hCG Diets: Weighing the Facts. We are often asked about hCG diets. There is much confusion about hCG, what it is, and whether it’s effective. We caution anyone considering hCG to fully understand the facts … and the risks.
The history of hCG
In the 1950’s, a British physician Albert Simeons proposed that a hormone found in the urine of pregnant women could help to bring about weight loss. He believed that an injection of this hormone could allow people to survive on 500 calories a day, burn stored fat, and reduce appetite. Human chorionic gonadotrophin (hCG) was tested extensively, but lost popularity until Kevin Trudeau wrote a book which advocated its use.
Studies and evidence
All studies on hCG seem to follow the same pattern. Those that test it alongside normal diets result in no effects, but those who follow Dr. Simeon’s plan to restrict calorie intake to around 500 calories per day result in weight loss. Of course, it is really no breakthrough to discover that starvation causes immediate weight loss. For some, a more bitter fact will be discovering that a large component of this starvation diet relies on starving the body of essential nutrition.
True hCG is only available by prescription in the United States, which clues us into something about all of the internet offers! The hCG you could get is a homeopathic preparation. Due to hCG being available only by prescription, the homeopathic preparations can contain no detectable amount of the substance whatsoever. Thus, homeopathic hCG drops contain either another unknown substance, or nothing at all.
Starvation can cause long-term damage to the body. It is seen as a result of both the homeopathic and the real hCG versions associated with a 500 calorie diet. Ironically, a body will react to this perceived emergency state by attempting to metabolize everything into fat cells, which will usually mean long term obesity problems.
Prescription hCG is only a FDA-approved fertility drug, and it is listed by the FDA as pregnancy category X. Any serious research will produce a long list of potential adverse reactions. Most medical doctors, even those who specialize in weight loss, will not advocate or prescribe hCG for these reasons. The list that we have provided is not complete, but it gives a glimpse into the reality of this supposed ‘miracle cure for obesity’.
Pharmaceutical hCG can be obtained through a weekly injection or in drops that are placed under the tongue. This is generally combined with a starvation diet of only 500 calorie per day to yield rapid weight loss. Unfortunately, hCG will mostly cause a loss of muscle tissues and organ tissues. A user of hCG will not be exercising and may even have trouble with routine walking with only 500 calories per day. The full effects are sometimes only felt years later, when permanent (sometimes catastrophic) damage has been done. Delayed discovery of such pharmaceutical side effects are often not properly attributed to their real cause, so it is difficult to know how much damage hCG does.
Known negative side effects of hCG
- Ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome (OHSS)
- Birth deformities, if taken during pregnancy
- Early puberty
- Prostate cancer
- Stomach pain
- Shortness of breath
- Weight gain
- Diarrhea Nausea and vomiting
- Headaches
- Depression
- Breast tenderness, swelling, and edema
Why you should be concerned about hCG
Our concern with the pharmaceutical is actually related to its efficacy. Starvation creates fat gain in the long term, since a body will begin defending itself by storing everything as fat, in its emergency famine mode. Toxic pharmaceuticals have the same fat producing effect, because a body will store unflushable toxins inside newly created fat cells to shield itself. It is easy to lose short term weight through poisoning, but this is hardly health wise. Instead, people should know that serious risks accompany this “wonder drug”, and it is not part of any legitimate alternative medicine. Its embrace by homeopaths seems to have created a deceptive tie between hCG and natural medicines, when no such association exists. This hormone is not safe for anyone other than those using it in an attempt at pregnancy, and it comes at a high price.
The Weightloss Clinics program
Our program is medically supervised, so we are able to combine certain elements with this program that some other weight loss programs cannot. The diet is the core of the program. It’s a low-calorie, low-carbohydrate diet, designed to target just fat loss. When your body breaks down fat to use for energy, it produces ketones. The ketones that are not used for energy are eliminated through your urine. Once we can detect the ketones spilled in your urine using the ketostix, you are in considered to be in “ketosis” or a fat-burning state. This is how we help ensure you are losing fat, not muscle. We also utilize vitamin and mineral based supplements, vitamin and mineral based injections, and prescription appetite suppressants (for those patients who need them). All of these components are designed to work together to control appetite and increase your metabolism so that the weight continues to come off consistently. Our highly trained medical professionals provide support and monitoring throughout your weight loss journey to ensure your overall health and long-term weight loss success.
Source: Sarah Corriher http://healthwyze.org/
