As some of you may remember, a few months ago I posted an article about the HCG diet. I ended the article with this quote by Dr. John Schwartzberg, chair of the editorial board of the University of California Berkeley Wellness Letter, “ the HCG diet is complete quackery”. With its renewed popularity, however, I continue to get a lot of questions about it so I thought it was time for an update.
The FDA has gotten involved, saying that the diet goes beyond quackery and is potentially dangerous. HCG, a hormone that is produced by the placenta during pregnancy, has been touted to help people lose a lot of weight rapidly, but it is used along with an extremely low 500 calorie diet .While the promoters of the diet suggest that the weight loss experienced is the result of the HCG, Elizabeth Miller, acting director of the FDA’s Division of Non Prescription Drugs and Health Fraud, says “the date simply doesn’t support this; any loss is from severe caloric restriction, not the HCG.” Shirley Blake, nutritionist at the FDA’s Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition says that such restrictive diets “can be dangerous, and potentially fatal.”
While there are many HCG products on the market for weight control, none have been approved by the FDA, so the sale those products in stores or online is illegal.
Watch the video below for more on the FDA’s position concerning HCG products.
I commented on a story on USA Today about this and saying the same that it is the caloric deficit causing the weight loss. Multiple people commented back suggesting that this was the 'First time I did not have cravings'. Do any of the stories address this with HCG? I still think it is junk but am curious if they have studied that at all for truth.
ReplyDeleteBob
ReplyDeleteThank you for addressing HCG. I have many clients who have tried it lost weight only to find it again plus a few more pounds. Each of my post HCG clients dealt with side effects such as thinning hair and their menstrual cycle returning. I think the lack of cravings is the result of not consuming sugar on those 500 calories. I am just glad that I didn't know about HCG until after I had released weight at h3 because I know I would have been riding on that bandwagon!
Maureen
ReplyDeleteThanks for your comment. With it being so low in calories, it is not surprising that your clients that have tried the HCG diet experienced negative side effects.