Losing Weight with the HCG Diet?

This is a very restrictive, 28 day diet that some people swear by. We haven’t done the due diligence yet to be able to tell you anything more than what’s below. Stay tuned and beware, it sounds a little kooky and doesn’t really gel when you think clearly about it.

The use of HCG in the treatment of obesity was first used by a British Physician, Dr. A. T. W. Simeons in 1950s. He devoted years to researching obesity and claimed that in addition to a specific diet, hCG could help safely speed up weight loss.

HCG is a natural human hormone, it stands for Human Chorionic Gonadotropin and comes from the placenta of pregnant women. HCG is actually excreted in the woman’s urine.

Overweight people deal with massive problems when dieting, intense, constant physical hunger; food cravings and uncontrollable urges to eat when not hungry, as well as low metabolism from starvation levels caloric numbers. The HCG treatment of Dr. Simeons claims to suppress feelings of hunger so you will feel satisfied with the very low calorie diet. The proponents of the diet claim that tens of thousands of people have used this treatment over the last 50 years and achieved fast and permanent weight loss.

How does HCG work?

Although we have yet to come across reliable data to prove the claims, the following was taken from a physician’s website that prescribes and promotes the use of HCG.

“HCG helps to burn the “problem fat” areas: that is the fat that is stored around the hips, thighs, belly and waist. It will however, leave the so-called “structural fat”(good fat found in the joints, muscles and fat protecting internal organs), untouched. That means that you can go on a low calorie diet and lose weight without the typical problems, such as muscle loss and sagging skin. There are also no headaches, hunger pains, weakness, or irritability as long as the low calorie diet is combined with HCG. By using HCG, the excess fat will disappear even faster and the problem areas will be dealt with more efficiently in addition to losing weight.”

What is homeopathic HCG ?

This form of HCG is a liquid sublingual form. The difference from the type that is swallowed is that sublingual HCG does not have to pass through the stomach to be absorbed into the body. It is absorbed in the mucosa under the tongue and goes directly into the bloodstream. There has not been a successful form of HCG in an oral (pill) form yet.

The Typical HCG Diet Program

HCG “treatment” consists of an extremely low calorie diet in combination with HCG hormone treatments. Usually the amount of calories allowed is limited to around 500 per day. During the  one month treatment you will take injections or a daily dose of sublingual HCG drops. The HCG is supposed to modify your eating behavior to the point where it will be more likely to maintain the diet. The diet is fat and carbohydrate free and has several odd restrictions to it that we have not investigated as of yet.

The proponents of the diet claim that the goals and objectives of this program include:
* Lose weight rapidly, but safely through this physician-monitored program Lose fat only and not lean muscle mass
* Keep the weight off (maintenance phase) by permanently resetting the metabolism

The claims about this diet seem a little far fetched in some areas but not altogether different than others we have seen. The 500 calorie diet alone will cause rapid and severe weight loss, and may not be healthy. But all severe diets will cause some muscle loss. It is the bold and unbelievable claim that the HCG diet allows people to lose only fat and no muscle that we will look into further in the next few weeks. Look for the next part of this article soon.