Critics voice concerns over hcg diet program but do the concerns measure up?
As with any “quick weight loss plan” the HCG diet has many critics and just as many supporters among those who have tried it. The diet came under even more scrutiny when it appeared on the Dr. Oz show early last year where he had a panel of guests, including doctors, researchers and even ordinary guests making a case for and against the product.
After watching the episode and reading blogs, forums and other sites I have found a trend among complaints and found some of them make perfect sense while others seem to lack substance. Below you will find some of my thoughts on common complaints associated with the hcg diet.
- The diet only works because of the calorie deficit- While this may be true, there are many people who stand behind the fact that while taking injectable hcg (not drops) they did not feel the same level of hunger that they otherwise experienced when reducing calories without the use of hcg. The theory behind the use of hcg is that it effectively makes up the difference by allowing your body to use your emergency fat stores to “feed” your body while on such a calorie restricted diet. This is inconclusive however and keep in mind that even though it may be prescribed by doctors, the FDA has not approved the drug for weight loss purposes.
- When you stop the diet you gain the weight back- this one in particular is puzzling to me. Certainly I can agree that if you go from one diet to no diet that you likely will gain all the weight back and possibly more, the issue I have with this statement is what program is this not true for? If I change my diet to include lean meats, lots of vegetables and then I proceed to work out 6 times a week, certainly I should lose weight and gain muscle but what happens when I stop? The exact same thing! The fact is the long term approach to losing weight should be some sort of lifestyle balance centered on a sustainable fitness program and a sustainable eating schedule.
- It is dangerous to eat such low calories- Once again, I have to go back to the people who claim they feel less hunger while on hcg and I also then have to question why would medical professionals recommend and actively perform gastric bypass procedures? The idea behind the procedure is to shrink the stomach so that patient cannot eat more due to the reduced stomach size, which effectively does the same thing, reduce caloric intake. Furthermore, any research done on the hcg diet reveals that this diet is not one to do long term. It is designed for rapid weight loss results in 30 day cycles meaning the dieter would go on the plan for 30 days and off the plan for 30 days as needed until results are achieved. I am not certain how dangerous a restricted diet is for 30 days at a time considering many religions observe periods of fasting for close to the same amount of time.
With these common objections you can see that they can apply to nearly any diet program if you look around hard enough. This article is not written to convince you for or against and particular program but instead just to provide a different perspective regarding the hcg diet program. I hope you found the information useful.
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