HCG Diet Dangers – Fact and Fiction

HCG Diet Dangers – Separating Fact from Fiction by Dr. John Cassone. It’s interesting how something as basic as how to eat has become so misunderstood. As a doctor of nutrition with more than two decades of experience, I can tell you that the HCG Diet is based on false claims and erroneous biological concepts. Many people, however, seem to be getting results. In my professional opinion, this diet is very misleading – HCG diet dangers are real. The goal of this article is to help you separate fact from fiction so that you can make better decisions about weight loss strategies.

The basic premise of the diet is to inject HCG (human chorionic gonadotropin), which comes from a pregnant woman’s urine, while eating only 500 calories a day. The calories are divided into two meals which are strictly measured. Supposedly you trick the body into burning secret nutrient-rich fat stores. The information comes from a deceased European celebrity doctor who made his theory from watching starving pregnant African woman who still needed to provide nutrition for their babies. The concept is so outrageous and physiologically inaccurate that it is actually quite entertaining.

HCG Diet Dangers – The Facts

HCG is a hormone produced by the placenta in the first trimester of pregnancy. Its function is to keep progesterone levels from dropping which would cause miscarriage. It has nothing to do with mobilizing nutrients or fat stores. In fact, most women gain weight during the first trimester when HCG is being produced.

The effects of the diet come from the 500 calories and not from injections of HCG. If HCG had any actual influence, then injecting HCG without changing the diet would still show significant weight loss, but this is not the case. The idea of HCG injections for weight loss is bogus, unfounded, and simply doesn’t work.

HCG Diet Dangers – Scam Products

Even more ridiculous, people are taking homeopathic versions of HCG. These are scam products. If homeopathic medicines worked that way, you could make homeopathic versions of every drug or hormone, including drugs like crack. Can you imagine homeopathic crack addicts? Instead of taking your heart medicine, you could just take a homeopathic version and not pay for insurance. Cost of health care problems would be instantly solved. This is just silly.

I am professionally trained as a classical homeopath. I use homeopathic medicines daily in my office with profound and lasting effects for people suffering various chronic illnesses. Our homeopathic pharmacy is stocked with literally hundreds of medicines. If you called a legitimate homeopathic lab and asked for HCG, they would laugh and certainly know that you are not trained as a homeopath. Homeopathy certainly works if applied with skill. The idea of homeopathic HCG is much like taking acupuncture and selling people a special weight loss needle; it just doesn’t work that way. Beyond HCG diet dangers, this concept is pure snake oil.

HCG Diet Dangers – Very Low Calorie Intake

500 calories: here’s where the diet digs in and gets some results. Drastically limiting food intake is bound to burn off some of that spare tire. The diet has you binge eat before starting, which eases the initial transition into low calories. The effect is similar to carbo-loading and once again has nothing to do with HCG.

Many people in this country eat too much while being sedentary and they do this for years. It can be beneficial to fast or have restriction to reverse the over-eating as long as there is not an underlying problem. Weight gain is, however, usually a disease pattern that involves underlying hormonal problems. If you have under-functioning organs or glands, then caloric restriction may be dangerous and make matters worse. Those organs may go into further shutdown. Of all the HCG diet dangers, you shouldn’t ignore this one.

I have worked with people who have ended up seriously ill after experiencing HCG diet dangers first hand. Instead of trying a trendy diet, treatment is needed by a doctor who understands nutritional medicine and how to repair the organs causing the problem. When I see someone for weight loss, I first want to assess what the problem is. If diet is the only thing needed, then 500 calories divided into two meals is still not the most efficient way of going about it. It doesn’t help you balance your blood sugar. Furthermore, it forces your body to break down muscle for fuel, which looks good initially on the scale (because muscle weighs a lot) but long-term lowers your metabolism, causing more weight gain.

HCG Diet Dangers – The Bottom Line

Bottom line: Weight gain is usually a sign of something wrong internally, which requires treatment or at least guidance. The HCG diet is misleading because you don’t lose weight for the reason it claims. It drops scale weight (which includes loss of muscle) based on the drastic restriction of calories. It can be dangerous for people that have organs already in trouble. Do yourself a favor and seek professional consultation before starting any dietary program, especially when it’s extreme.