HCG Diet. Opinions? Facts to share?

i have a friend who lost 20 pounds on this diet in just 30days...the problem is that you HAVE to commit, no going back or cheating so make sure you would be ready for it. the only doubt of this diet though is will that weight really stay off...

I've heard of it and think it's a very stupid diet. One's body would be malnourished on only 500 cals a day. This diet only alows you to intake 500 cals a day. Your body needs minerals and vitamins every day. They claim that the fat stores in your body breaks down. Even though you use up your fat you still need daily minerals and nutrients. I don't think fat that you lose has the nutrients your body requires on a daily basis. Therefore starving and damaging the body. I wouldn't even consider going on this diet. My opinion. Just had to say. Honestly hope your friend doesn't go on it.

I don't like it, because I've seen what it's done to my friend.

Yes, he has lost 100 lbs, and "maintained" the loss of 80 lbs..... but by "maintained" I mean he will start gaining weight again just as quickly as he's lost it, and then do HCG again. Then gain it back immediately, then do HCG again. So he's yo-yo-ing with about 30 lbs over and over and over. He's been doing that for 2 years.

It hasn't taught him how to eat right... he still goes to Taco Bell, and downs a quesadilla, 2 tacos, 2 burritos, and a soda as a SNACK when he's not on his diet. I just am sad for him

I took the HCG drops and lost 30 pounds in 40 days. I know they work because I tried every other diet imaginable and couldn't lose a single pound. True - you have to be committed and follow the very strict eating rules which I was and did. But it helped me to not crave any kinds of food whatsoever and changed my way of thinking about nutrition and what my body needs to function properly.

I also have a friend that has lost 67 pds in 2 months. He not only has to take pills on a daily basis but he looks terrible! He has no energy and is very cranky. I think the best way to go is diet, exercise and of course calorie counting. By using thhe HCG method you are not learning how to manage your weight or learning how to eat right. You are only depending on the "pills" tp work for you so in the long run you are going to gain back what you lost and more!!

Consider this: If you (or your friend) is going to have the doctor inject the shots, they'll have to pay a copay every single time he/she goes to the doctor on top of the cost of the shot. He/she also will have to confined to a 500 calorie a day diet. I doubt your friend gained weight from eating a ton of fruit and veggies...which is exactly what he/she will wind up only eating in order to eat a lot of food for such little intake. It's a DIET. Diets fail and they teach you nothing. A diet is a quick fix and that's it. It angers me to see people being applauded for losing so much weight while on the HCG because they PAID for it, they didn't WORK for it and they don't deserve to lose any of the weight they did because of that! *Sigh* Rants over!

HCG is a money making scam. ANYONE can lose weight on 500 calories a day. That's just basic math.

Here's the warnings and studies on HCG:

warnings by the Journal of the American Medical Association and the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition that hCG is neither safe, nor effective as a weight-loss aid.

And:
Controversy about and shortages of injected hCG for weight loss have led to substantial internet promotion of "homeopathic hCG" for weight control. The ingredients in these products are often obscure, but if prepared from true hCG via homeopathic dilution, they contain either no hCG at all or only trace amounts. These preparations are generally advertised for oral use. Proponents of injected hCG for weight control have objected to homeopathic hCG as ineffective.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_chorionic_gonadotropin

http://www.webmd.com/diet/features/truth-about-hcg-for-weight-loss

http://www.dietscam.org/reports/hcg.shtml

Here's a review from Bariatric Health:

In 2009, the American Society of Bariatric Physicians issued a position statement which stated:

Numerous clinical trials have shown HCG to be ineffectual in producing weight loss. HCG
injections can induce a slight increase in muscle mass in androgen-deficient males. The diet used
in the Simeons method provides a lower protein intake than is advisable in view of current
knowledge and practice. There are few medical literature reports favorable to the Simeons
method; the overwhelming majority of medical reports are critical of it. Physicians employing
either the HCG or the diet recommended by Simeons may expose themselves to criticism from
other physicians, from insurers, or from government bodies [15].

Even this person in favor of HCG states:

ABSENCE OF SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH ON HOMEOPATHIC HCG

My favorite source of information on medical research is the PubMed database at the U.S. National Institutes of Health, which offers titles and abstracts from thousands of scientific journals. As of July 2009, a search for articles involving 'human chorionic gonadotropin' found 519 research articles on this topic. A co-search of this term with 'homeopathy' or 'homeopathic' yielded no articles at all.

This does not mean that no research has been done or is being done on homeopathic HCG. It just means that there are no studies that have been published for public examination. This is in spite of the fact that a handful of scientific journals are dedicated to homeopathic medicine. No homeopathic researcher has published a study on HCG.

If homeopathic HCG worked, believe me the drug companies would patent it.

HCG is a money making scam. ANYONE can lose weight on 500 calories a day. That's just basic math.

Here's the warnings and studies on HCG:

warnings by the Journal of the American Medical Association and the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition that hCG is neither safe, nor effective as a weight-loss aid.

And:
Controversy about and shortages of injected hCG for weight loss have led to substantial internet promotion of "homeopathic hCG" for weight control. The ingredients in these products are often obscure, but if prepared from true hCG via homeopathic dilution, they contain either no hCG at all or only trace amounts. These preparations are generally advertised for oral use. Proponents of injected hCG for weight control have objected to homeopathic hCG as ineffective.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_chorionic_gonadotropin

http://www.webmd.com/diet/features/truth-about-hcg-for-weight-loss

http://www.dietscam.org/reports/hcg.shtml

Here's a review from Bariatric Health:

In 2009, the American Society of Bariatric Physicians issued a position statement which stated:

Numerous clinical trials have shown HCG to be ineffectual in producing weight loss. HCG
injections can induce a slight increase in muscle mass in androgen-deficient males. The diet used
in the Simeons method provides a lower protein intake than is advisable in view of current
knowledge and practice. There are few medical literature reports favorable to the Simeons
method; the overwhelming majority of medical reports are critical of it. Physicians employing
either the HCG or the diet recommended by Simeons may expose themselves to criticism from
other physicians, from insurers, or from government bodies [15].

Even this person in favor of HCG states:

ABSENCE OF SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH ON HOMEOPATHIC HCG

My favorite source of information on medical research is the PubMed database at the U.S. National Institutes of Health, which offers titles and abstracts from thousands of scientific journals. As of July 2009, a search for articles involving 'human chorionic gonadotropin' found 519 research articles on this topic. A co-search of this term with 'homeopathy' or 'homeopathic' yielded no articles at all.

This does not mean that no research has been done or is being done on homeopathic HCG. It just means that there are no studies that have been published for public examination. This is in spite of the fact that a handful of scientific journals are dedicated to homeopathic medicine. No homeopathic researcher has published a study on HCG.

If homeopathic HCG worked, believe me the drug companies would patent it.

Also the fact that the FDA so calls "approves" the HCG is completely and utterly mind-boggling. I find it rather amusing which is why I don't really respect what they have to say or "approve" anymore. I'll stick with NIH studies and research and maybe a few other sources at best.

If the NIH says that HCG is completely fine then I'll be on board with it for HEALTH purposes, however it's still a lame crash diet that works temporarily while people gain all the weight back.

Amusing to say the least. This diet is a joke.

I recently just did the HCG diet and dropped 20 lbs in 28 days. Yes the diet is strict and if you don't follow it you wont lose the weight. Also if you go right back to eating the way you did before just like any diet you will gain the wieght back. I did the HCG diet because for over a year I worked out hard watched my calories and nothing changed!!! Witht eh HCG I was forced to get rid of all the processed sugar and also found out that there is a lot of hidden sugars in a lot of so called healthy food that we eat!!! DO not take the homeopathic drops as those are the ones that are a scam the ones I got were the real thing only cost me a little over 61 dollars and I never felt tiered or hungry. It all depeneds on the person also people react differently to the hormone nobody reacts the same way. I am now working on maintaining my weight loss by adding back in exercise and keeping sugar totally out of the picture. I might try adding in some carbs soon but it that throws me off then I will just take them back out. You can friend request me and I can give you the web site that I got my drops from if your friend wants to get the real things!!!
ANd for all you haters out there please don't bash something you your self haven't tried because even if you seen someone else do it and fail you weren't there 24 7 watching everything they did so you don't know if they ate the right things or not!!!!!

I found speed to be faster and more effective - and you don't have to worry about sticking to 500 calories a day because you don't care about eating at all.

LMAO! Yep nothing better than amphetamines to burn off calories!!!!!

I found speed to be faster and more effective - and you don't have to worry about sticking to 500 calories a day because you don't care about eating at all.

and your house gets cleaner!

You'll be cleaning up the piss around the toilet and not ingesting the piss from a pregnant lady.

I found speed to be faster and more effective - and you don't have to worry about sticking to 500 calories a day because you don't care about eating at all.

and you'll pick up some time on your mile run

You'll be challenging Formula-1 race cars in no time!

I recently just did the HCG diet and dropped 20 lbs in 28 days. Yes the diet is strict and if you don't follow it you wont lose the weight. Also if you go right back to eating the way you did before just like any diet you will gain the wieght back. I did the HCG diet because for over a year I worked out hard watched my calories and nothing changed!!! Witht eh HCG I was forced to get rid of all the processed sugar and also found out that there is a lot of hidden sugars in a lot of so called healthy food that we eat!!! DO not take the homeopathic drops as those are the ones that are a scam the ones I got were the real thing only cost me a little over 61 dollars and I never felt tiered or hungry. It all depeneds on the person also people react differently to the hormone nobody reacts the same way. I am now working on maintaining my weight loss by adding back in exercise and keeping sugar totally out of the picture. I might try adding in some carbs soon but it that throws me off then I will just take them back out. You can friend request me and I can give you the web site that I got my drops from if your friend wants to get the real things!!!
ANd for all you haters out there please don't bash something you your self haven't tried because even if you seen someone else do it and fail you weren't there 24 7 watching everything they did so you don't know if they ate the right things or not!!!!!

I bash it because of the scientific evidence from peer viewed studies that say it's not effective for weight loss. It worked for you because of the deficit and possibly because you could be carb/sugar sensitive. Sorry if that's the case, but to tout HCG being a legitimate way to lose weight is irresponsible on a public site where some people who are DESPERATE to lose will try just about anything to do it.
I posted the info because it's important to know what the real science is behind it.

And for those who say "it's a natural hormone"...................yeah for a pregnant female. If you're not pregnant then you're introducing a hormone into your body. That would be no different than using anabolic steroids. Also did you know that professional bodybuilders use HCG to restart their own natural testosterone production after having come off a cycle?

Stick to the facts. People lose weight on the 500 calorie restriction. It's not a healthy way to lose weight. There are several studies to prove this. How many are their for pro HCG? A grand total of 2 and one of them was by the inventor.

I found speed to be faster and more effective - and you don't have to worry about sticking to 500 calories a day because you don't care about eating at all.

Meth is good, too. No more pesky dental bills means even more meth money. PLUS IT IS ****ING AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!

Then you can grind up your teeth and smoke 'em. Or swap 'em out for another baggie of the good stuff.