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HCG Diet - Human Chorionic Gonadotropin

hCG Diet – For and Against

There is much talk surrounding the advantages and disadvantages of the hCG diet. There are those who argue that it is possibly one of the best and most effective diets of the past 50 years, and then there are those who are very strongly opposed to it.  

What is hCG?

hCG stands for human Chorionic Gonadotropin, a hormone present in both men and women, and which is produced in large amounts by women during pregnancy. It is during pregnancy that this hormone almost solely controls a woman’s metabolic functions. Research suggests that in men and non-pregnant women hCG has the same effects on the metabolism as it does in pregnant women. hCG injections or supplements are typically given to women who need help with ovulation and to men who want to increase their sperm count. A daily hCG injection is also one component of the controversial hCG diet plan. The hCG hormone can be made synthetically or extracted from a pregnant woman's urine and then processed for use by other humans.

What is the hCG Diet?

To lose weight on this diet you will follow a very low calorie diet, accompanied by treatments of hCG – either orally but most popularly by injection. You receive an injection every day for a few months and the hCG is touted as helping you metabolise your excess fat more easily.

Argument for the diet:

People who have used the hCG diet have experienced rapid weight loss with very few hunger pains and food cravings. Once the diet has been completed the dieters’ metabolisms are ‘reset’ so normal eating can resume once the diet has run its course, without them regaining the weight.

During the diet healthier and better food choices are taught to participants with great emphasis being placed on portion sizes.

Argument against the diet:

The easiest part of the hCG diet is the injections. The hardest part has got to be the diet itself. 500 calories per day is a very low and difficult intake to stick to. It has been said that the reason you lose weight is simply due to the fact that you are in effect starving yourself thin.
Another argument against the diet is the fact that you are not supposed to exercise while on the diet. When you exercise your metabolism rises and you are therefore burning a large amount of calories. If you are only consuming 500 calories per day your body simply cannot support an exercise routine on such a low calorie intake and you are bound to get ill due to the calorie deficient state in which your body is operating.  

Conclusion:

As you can see, there are those who advocate the benefits of this diet and there are those who are against it. While researching the subject I found many, many more arguments against the diet than for it. But if you are keen on using this method of rapid weight loss ensure you do your own research so that you are fully informed of the pros and cons of it before you begin.