HCG Diet: What is HCG?

Restored from the Empower Network archive (2011–2017), lightly edited to meet our current advertising standards. Views are the original author’s.

I tend to take Dr Oz with a grain of salt, but when I saw his show on the HCG Diet, my ears perked up.

I have seen quite a few ads and articles on this HCG diet in my online research for weight loss solutions.  The information I received from the Dr Oz show was intriguing.

Many doctors and medical professionals also agree that a HCG diet is something that one should steer clear of.  So let’s look at what a HCG Diet consists of.

hCG stands for Human Chorionic Gonadotropin.  It is a naturally produced hormone by the placenta in pregnant women that is controls the metabolic function through the hypothalamus during pregnancy.  Wikipedia defines hypothalamus as “a portion of the brain that contains a number of small nuclei with a variety of functions.”

Perscription hCG is used by fertility treatments in which a much smaller dose and variation in used HCG diet protocols.  It is reported that hCG used for medical purposes is synthetic and created in laboratory environments from sterile cells.  It is NOT extracted from women or animal urine.

What is the HCG Diet?

The basics of the HCG Diet is taking hGC drops or an injection coupled with a daily 500 calorie diet.  The hGC is said to inhibit hunger cravings and allow the body to get rid of the fats stored in the body without damaging or losing muscle.

Either hCG drops or an hCG injection only will work.  Some hCG pills or capsules are sold, however it has been reported that they will not work.  The hCG has to be absorbed under the tongue or injected.

HCG Diet Injections – Yes injections…as with a needle.

Before you actual start the HCG Diet, it is suggested that you have your physician or doctor do a set of blood tests and perform health assessment.  With injections, you will have to keep a supply of hypodermic needles handy and steps can be taken to reduce the discomfort of injections.

Then there’s the actual eating on the HCG Diet.

Well, ok starving is a better description.  The 500 calorie diet consists of 3.5oz of lean meats,  3.5oz of vegetables, 1 Grissini Breadstick or Melba Toast and selected fruits.  100oz of water per day is recommended with all the coffee, tea and zero calorie diet sodas.

Oh Joy…

Now dropping three to four droplets under my tongue or sticking myself with a needle and eating a 500 calorie daily diet without including breakfast in the mix is hardly what I call an exciting adventure of weight loss.  This sounds more like a torture of myself.

This diet seems to be designed for those who have no patience and have to lose 40-60Lbs or more in a month of two.   I am not a doctor or dietition, but this cannot be a healthy way to lose weight.  Those of us that are over-weight did not get there in a month or two – probably not even 2-3 years.

It seems that if we gained our weight over a period of ten or so years it would be more realist and healthy to at least take a year or even 6 months to allow our body to adjust to a new and healthy way to naturally lose weight.

Taking a little more time would also give us the opportunity to re-train our brains and bodies to adjust to a new way to eat and exercise thus giving us a bigger chance to be successful in a long term sustainable and healthy life style.

Several programs are available that give us a natural way to lose weight, reduce hunger cravings, and help balance our high blood pressure and cholesterol levels to normal.

A product like Plexus Slim has no caffeine, no stimulants – requires no meal replacements, no shakes and definitely no injections.  And while on any weight lose program, we all need to limit our caloric intake each day to a normal healthy level – Plexus Slim doesn’t limit your diet choices to 500 calories, it enhances your bodies natural fat burning processes and assisting you to burn fat and sustain muscle development.

Basically, you mix with 8-12oz of water, shake and drink.  Enhanced with Plexus Slim Accelerator, Bio Cleanse and Pro Bio 5 supplements, a more normal and less extreme weight loss can be obtained and sustained.