You might have heard of the new diet craze called Human Chorionic Gonadotropin HCG Diet Drops or also called Homeopathic HCG Drops Diet, promising you to lose 1 to 3 pounds in just one day!
But, is HCG drops effective and safe? To help you answer these questions, let’s take a closer look on what HCG drops does and how it makes you lose weight in such a short period of time.
HCG Drops works through a combination of daily HCG shots or sublingual doses plus a very low and strict 500 daily caloric intake. You can get recipe suggestions from online searches or from a gourmet cookbook that specializes in HCG Drops Diet.
In spite the popularity of Homeopathic HCG Drops Diet; doctors, nutritionists, fitness trainers and other allied health practitioners have health concerns in its use.
Being lacking in clinical trials plus no FDA approval makes them doubt its safety.
Some say that the combination of a balanced diet and regular exercise is still the proven effective, safe and healthy way to lose weight.
Issues Concerning HCG Drops Diet
Lack of Proof
HCG drops diet lack human clinical trials making its outstanding claims to be regarded with suspicion and may be too risky to follow. You may think that the claims from the so called customers are unreliable and may be just part of their marketing campaign.
Veracity of the Promoter
Some health practitioners even question the reliability of the promoter of the HCG diet drops, saying that he is just an infomercial marketer and a businessman with no proper education to earn him the authenticity of his claims in his self-published book on HCG Drops.
Still others say that he had in the past, cases of fraud and drug trafficking charges; these accusations however are still yet to be verified. Full article about the promoter and author of the Homeopathic HCG Drops book can be read in full in the August 28, 2005 issue of New York Times.
Health Risk
HCG diet drops employs a 500 caloric daily intake for an individual whether male or female. This is an outrageous move from the average 2000 calories daily recommended allowance for an individual, which makes it a near-starvation diet like that of the crash diet that resulted to several adverse reactions and complications to individuals who used it.
HCG Safety
HCG is supposed to be used as a naturally occurring hormone during pregnancy and its artificial use for someone who does not have any need for it poses a lot of risk.
In fact the same hormones when in hyperactivity mode in pregnant women causes a condition called H-mole, which is considered a cancer-like condition because of the abnormal growth and proliferation of the human chorionic throphoblasts.
To correct this condition it requires administration of anti-cancer drugs. So if you’re thinking of having the HCG Drops injection, you may want to think again…
Weight Loss Safety
Over time it has been determined that the healthiest way to lose weight is to get rid of the pounds by only 1 to 2 per week, if it’s more than that it may already affect the body system’s function and may result to serious complications. So the HCG Drops Diet loss of 1 to 3 pounds per day is so alarming.
Short Term Program
HCG Diet Drops can only work for a short time, if a person does not learn the healthy basics of proper diet it will be easy to return to the normal diet and regain the pounds and inches lost in even lesser time.
A healthy weight loss program should always include the psychological and behavioral aspects of the dietary modifications applied.
FDA Approval
Since the discovery of HCG Drops in 1975, the FDA has not granted it approval for use in weight loss program. In fact, it has required promoters of the synthetic HCG Diet Drops to include in their labels that say “HCG has not been demonstrated to be effective adjunctive therapy in the treatment of obesity.
There is no substantial evidence that it increases weight loss beyond that resulting from caloric restriction, that it causes a more attractive or ‘normal’ distribution of fat, or that it decreases the hunger and discomfort associated with calorie-restricted diets.”
HCG Drops Side Effects
HCG Drops administration has recorded the following side effects: headaches, mood swings, depression, blood clots, confusion and dizziness, all these probably come from the stimulation of the brain’s hypothalamic center.
More serious adverse reactions include Ovarian Hyperstimulation Syndrome (OHSS) that manifests symptoms of lower abdominal pain, generalized swelling, shortness of breath, diarrhea, nausea and vomiting and decreased urine output.
Hcg Drops Weight Loss Claims
In a natural circumstance HCG in pregnant women works by stimulating the hypothalamus to produce more progesterone during pregnancy to help the development of the placenta and to sustain the pregnancy during the entire 9 months.
It prevents the corpus luteum to degenerate preventing ovulation to take place while there is a growing fetus. HCG’s role in pregnancy is very vital; its use in the HCG diet drops however, is totally different.
It is being administered through injection or through sublingual route to an un-pregnant individual for several reasons.
Control of Metabolic Functions
HCG Drops Diet controls the metabolic processes in metabolism by allowing an individual to eat much less per day to allow stored fats to be utilized and be burned.
This principle only happens when an individual is totally starved that signals the brain to use up stored fats as a source of energy in the case of the HCG diet drops it signals this process to take place even if the individual is not totally starved.
Strips off Inches in Problem Areas
HCG administration in HCG diet drops stimulates mobilization and removal of the excess fats stored in adipose tissues that are normally located in the arms, thighs, hips and tummy area; stripping inches off them.
Decreased Hunger Sensation
HCG Drops control the sensation of hunger by making an individual satisfied with just the 500 calories daily intake. There is supposedly no feeling of lack of energy as well because the energy being consumed is not from the food taken, but instead comes from the stored fats in the body that are being burned and utilized.
HCG Drops Dosage
Homeopathic HCG drops are administered daily for a minimum of 26 days to a maximum of 43 days, daily dose is given except for the last 3 days when the body is allowed to get rid of the excess HCG in the blood before he or she returns to the normal diet.
It is important to follow the HCG recipes of no junk foods, more of protein, low in carbohydrates and fats together with the HCG Diet Drops.
HCG Drops Health Benefit Claims
Administration of daily HCG Drops has also claimed health benefits such as improvement in the pancreatic and thyroid functions. It also claims to improve the blood pressure and regulate excess testosterone levels in the blood. These claims however, are yet to be proven clinically.
Conclusion
If safety then is the issue, after you have read the positive and negative issues raised on the Homeopathic HCG Drops Diet be the judge whether you will try it or not.
Just a word of caution, before you get crazed with new diet fads be sure to make a thorough research and avoid impulsively believing product claims from people you don’t even know.
Always check clinical trial results of a product and the background of the manufacturers and the promoters if they have the proper education and training to back up their statements.
Remember also that the real battle in weight loss involves a lot of factors like your genes, your lifestyle, your diet and most importantly your attitude towards whatever weight loss program you are going to use.
