Human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) is a natural hormone produced by the placenta for maintaining a healthy pregnancy, but dieters have found another wellness use for hCG. The hCG diet is a combination of extreme calorie restriction and receiving doses of the hormone, but does it work, and how does it affect your overall wellbeing?
The results of the hCG diet are obvious and quick. It’s not exactly rocket science that reducing your caloric intake that drastically will lead to fast weight loss, and hCG dieters can boast losing up to one pound a day. However, scientists have proven that the hormone injections do not burn fat or suppress hunger pags, and so, aside from a possible placebo effect, hCG is not necessary for weight loss.
This is has led the majority of physicians to state that they do not support the hCG diet. Studies have shown that if you lose weight too quickly, you will simply gain it all back and more, and, knowing this, doctors do not support such an extreme method of weight loss. Further, medical health professionals object to the hCG diet as it can cause an severe lack of nutrients in your body, which leads to serious damage and illness down the road.
There are also side effects when you’re on the hCG diet. The inevitable nutritional starvation that occurs when you’re limiting your caloric intake to 500 calories a day increases you risks of gallstone formation, electrolyte imbalance and heart arrhythmias, to name a few. When it comes to the hormone itself, hCG injections can cause irregular periods and vaginal bleeding, ovarian cysts, blood clots, breast tenderness, headaches and, potentially, a higher long-term risk of breast cancer for pre-menopausal women. For the gents on the hCG diet, the hormone can lead to breast enlargement, breast tenderness, blood clots, decreased sperm production and infertility.
Finally, the hCG evidence is not entirely credible. Pro-hCG diet physicians and clever advertisers use poorly executed ‘pilot studies’ and ‘medical trials’ to prove the efficacy of the product, but the studies they cite are often to small to be statistically significant, and one some occasions the findings are skewed due to the different weight levels of the participants in the two groups, for example. Therefore, before you try the hCG diet or any other diet, you must consult your doctor.
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