The hormone hCG typically is administered to women hoping to get pregnant, but another use for hCG has emerged in recent years: weight loss.
The way it works is simple, if a bit extreme: A patient on the hCG program injects herself with the hormone every morning to reduce the appetite and limit food cravings, with the aim of maintaining a 500-calorie daily diet.
As The New York Times reports, the diet-and-hCG regimen has been around since the 1950s, and has grown more popular in recent years, but there is little evidence that it actually works. A 1995 Dutch study published in The British Journal of Clinical Pharmacology found that in only two out of 14 trials did the hCG patients lose more weight, suffer less hunger and come away with an improved body shape than patients with the same caloric intake but taking a placebo.
The Food and Drug Administration approved hCG, which stands for human chorionic gonadotropin, as a treatment for fertility. But doctors also can prescribe it for “off-label” purposes, such as dieting. However, the FDA requires a warning on the packaging that says the hormone hasn’t been proven to aid in weight loss, counteract hunger or generate a more attractive distribution of body fat — the very goals of the proponents of hCG-aided dieting.
There also are safety concerns regarding hCG. An FDA spokesman told the Times that the hormone has been associated with blood clots, headaches, depression and breast pain, and there has been at least one case of a patient taking hCG suffering a pulmonary embolism.
Nonetheless, the promise of losing up to a pound a day without bouts of hunger or fatigue overcomes a lot of reservations.
Part of the reason for the popularity is that, unlike many Internet diet treatments, hCG has the patina of legitimacy because it is available only by prescription. And with patients willing fork over in excess of $1,000 for a month-long program, more than enough doctors are willing to meet the demand.
“From an anecdotal point of view, physicians all around the country have seen people losing a tremendous amount of weight with this stuff, and you cannot afford to ignore that,” Dr. Lionel Bissoon, who runs a prominent practice in Manhattan, told the Times.
Neither here nor there, but more research needs to be done for future articles. HCG does not take a prescription and you can buy it at Walgreens for $20, not $1,000. I did use it and lost 27 pds in 27 days.
A woman’s diet does factor into the process of getting pregnant. There are many foods that are essential for their diets. Folic acid, for example, is one of the necessary components for women in this category. It is important to consume at least 0.4 mg of folic acid daily. When you consider the process of getting pregnant a balanced diet is essential. This includes foods rich in starch and fiber. Women should also increase their intake of vitamin C and vitamin A. Some women use supplements for this intake. Good dietary choices, however, are better options for consuming these nutritional components.
Drink lots of grapefruit juice before meals!