the drops were, then in small print near the bottom of the site it stated that the drops were NOT recommended for human intake because although the people the HCG came from were tested for HIV & other diseases, there was no way to be completely sure that they didn't have these diseases.

Oh. My. God.

What a HUGE risk to take in order to get skinny.

I'll stick to the old fashioned way of a healthy diet & exercise to shed my unwanted pounds!

bobbybdoe

If you don't support HCG, you should put the picture in my sig into your sig.

Quick Fixes with FDA unapproved products made only for profitable gain = Bad idea. Why don't you just take amphetamines instead and only ingest water?

bunchesonothing

If someone is obese then the weight loss of about 30 lbs in 30 days most certainly outweighs the continued neg. effects on their health.

Quickness is not necessarily a great thing with weight loss. And no, if they could lose weight healthily and not have the risks, why not do it that way?

Gigi_licious

When I first heard about the HCG diet, I was intrigued. I visited several websites that were selling HCG drops. One of my favorites raved about how fabulous the drops were, then in small print near the bottom of the site it stated that the drops were NOT recommended for human intake because although the people the HCG came from were tested for HIV & other diseases, there was no way to be completely sure that they didn't have these diseases.

Oh. My. God.

What a HUGE risk to take in order to get skinny.

I'll stick to the old fashioned way of a healthy diet & exercise to shed my unwanted pounds!

Wait, what? They suck something out of people then throw it in a bottle and sell it? Ew! I don't want to take other peoples body fluids, or tissue, or whatever they take to lose weight. If my options were that or stay fat, I'd stay fat!

Hollirot

When I first heard about the HCG diet, I was intrigued. I visited several websites that were selling HCG drops. One of my favorites raved about how fabulous the drops were, then in small print near the bottom of the site it stated that the drops were NOT recommended for human intake because although the people the HCG came from were tested for HIV & other diseases, there was no way to be completely sure that they didn't have these diseases.

Oh. My. God.

What a HUGE risk to take in order to get skinny.

I'll stick to the old fashioned way of a healthy diet & exercise to shed my unwanted pounds!

Wait, what? They suck something out of people then throw it in a bottle and sell it? Ew! I don't want to take other peoples body fluids, or tissue, or whatever they take to lose weight. If my options were that or stay fat, I'd stay fat!

Yes. HCG is a human hormone. It's produced during pregnancy, but is also produced in the pituitary gland of both males & females.

MissMaryMac33

Thanks for this post.... it drives me crazy when I read about those fad diets and I'm going to save this post to refer to.

Jorra

When I first heard about the HCG diet, I was intrigued. I visited several websites that were selling HCG drops. One of my favorites raved about how fabulous the drops were, then in small print near the bottom of the site it stated that the drops were NOT recommended for human intake because although the people the HCG came from were tested for HIV & other diseases, there was no way to be completely sure that they didn't have these diseases.

Oh. My. God.

What a HUGE risk to take in order to get skinny.

I'll stick to the old fashioned way of a healthy diet & exercise to shed my unwanted pounds!

Wait, what? They suck something out of people then throw it in a bottle and sell it? Ew! I don't want to take other peoples body fluids, or tissue, or whatever they take to lose weight. If my options were that or stay fat, I'd stay fat!

I've seen on the websites that sell them that they are produced using pregnant lady pee.

Gigi_licious

When I first heard about the HCG diet, I was intrigued. I visited several websites that were selling HCG drops. One of my favorites raved about how fabulous the drops were, then in small print near the bottom of the site it stated that the drops were NOT recommended for human intake because although the people the HCG came from were tested for HIV & other diseases, there was no way to be completely sure that they didn't have these diseases.

Oh. My. God.

What a HUGE risk to take in order to get skinny.

I'll stick to the old fashioned way of a healthy diet & exercise to shed my unwanted pounds!

Wait, what? They suck something out of people then throw it in a bottle and sell it? Ew! I don't want to take other peoples body fluids, or tissue, or whatever they take to lose weight. If my options were that or stay fat, I'd stay fat!

Yes. HCG is a human hormone. It's produced during pregnancy, but is also produced in the pituitary gland of both males & females.

Oh Grody!! I don't want to put anyone pituitary gland under my tongue or be injected with it! I'll stick to Flinstone vitamins and eating better!!

PeachyKeene

Sounds pretty dangerous to me. I think I will stick with my hardcore workouts, running, eating healthy foods, and tracking it on MFP. I hate to be negative, because I know some people do have a hard time losing, but it really seems like the lazy way.

PeachyKeene

When I first heard about the HCG diet, I was intrigued. I visited several websites that were selling HCG drops. One of my favorites raved about how fabulous the drops were, then in small print near the bottom of the site it stated that the drops were NOT recommended for human intake because although the people the HCG came from were tested for HIV & other diseases, there was no way to be completely sure that they didn't have these diseases.

Oh. My. God.

What a HUGE risk to take in order to get skinny.

I'll stick to the old fashioned way of a healthy diet & exercise to shed my unwanted pounds!

Wait, what? They suck something out of people then throw it in a bottle and sell it? Ew! I don't want to take other peoples body fluids, or tissue, or whatever they take to lose weight. If my options were that or stay fat, I'd stay fat!

I've seen on the websites that sell them that they are produced using pregnant lady pee.

:sick:

k8edge

I'm on the HcG modified 800/daily. Never any side effects and being limited has forced me to make smart choices. Now veggies are second nature to me. Getting fast results has kept me motivated too.

There's nothing wrong with this diet. It's done in 28 day cycles and is not intended for long term to stay on it. the weight doesn't just pile back on either. that's untrue. you should try it before you knock it.

If someone is obese then the weight loss of about 30 lbs in 30 days most certainly outweighs the continued neg. effects on their health.

Sorry, I won't starve myself... So yes, I will continue to knock it. So will the FDA and the educated population.

Jorra

http://ultimate-hcg-guide.com/category/hcg-info/how-is-hcg-made-hcg-info/

Figured I'd find the source of the pee claim:

Urine for the purposes of harvesting hCG is collected via sterile procedure with a catheter, or by the “clean catch” method.

Yes, pee is sterile, that doesn't mean you're supposed to harvest it for hormones and inject it into other people.

dreanance

I hope the fab sticks around a litte longer... I want to be able to sell my pee when I'm knocked up!

AlsDonkBoxSquat

So do you think that they monitor those pregnant ladies to make sure that catch is really clean?

bunchesonothing

http://ultimate-hcg-guide.com/category/hcg-info/how-is-hcg-made-hcg-info/

Figured I'd find the source of the pee claim:

Urine for the purposes of harvesting hCG is collected via sterile procedure with a catheter, or by the “clean catch” method.

Yes, pee is sterile, that doesn't mean you're supposed to harvest it for hormones and inject it into other people.

Yes, and the clean catch method is basically, make sure the area is wiped down, pee a little into the toilet and then continue the stream into a cup... so that as little bacteria as possible from the outside area gets in the catch.

ninerbuff

Yep. It's a DESPERATE attempt to lose weight. And usually desperation ends up with other "side" effects when expectations aren't met.

AlsDonkBoxSquat

as little bacteria as possible from the outside area gets in the catch.

This has got to be the quote of the day.

Hum, I wonder if this is how the ob's offices are making a couple of extra bones these days. You have to test the patients for various diseases and what not anyway, so I wonder if they've created a black market for that pee you leave in the little window and that's why they make you pee in a cup every single time you go for an appointment.