Aug
25
The HCG Diet, Yet Another Fad Diet
Filed Under Editorial, Review, Weight Loss
A reader sent me a note over the weekend asking me what I thought of the HCG diet. To be honest, I never even heard of it, but hey, I’m always open to learning about new things. So I turned to my trust search engine (hi Google!) and started researching. Here’s what I came up with.
What Is It?
HCG is a diet regimen in which you limit your daily calorie intake to less than 500 calories a day. At the same time, you inject yourself with HCG, Human Chorionic Gonadotropin, a hormone found in the placenta of pregnant women.
Does It Work?
Assuming you’re still curious after hearing that you’ll have to inject yourself daily with hormones from the a human placenta, then yes, this diet works. Dah! OF COURSE it works. YOU’RE EATING 500 CALORIES A DAY! Heck, at 500 calories a day anyone would lose weight and the injections have nothing to do with it. You can inject me every hour with hormones from the testicles of a rabid hyena and I’m still relatively sure I would lose weight on a diet of 500 calories a day. It’s not magic folks, it’s simply starving yourself, and the hormone injections are just pseudo science intended to fool you.
Do I Recommend It?
In case that last sentence didn’t get the point across. NO. NO WAY. NOT A CHANCE. NO CHANCE IN HELL. This diet is crap. You’re starving yourself plus you’re injecting yourself with something that has no basis in science. If you want to starve yourself, be my guest, but don’t fool yourself into thinking it’s healthy just because some one put scientific sounding words in the description.
Seriously
- The diet claims you will lose .5 to 3lbs A DAY. Even if you starve yourself you won’t lose this much. 3lbs lost a day means you burned 9000 more calories than you took in. Unless you’re Michael Phelps, your metabolism just doesn’t work that way. Anyone promising you more than 1 to 2 lbs lost in a week is either a quack or a liar, or both.
- Speaking of liars and quacks, let’s do some research. The guy who’s selling this diet, Kevin Trudeau, was busted multiple times already. Once by the FTC for claiming his calcium supplement cured cancer and another time by the FTC because Trudeau “has misled thousands of consumers” about his weight loss plans. This is the guy you want to buy hormone shots from? I’d rather take stock tips from my 6 month old nephew.
- While we’re on the subject of nutrition, the American Journal of clinical nutrition already looked into HCG and guess what they found? It’s useless. That was back in the 70’s, but hey, I guess everything old is new again at some point.
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Repeat after me, there are NO quick fixes. There are no easy cures for extra weight. There are no magic weight loss plans, no magic pills, no wonder drugs. You want to be fit and healthy? Eat healthy, be active and exercise. It’s that simple.
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Comments
23 Responses to “The HCG Diet, Yet Another Fad Diet”
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Ha ha - enjoyed this one. As a matter of fact I was thinking of marketing essence of rabid hyena testicles as a slimming aid myself. I will theorise in my DVD that drinking the mixture under a full moon will synergise the body’s natural biorythms to the moon’s magnetic field, thus causing greater cellular activity, a higher matabolism and thus more weight loss.
I’m getting really sick of all of these fad diets. How hard is it to exercisde regularly and eat six small meals per day? Maybe it sounds easier than it is
Sadly, these sorts of diets appeal to people like me, mostly because I want to see immediate results. I’ve been working out and eating right, but it’s difficult for me to stay motivated when I don’t see or feel a difference. I often quit (come up with excuses to skip a day, then two, then stop) after about 2 or 3 weeks. But this time, I have a supportive fiance, read this blog regularly, and have a concrete fitness goal to work toward. Thank goodness a thin wallet and logical sense keep me away from these fake fixes.
Hey Jenn,
Thank you, it’s been a long and hard day at work for me and your comment really cheered me up. I’m glad that I’m able to help keep you motivated because in the end, motivation is the key. We all know what we need to do, it’s just hard to keep motivated day after day when the results are sometimes a bit slow.
Gal
Actually I lost 70 lbs in 5 months on this “diet”. I dont care how it works but it does. It makes you burn an additional 1000 calories per day and if you work out (which I did everyday) you lose more weight in a shorter amount of time. Last week i lost 10 pounds. If someone really wants to lose weight and has a strong will power to do so , this works 100% I had nothing to lose but the weight.
( and $$ but it was worth it)
Artie,
I said the diet “worked” and I have no doubt you’ll lose weight if you try it. However, it’s not because of the diet or the shots. It’s because you’re starving yourself, and yes, if you add exercise, you’ll lose weight faster.
It’s just not a healthy way to lose weight.
Gal
I just posted a comment on another website about this “diet”. I said has anyone accepted the fact that unless HcG is occurring naturally in your body (ie> you’re pregnant) than you SHOULDN’T be taking it?? I’ve been pregnant twice and I think that fooling your body by putting HcG into your body (that isn’t naturally going on because you’re pregnant) is damaging and could possibly have long-term affects. What if you’ve never been pregnant before and when you go to try you cannot produce your own HcG and therefore you cannot get pregnant.
Of course lets say that there is no bearing there, and that I’m totally wrong and false. Is being on a diet where you are not consuming a healthy balanced diet of enough fruits and vegetables a day, and consuming so much meat (that also contains hormones and antibiotics) that it also throws off your bodys’ metabolism to not know how to metabolize a normal diet. Your body will dip into your stored fat for sure, but how does that affect your metabolism for the rest of your life?
Now lets ask - Would you therefore stay on this diet for the rest of your life, or just until you’ve eaten only 500 calories a day to get down to your “ideal weight”… Taking the HcG is a crutch, you have not changed your way of life through a normal pill-less world with healthy BALANCED eating and exercise - what makes you think that you would be able to magically pick it up and adapt that way of life when you never could before?
I’m sorry but I am not a believer; my mother in law and her daughter are both on this and are still hungry after 2 weeks. Perhaps there are more possibilities for every excuse to go on fad diets; if someone cannot seem to manage their impulses, perhaps getting to the source or root (emotional) of those issues is more important than using a crutch.
This diet DOES indeed work, and it IS different from other fad diets. If you want to know why, you can read Dr. Simeon’s manuscript “Pounds and Inches”, which is available free to download on several sites. It isn’t just the reduction in calories that causes the weight loss. It is the hcg itself that blunts hunger, and causes your body to burn calories differently. As for it being dangerous. The amount that you take is very minute as compared to the amount a woman has in her system when pregnant. HCG also acts more like a protein in the body than a hormone, which is why it is not feminizing for men to take. As for injections, that is not the only way to take hcg for weight loss. You can use a sublingual form of 333iu mixed with colloidal silver and liquid b-12, taking a 1/2 ml morning and night. That is a much easier way to administer the drug yourself, and it is much less expensive than going to a clinic. I have lost over 70 pounds and I have tried EVERYTHING ELSE! As for the two women who were hungy after 2 weeks, it could be that they did not follow the diet to the letter, or their hcg had lost it’s potency. You can check your hcg potency by purchasing an inexpensive pregnancy test and seeing if it still reacts. This is another reason to mix it yourself and not rely on a clinic supplying the hcg pre-mixed to you. You can make sure you are mixing it fresh and refrigerating it. I think before you make up your mind about this diet, you should read the original manuscript. It is not the same as a starvation diet, I have been on enough of those, I know… With this I have lost over 70 pounds so far in a very short amount of time. I have not been able to exercise due to a knee injury, so it was important to get this weight off. I am very glad I found this diet, I feel I finally have a solution to my weight problem.
I love this article, especially the fact you posted the literature ref. There is not much in the literature featuring this diet and I think most of it is a scam. The good old Dr.’s research was good, I do not think he is a scam artist, but the other people like Kevin are. I think when people go on it there also losing a lot of water weight and they are craping out a lot of waste since they are only eating 500 Cal. The argument about the different types of fat is his hypothesis, not proven. If you starve yourself like this you will lose all of that unwanted fat. People who starve themselves tend to look unhealthy and just loose muscle b/c they are not eating at all or they just have food w/ out any nutritional value. This 500 Cal diet he has proposed works well b/c the food you eat is nutritious-not b/c of the HcG. But if you think the HcG does help-go for it.
@G: some people have a bad ideea about exercising. they had bad experiences maybe that’s why they are a bit affraid to do anything… i know such cases myself and it’s really unfortunate, because they are missing on a lot.
Sure you-know-all, of course on a 500 cal/day you will lose weight, but who can do it? Of course if I run 50 km/day I cal ALSO lose weight, but… can you do it? A 500 cal/day diet is impossible to do (plus excercises). HCG shots frees fat into your bloodstream and you see weight shedding incredibly fast. I bet that those -ion this column- who advocate “six small meals per day and excercise” are not fat at all. I am tired of those skinny and muscled guys who want to give us advices… It’s like I -a man- trying to tell my wife how to feel now she’s pregnant.
Hello Alejandro,
Yes, I’m in good shape today but that wasn’t always the case. I was about 100lbs too heavy and completely out of shape a few years ago. I had tried many different diets and none of them worked, so I understand the frustration you’re feeling.
However, I just don’t believe that diets like these are the answer. They’re scams, intended to rip you off and they are often very unhealthy.
If you want to lose weight and be fit then the answer is eat healthier (and you can do that while eating 2 or 3 times a day, you don’t need to go for 6), be physically active and exercise. I’m sorry, but there is no other solution than that.
Gal
I have been on this diet for a week and have lost weight. I have PCOS and also gained 50lb with my pregnancy. Before going on this diet, I ate a healthy diet and jogged 4 miles a day 5 days a week without any results. I did this for a year and in a year lost maybe 8lbs from eating healthy and exercise.
Since I have started the injection for a week I have lost 8lbs. The injection makes it easy for me to resist the cravings I have and suppresses my hunger. I haven’t increase my workout and yes I eat less then before the plan. I plan to stay on this diet for 3 more weeks.
Hello Jessica,
A couple of things. You say you gained weight with your pregnancy, which is perfectly normal. why then do you think that a diet that relies on starvation level calorie restrictions and a hormone derived from pregnant women will work?
Also, you say you will stay on this diet for three more weeks. What do you think will happen when you stop living according to this diet? My guess is the weight will come right back.
I apologize, I don’t mean to sound rude or offend you. I am genuinely worried about people who will spend money and time on this diet and only end up hurting themselves. 8lbs a week is NOT healthy weight loss…
Gal
I think people forget that Nutrition is a science and science has been known to be wrong as well, science does not always apply to every one. Before you judge someone take into consideration that their body may not be responding to traditional old fashioned weight-loss methods. I agree the diet is extreme, severe, all those words but it has to better than surgery and we have a serious obesity problem in our country. The diet is not a fad, just because you have heard of it before. It has been around for 60+ years and counting. The facts are the same, it works IF you can stick to it and it seems people are and they can. If it seems wrong to you then don’t do it but if it works for someone else, why do you even care? Just remember every one is different, try not to be so judgmental.
Hello Amy,
If you can stick to this diet then you’re starving yourself, plain and simple. Hormones or not, the human body was not meant to live on 600 calories a day. And if you can’t stick to the diet then it’s meaningless. So even if I ignore the hormones, this diet basically comes down to either starving yourself for the rest of your life or giving up and gaining the weight back. Doesn’t sound like much of an option.
If you can stick to a 600 calorie a day diet then you can also stick to a much healthier lifestyle with a normal amount of calories and a good dose of exercise. It may not be as quick as starvation but it’s far healthier.
And I write these posts because I do care. Because I’m tired of seeing desperate people get robbed of their money by snake oil salesmen.
Gal
I just stumbled upon this site and read everybody’s opinions. Although I respect your opinions, I have to say that you arent starving yourself with the 500 cal diet because the hcg is actually processing about 2000 cal of that individuals stored fat, hence the ability to follow the low cal diet without feeling week and tired. I understand that this diet is questionable because it isnt FDA approved but a lot of diets on the market arent. I also have read Dr. Simeon’s Pounds and Inches and it seemed very logical to me. I think the diet hasnt been too popular because the diet industry doesnt want people to lose weight. A billion dollar industry would suffer for sure! This diet is for people who try and try to lose but thier metabolism is non existent either due to dieting too much or other reasons. I dont feel there is anything wrong with it. It is a hormone that is naturally made by pregnant women. No woman could carry a fetus to term without it because her blood needs to be constantly saturated with nutrients and no human woman could consume enough food to ensure that. That is where the hcg comes in. It draws from the stored fat in your body to add to what you already eat during the day and night. How can you say your starving yourself and sure you are gonna lose weight if you only eat 500 cal a day? If you ate regularly (healthy) and took the hcg you would gain weight because it still is going to draw from you fat stores just like its suppose to. Thats what its for! Like I said, everybody has an opinion and that is fine, but dont poo poo something just because. Get all the facts first. I thought the same way until I really started reading up on it.
I just wanted to also say that I am very active, I know what a healthy diet is and I also know how many calories my body needs everyday to keep my weight where it should be. A long while ago I did not and was stupid enough to fall for all those “fad” diets and it ended up screwing up my metabolism, so no matter what I did, no matter how healthy I would eat, or how much fitness I incorporated into my life my body would not respond. So I am trying the hcg diet and have been on it since Sat 11/1 and am happy to say that I have lost 8 lbs so far. I do not feel weak nor do I feel starved. The only thing is that I miss tasting fat and starches. Once I lose the weight I will resume my healthy way of eating and believe I will do just fine. My metabolism will have been corrected and I now have control over my portions. No it is not easy but it does work. If I only fed my body 500 calories a day then I would eventually pass out at some point but that doesnt happen because of the hcg feeding my body. And I am losing fat, not water. Thank God someone like Dr. Simeon cared enough about the obese and any others struggling with their weight to research this and find something that really does work and has the data to explain it and why it works.
@Michelle
A couple of things:
1. Your body would dip into fat reserves regardless of the HCG. That’s what the body does when it’s starving. In fact, that’s the whole point of fat, to provide us with reserves for when there is not enough food. However, what you’re doing is dipping into these reserves in a way that is not conducive to a healthy lifestyle. Starving yourself lowers your metabolism and forces the body to consume less. You could get much better results with less drastic changes.
2. In your second comment you say “Once I lose the weight I will resume my healthy way of eating and believe I will do just fine.” This is incorrect. Once you stop this diet, one of two things will happen. Either you will go back to eating the way you did before, in which case the weight will come back. Or you will eat in a healthy manner which will maintain your current weight. If you’re planning to go with the second option, why bother with this extreme diet at all? Just eat in a healthy manner designed to support your target weight and eventually you’ll get there, with no need for starvation diets or hormone shots.
Gal
eventually isnt quick enough with a non-existent metabolism. a couple of years ago I was in optimal health and doing great at my ideal weight. Then I became a stay at home mom and gained 30 lbs. Well I decided to go back to work and to resume my healthy way of life. Low and behold, nothing I did worked. I just couldnt eat healthy enough, couldnt work out enough. It was more than depressing. My whole moral was just crap. So I decided to give myself a jump start after reading about the hcg diet. Because it makes you lose so fast I felt it was just what I needed to see SOME KIND OF RESULT then go back to my healthy way of eating as I did before. I realize that what I am doing is not natural nor is 500 calories barely enough to live on but its my own personal quest and feel empowered just to be able to withstand the lcd. I am somewhat of a vain person when it comes to what I look like and need to see some fast results this time to get me pumped up and ready to enjoy my healthy way of living. Before, a week ago, I was miserable. Now, I have hope.
anybody who says the hcg protocol is a fad diet and doesnt work… stay fat then stay forking your money over to these so called diet programs (weightwatchers, nutrisystem, 3 hour diet, etc etc)
this protocol cures the problem it doesnt temporaly treat it…. do your research you brainwashed morons….
PrImO
Actually it works. My mom did it and has lost (and KEPT off because her hypothalamus has been reset). Like previously said, it cures the problem, not treats it. When you eat just 500 calories a day without HcG, your body loses weight by burning/eating its muscle or shedding water weight. When you eat 500 calories a day with HcG, your body metabolizes the HcG which aids in burning fat instead of muscle. Not to mention, people who are overweight have extra calories FROM FAT, so a starvation diet doesn’t work because it doesn’t burn the fat (unless you stay on it for an extremely long time…then after all of the muscle, it will eventually start living off of fat). Anyway, I’ve watched my mom struggle for years. She could lose weight but couldn’t keep it off..she’s kept it off for a while now…47 pounds OF FAT.
Now the exception to this is me because apparently my body just really enjoys being fat and even this miracle diet didn’t work. (Anorexia didn’t work too well either). I’m just immune to weight loss. But everyone else who’s tried it has had success and I’m giving it another week or two in hopes of not being the ONLY person to not have had success since the PROGRAM was discovered in the late 40’s/early 50’s.
And to Jamie: If you’re doing this program through a well respected doctor (and not off the internet, no wonder it has a bad rep!!!) the food is ORGANIC…i.e. NO HORMONES or ANTIBIOTICS. It’s not a crutch when you have tried EVERYTHING (including starvation diets.) That’s usually just a projection by skinny people with fast metabolisms who have NO idea. And if you’re not skinny or haven’t always been skinny but lost the weight, perhaps your hereditary obesity (if it exists) isn’t as intense as some others. I was in freaking BOOTCAMP for the MILITARY…the UNITED STATES army forbidden from all sweets and sodas and DIDNT lose an INCH, not a POUND. I’ve already explained the difference between this and starvation diet and yes, the only lie is that you’re hungry. I’m very hungry right now. I could eat my left arm….but that’s per person. My mom was hungry too. You go from 2500 to 500 calories…most people are hungry because they don’t eat the 2500 calories they’re supposed to…I thought Thanksgiving covered that, but apparently I was wrong. But you have to understand that if I (or anyone else) who follows this program religiously is unsuccessful…that we’d be the first people to not have success….SINCE THE DIET STARTED. I’ve been trying to find people who haven’t had success on the internet for TWO days and have yet to do so. I mean, I’m a little discouraged because my body’s stubborn (wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t), but that says a lot about it no?