You'll lose weight twice as fast – but is it safe?
This low-calorie – 500 to 800 a day – diet plan involves injections of the pregnancy hormone 'Human Chorionic Gonadotrophin.' (HCG) The diet supposedly burns fat, maintains muscle, and limits hunger.
Dr. Zach LaBoube of Inside Out Wellness and Weight Loss says, the HCG diet trend originated in the 1930s; and was the brainchild of Dr. A. T. Simeon.
The hormone is produced in the placenta of pregnant women, providing a working calorie source for the baby. If HCG is supplemented, in low doses in the absence of pregnancy, a body can sustain itself with the stored body fat. As a result, dieters lose 20 to 30 pounds in 30 days.
While there may be some benefits to this low-calorie diet, it is pretty controversial. Jennipher Walters of Shape Magazine says that HCG is not Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved. Furthermore, its alarming low-calorie intake is about one-fourth of what nutritionists and dieticians recommend for a healthy, fit body.
There is no study or research that confirms that the HCG hormone will lead to a weight loss. Dr. Eric Wilson of UT Health speaks to ABC about some of the negative effects of the HCG diets, “This is a hormone that's been studied in the past — many, many years ago, and it didn't show any real results. And now it's being looked at all over again and we still don't have any strong results.”
Side effects aren't exactly appealing either: headache, fatigue, irritability, and breast enlargement in men.
Lastly, it should not be a considered a part of a permanent lifestyle change because it is impossible to have the diet without the regular HCG injections.
J.D. McGraw, who lost more than 30 pounds with the diet, tells ABC, “You've got to scratch the whole word diet. It's got to be a lifestyle change.” Once you are no longer using the diet, then it will have a reverse negative effect, and the weight will be gained back again.
"It's reckless, irresponsible, and completely irrational," Pieter Cohen, an assistant professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School, told U.S. News and World Report about the HCG diet. "Can you lose weight on it? Of course, but that's mainly because you're hardly consuming any calories. And any benefit is not going to last."
The diet is also costly: $100 cdn a week for the blood work, pharmaceutical visits, and HCG injections.
Would you consider the HCG diet? Leave your comments below!
Feature Image:usweekly
Image: skinnymom
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