HCG

So, here’s the bottom line on this “hCG Diet“.

Human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) is a hormone approved by the FDA for use in pre-pubertal boys to help aid normal sexual development, and in women to treat fertility problems. hCG is produced by the placenta and is also found in pregnant women’s urine. It is not approved for weight loss and has never been proven by credible peer reviewed science to cause weight loss. So how did hCG surface as a weight loss solution?

Back in the 1930’s, a physician named A.T.W. Simeons was using hCG for the standard reproductive medical conditions for which it was approved. He observed that some of his patients dropped weight while on the hCG injections. Thinking that perhaps the hCG was the cause, he administered the injections along with a dietary plan to overweight patients and noted weight loss. Please note that subsequent researchers repeated his clinical study and were never able to replicate any association between hCG and weight loss.

Since then, most independent, peer-reviewed studies have shown no difference in weight loss between subjects on a low-calorie diet who received hCG injections and subjects who received a placebo. In 1975, the FDA noted that hCG is not a weight loss drug. In 1995, the British Journal of Clinical Pharmacology published a summary of research showing no hCG related weight loss association. The American Society of Bariatric Physicians does not recommend hCG for weight loss as noted in a December 2009 position paper.

Flash forward to 2007 when Kevin Trudeau published his book “The Weight Loss Cure ‘They’ Don’t Want You to Know About“, in which he concocted a weight loss plan which included hCG injections. Trudeau has no professional training in medicine, health or science. He is widely known as a controversial businessman who has tangled with the law regarding false health claims related to his books and products. You’d think that common sense would dictate running the other way when this guy hawks anything. But, people are desperate and when they are promised rapid weight loss and an end to their misery, they’ll often line up to sign up.

What is involved with the hCG “diet”:

1) Daily injections of hCG, with online prices ranging from $30 to more than $600 for a month’s supply. One side effect is pregnancy, as hCG increases fertility among women.

2) 500 calories per day of highly restrictive food intake, including coconut oil. One tablespoon of coconut oil contains 13.6 g total fats, 11.8 g of which are artery clogging saturated fats, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture National Nutrient Database for Standard Reference.

3) A range of body “flush and detox” regimens. Here’s my quote from a prior WebMD interview about this regimen. “All the flushes and cleanses are pure nonsense, unnecessary, and there is no scientific basis for these recommendations,” says nutrition and metabolism expert Pamela Peeke, MD, chief medical correspondent for Discovery Health channel. “Your body is well equipped with organs, such as the liver and kidneys, and the immune system, to rid itself of potential toxins and do an excellent job of cleansing itself without needing flushes or cleanses.“

Here are other concerns related to this “diet”:

1) You’re starving yourself. Your brain alone requires 600 calories per day to function optimally. By consuming only 500 calories per day, of course you’ll drop weight. But at what price? You’re cannibalizing your muscle mass, reducing your metabolism and consequently the effectiveness of your calorie burning. If I had you consume only 500 calories per day and then injected you with water, should I now call this the amazing water cure for weight loss? hCG has nothing to do with your weight loss. Starvation does.

2) It’s impossible to do. So you blame yourself (and not the author) when you cannot complete his plan. This is a core element of the scam. People who are overweight already feel guilty and are often filled with shame. After having laid down a lot of cash and not being able to successfully comply for a month or more, they figure “Oh well, just another diet I’ve failed at”.

3) It is unsustainable. This regimen is almost impossible to adhere to for more than a very short period of time. There are no healthy eating or physical activity behaviors to learn. Eventually you would have to enter the real world. And then, what do you do?

4) It’s unsafe. You cannot meet your baseline survival nutritional requirements on a starvation plan. You can seriously alter your healthy intestinal bacterial flora with repeated “cleanses and detox” regimens. This can lead to altered bowel function and inability to appropriately absorb food nutrients, which can then impair immune function.

Further, many of you have a lot of weight to remove. You may also have associated medical problems, including high blood pressure, elevated cholesterol and high blood sugar levels. You could also be on medications to treat these as well as mental conditions like depression and anxiety. When people buy into a diet scam like hCG, they usually don’t tell their medical team. Rapid weight loss, radically altered food consumption, cleanses and detox regimens can seriously affect your underlying mental and physical conditions and alter the clearance and blood level of medications you’re taking.

Don’t turn yourself into a science fair project. Beware of these radical scam approaches as they can deleteriously affect your health and wellbeing. In the best of all worlds, you’re working with credible health professionals to remove your excess weight.

5) You’re not breaking food addictions. The promise is that you’ll no longer be addicted to food and any abnormal eating behaviors. Credible research has clearly shown that starvation and useless injections are not the solution to food addictions. Behavioral modification, healthy eating practices and regular physical activity have clearly been shown to control food addictions.

6) You’re broke. Take a moment and add up the total costs of the books and products required. That’s why I’ve renamed this “diet” the High Cost Game scam.

Finally, there will always be an endless supply of frauds and scams created to prey on your desires to drop weight. To help guide you, here are the Food and Nutrition Science Alliances’ “Ten Red Flags of Junk Science“:

* Recommendations that promise a quick fix.
* Dire warnings of danger from a single product or regimen.
* Claims that sound too good to be true.
* Simplistic conclusions drawn from a complex scientific study.
* Recommendations based on a single study.
* Dramatic statements that are refuted by reputable scientific organizations.
* Lists of “good” and “bad” foods.
* Recommendations made to help sell a product.
* Recommendations based on studies published without peer review.
* Recommendations from studies that ignore difficulties among individuals or groups.

Always remember that if it sounds too good to be true, it is. Anything worth doing in your life requires time and effort to achieve and succeed. Run from false promises like the hCG scam. Stick with life-giving whole foods and physical activity. Now, that’s better living through your own chemistry.

http://blogs.webmd.com/pamela-peeke-md/2010/12/diet-scam-101-the-hcg-con.html

Don't let this post by MrsCon40 be your only investigation of HCG. Is it for everyone - NO. But I refuse to call it a scam. Let me elaborate.

I am a male, in my mid 30's who was 355 pounds... in June, of this year. I am down to 295 after going through 1 round of HCG where I dropped 50 pounds and 1 Maintenance phase where I dropped another 10 lbs. I am beginning my 2nd Round of HCG this week.

Let me begin with what I agree with... It is expensive. Absolutely. No doubt. It is very expensive. Can it be hard to accomplish? Yes - it takes discipline... (by the way, every program takes discipline.)

Now, let me share some specifics...
I feel I have learned a lot during the 3 months I have been following the HCG plan. I don't mind referring to it as an experiment, because I have tried and failed at so many programs, that each endeavor was ultimately an experiment. In fact, I've observed a few interesting details during the experiment that lead me to believe there is more to the HCG's effects than just the placebo effect. Yes, I lost weight... but what was amazing to me were the numbers we recorded for my lean muscle mass. Without working out, and while maintaining a diet of about 500 - 600 calories per day - I gained 2.5 lbs of muscle. That goes against conventional wisdom. Since stopping the HCG 6 weeks ago, I lost an additional 10 lbs while maintaining approximately a 2400 calories per day diet... and I lost .5 lbs muscle ... and I had increased my exercise and workout routine.

Before the HCG, my testosterone levels were extremely low. After the first round, but also after being off the HCG for 1 week, we retested and found that my testosterone was raised to the low end of normal range. During this next round, I am going to be retested in a few weeks while on the HCG to confirm that there is a direct correlation to my Testosterone levels while I am on the HCG. This would also support the fact that I experienced the muscle gains while on HCG during the first round.

People who are opponents of the HCG diet, tend to argue the "placebo effect" when it comes to the use of HCG and people not being hungry while on the diet. I cannot argue this point because hunger is a subjective measurement. However, if examined next to the information above, one cannot conclude that the placebo effect is in play and that there must be something else, physiologically, that is responsible for the muscle growth while losing significant weight on a VLC diet.

So... here are my comments addressing "What is involved with the hCG “diet""

1 - Yes the injections are expensive. By the way Injections, in my opinion (as well as my Doctor's), are the only way to go. The drops, are not regulated and according to my doctor, cannot survive the PH of your stomach and the effect is diminished. I use the pharmaceutical grade injections.

2 - Yes, it was recommended that I follow a 500 calorie per day diet that is restricted. I am not mandated to use coconut oil, even though I would. And many days I reach 600 - 700 calories. Yes this is against the doctors plan, but I listen to my body and adjust for success.

3 - I was not mandated to follow any detox regiments. Although I am not opposed either

My comments regarding "Here are other concerns related to this “diet”

1 - It is NOT a starvation diet. One must understand the roll of HCG and how it works to know that it releases fat stores naturally to protect you from going into starvation mode.

2 - It's impossible to do. Sweet - I've done the impossible and lost 60 pounds in 3 months while ADDING 3 pounds of muscle.

3 - She calls it unsustainable. What does that mean? How long does she want to define as sustainable? I did it for 42 days. I sustained just fine.

4 - see my reply under number 1 above and I'll reiterate my experience in not being required to do detox regiments. Furthermore, I had depression, anxiety and High Blood Pressure... NOT ANYMORE.

5 - no, you're not breaking your food addictions... but who says food addictions is the reason you're overweight? Nice assumption. One might need to address this if they are addicted to food.

6 - You're broke. Really - that is your argument. Have you tried buying good clean food at Whole Paycheck... I mean Whole Foods lately? Yes - We are all broke these days. But don't blame that on the HCG.

I'll end by saying that I entered into this "science experiment" with my doctor only with his understanding that if I was not comfortable with the plan at any time, I could stop. I went in very concerned and hesitant because, like you, I have read a lot of negative about the HCG plan.

It worked for me. But everyone is different. It did not work for my wife and she stopped 2 weeks in. But I went on to lose a bunch of weight.

At the end of the day - what is worse? Being extraordinarily overweight... or taking a chance on something that might work for you and change your life? I made my choice. Good luck with your decision.

HCG plays on our desperation.



Listen you don't need to starve yourself to lose weight, and to the guy who gained "muscle" while starving and not working out, I call Bull *kitten*.

HCG is a great way to lose weight and end up with a messed up metabolism and at the best be "skinny-fat"