Should You Avoid The HCG Diet?

California (I-Newswire) April 12, 2011 - The HCG diet has become quite popular and many people are getting results from following the diet plan. The concern by people in the medical industrty is whether or not the diet is safe. It is important to remember that altough the diet may work for losing weight it is not necessarily healthy.

According to Dr. Gott:

First, hCG (human chorionic gonadotropin) is an FDA-approved prescription-only drug for fertility. HCG is a hormone present in pregnant women’s urine and was first discovered in 1927. To this day, physicians look for this hormone to determine pregnancy. Levels peak at around 14 weeks’ gestation and then drop off for the remainder of the pregnancy.

It is known that hCG plays many roles, including guaranteeing that a developing fetus receives the calories and nutrients it needs to grow. It is able to do this by releasing fat from the hips, buttocks, abdomen and thighs to give the developing fetus the nutrients it needs.

In terms of the hCG diet, the dieter must find a physician willing to prescribe the medication. Next, following a 26- to 43-day cycle, the user must inject the medication once a day for 23 to 40 straight days, skipping the last three days of the cycle. Some physicians also prescribe appetite suppressants. This is because the daily caloric intake while using the drug for the purpose of weight loss is 500. That is one-quarter of the normal recommended daily caloric intake.

Following the cycle, the hCG must then be discontinued for at least six weeks because the body will develop temporary immunity. The process may then be started all over again, for a total of no more than four cycles, including breaks.

Now, to the reasons I oppose this diet. Any diet that restricts caloric intake to 500 calories a day is going to cause weight loss whether or not there is a medication or supplement involved. The reason for the weight loss is starvation. The body can survive on drastically reduced calories for a time, but it will lead to some serious complications.

Also, given that hCG is a naturally occurring pregnancy hormone, it can lead to symptoms of pregnancy, such as swollen, tender breasts and water retention. There are also reports of health problems resulting from the diet, including increased risk of blood clots, depression, restlessness and headaches.

Read more: askdrgottmd.com

Some people consider the HCG Diet a fad and should be avoided. Most fad diets are not long term fitness solutions becasue they cannot be followed indefinitely. It would make more sense to change lifestyle to match healthy living which would include exercise.

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