HCG Diet

[eits]

discuss...

 

[SearchMaster]

I'd never heard of it but it involves injecting a pregnant woman's hormones? Won't all the extra pickles and ice cream negate any weight loss?

I'm old fashioned but I believe in cutting your caloric intake so that you burn more calories than you take in.

 

[brikis98]

I hadn't heard of it until now, but a brief web search seems to indicate it is as much of a scam as every other "miracle" diet.

From HCG diet was largely discredited long ago

But when doctors and researchers began to rigorously compare the diet's key ingredient -- HCG injections -- to a placebo, or dummy injection, they failed to produce evidence that the hormone was anything special.

In 1959, researchers in Israel reported that they had placed 45 patients on Simeons' diet, giving half the patients HCG injections and the other half saline injections. The two groups both lost weight at the same rate -- and all 45 participants complained of being constipated, hungry or weak.

In the early 1960s, researchers at UC San Francisco and at a U.S. Army Hospital in Fort Carson, Colo., came up with the same results. All three studies were published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.

In the decades that followed, researchers continued to study the diet and to show that the hormone added little to the low-calorie regimen. In 1995, Dutch researchers reviewed the results of the 24 studies that had been conducted on the HCG diet.

Just 12 of them were well-designed, the scientists found; of those, 11 reported that HCG was ineffective in treating obesity. The Dutch team published its results in the British Journal of Clinical Pharmacology.

Injecting pregnant woman hormones so that you can eat an unsustainable and unhealthy 500 calorie per day diet? No thanks.

 

[prism]

I have seen 4 co-workers use this and I cannot deny the results they have seen. They have all been measured before and after starting the diet, and all 4 lost very little muscle mass. Whatever the shot does, it most definitely works to keep appetite low and burn fat.

I, however, refuse to inject myself with synthetic hormones. I firmly believe that there will inevitably be commercials announcing class-action lawsuits against practitioners issuing HCG to their patients for causing some sort of lasting, negative side effect.

 

[KoolDrew]

http://anthonycolpo.com/?p=203

A 1996 meta-analysis examining eight uncontrolled and 16 controlled clinical trials of HCG for weight loss concluded “there is no scientific evidence that HCG is effective in the treatment of obesity; it does not bring about weight-loss or fat-redistribution, nor does it reduce hunger or induce a feeling of well-being.

 

[surfsatwerk]

Seems like a good idea... if you were pinning some kind of aas at the same time. Otherwise you'd be a god damn fool for fucking with your endocrine system because your too lazy to lose weight by diet and exercise.

Edit: No clue how women work, so no comment.

 

[Lamont Burns]

Trying to compete with other chiropractors in the STL area offering it up? He and his wife tried it and neither lasted more than a week.

 

[eits]

Trying to compete with other chiropractors in the STL area offering it up? He and his wife tried it and neither lasted more than a week.

actually, when i made this thread, i was thinking about trying it. i did it and lost 20 lbs. i've kept it off since then. i only did it for about 20 days, though.

 

[eits]

Seems like a good idea... if you were pinning some kind of aas at the same time. Otherwise you'd be a god damn fool for fucking with your endocrine system because your too lazy to lose weight by diet and exercise.

Edit: No clue how women work, so no comment.

my gf did it with me... she did it for 20 days and lost 19 lbs of fat.

 

[Kipper]

The crux of the issue is this:
Do you believe that excess weight is a behavioral or biological problem? If you believe it is behavioral, then all the pills and injections won't do squat because they don't alter a behavior as primal as eating in any fundamental way.

If you believe that it's a biological problem, then the pills and injections should work. Permanently. My money's on behavior.

 

[Lamont Burns]

19 lbs of fat. OK. Body weight sure. Saying fat is farce.

I know of 3 chiropractors in the STL area offering this terrible "service" now. You could be number 4. How odd it's taking hold with your profession.

Makes me think chiros should stick to what they know. Not an offense to you, necessarily.

 

[eits]

The crux of the issue is this:
Do you believe that excess weight is a behavioral or biological problem? If you believe it is behavioral, then all the pills and injections won't do squat because they don't alter a behavior as primal as eating in any fundamental way.

If you believe that it's a biological problem, then the pills and injections should work. Permanently. My money's on behavior.

actually, what this diet has done for me is change my behavior. eating the way i used to eat makes me feel sick. it's trained me to be way more aware of how much food i eat and what kids of food i can eat.

 

[eits]

19 lbs of fat. OK. Body weight sure. Saying fat is farce.

I know of 3 chiropractors in the STL area offering this terrible "service" now. You could be number 4. How odd it's taking hold with your profession.

Makes me think chiros should stick to what they know. Not an offense to you, necessarily.

it actually was pretty much just body fat. i have a scale that calculates body fat and muscle mass. my muscle mass stayed relatively the same, while my body weight and fat decreased.

personally, i don't market the hcg thing for my practice for a various reasons... the biggest reason is that it's still too controversial for me to comfortably get most of my patients on it. i don't believe in homeopathy... i think homeopathy is bogus. i went into doing the hcg thing as a complete skeptic and figured it was all placebo. however, it worked for me. whether it was placebo or not, i'm a much healthier and happier person because of it.

 

[Kipper]

actually, what this diet has done for me is change my behavior. eating the way i used to eat makes me feel sick. it's trained me to be way more aware of how much food i eat and what kids of food i can eat.

Then the injections had nothing to do with it.

 

[brandonb]

My boss did this diet, he lost about 30 pounds on the 45 day plan. I think most of it was from only eating 500 calories a day. He did say the injections helped his hunger cravings. After 4 weeks he had to up the dosage of the injection to keep from becoming overly hungry. It seemed to work for him, but I think you can achieve the same results following the leptin diet.

 

[Kipper]

My boss did this diet, he lost about 30 pounds on the 45 day plan. I think most of it was from only eating 500 calories a day. He did say the injections helped his hunger cravings. After 4 weeks he had to up the dosage of the injection to keep from becoming overly hungry. It seemed to work for him, but I think you can achieve the same results following the leptin diet.

Did he keep the weight off?

 

[brandonb]

Hi, so far so good. He's only been off it a month-6 weeks. He was 265, went down to about 230-235ish, and he's lost 10 more pounds since then, he is about 220 now.

 

[Jeff7181]

I'm surprised nobody mentioned the price. Somewhere in the neighborhood of $600 for a month. My girlfriend is trying a less expensive version recommended by a car salesman who lost 60 pounds in 45 days. It's $20 for a 1 month supply, which makes me question whether it's actually hcg and/or how watered down it is.

Regardless... we're going to save more than $20 a month on groceries with her on this diet and there doesn't seem to be any severe risks so... why not? She's into it.

 

[eits]

it's bunk. don't do it. tell her to cut out all sugars and grains and to start doing heavy lifting or bootcamp workouts. she'll slim down quick.

 

[Jeff7181]

it's bunk. don't do it. tell her to cut out all sugars and grains and to start doing heavy lifting or bootcamp workouts. she'll slim down quick.

I've tried... she has a gym membership... we went gluten & dairy free for a couple weeks to rule out intolerance as an explanation of her health issues... she's excited about trying this and as long as the HCG doesn't harm her (which from what I've read, it won't) and the huge caloric deficiency doesn't harm her I'm going to support her. After reading 30 pages of stuff about it from a health food store, 90% of the diet is "only put natural things in your body" and I'm all about that (even though I don't practice that methodology very well).

 

[eits]

I've tried... she has a gym membership... we went gluten & dairy free for a couple weeks to rule out intolerance as an explanation of her health issues... she's excited about trying this and as long as the HCG doesn't harm her (which from what I've read, it won't) and the huge caloric deficiency doesn't harm her I'm going to support her. After reading 30 pages of stuff about it from a health food store, 90% of the diet is "only put natural things in your body" and I'm all about that (even though I don't practice that methodology very well).

as long as she doesn't have a gall bladder issue or a heart condition, if it's an absolute last resort, i guess go for it. but, seriously, i'd even rather her do medifast than hcg... maybe look for a 'take shape for life' coach.

what city do you live in in michigan? i'll try and see if i have any friends i trust up there for your wife i can refer you to.

 

[Jeff7181]

as long as she doesn't have a gall bladder issue or a heart condition, if it's an absolute last resort, i guess go for it. but, seriously, i'd even rather her do medifast than hcg... maybe look for a 'take shape for life' coach.

what city do you live in in michigan? i'll try and see if i have any friends i trust up there for your wife i can refer you to.

Westland. It's near Plymouth, Canton, Livonia, Garden City.