Many Ways to Lose Weight – HCG Diet

Want to turn that spare tire into a six -pack? While I am a proponent of the tried and true, natural approach to a slow and steady weight loss using a healthy diet, portion control and exercise, sometimes it takes a long time and people get discouraged. Stubborn fat around the midline is one of the most common complaints I get in my anti aging medicine practice. People have a harder time losing the weight when they get older despite diet and exercise. Others come to me demoralized that after months of deprivation, they could only lose a few pounds and they just give up.

The book the “The Weight Loss Cure” popularized and resurrected the HCG diet. HCG stands for Human Chorionic Gonadotropin and is a hormone used for male and female infertility. This made me very skeptical, however when colleagues of mine encouraged me to look into it, I did. While I would never call it a cure or make some of the claims in the book, when used properly in qualified candidates, it is safe and effective.

With or without HCG?

Dr. Oz did a show on it as well. He had some of the same concerns as I do. A diet such as this one that is only 500 calories a day should only be done under medical supervision. A very low calorie diet with or without HCG can be complicated. Although, it is important to have someone to guide you and address issues as they come up. Secondly, buying homeopathic drops on the Internet can be troublesome, as you don’t know what you are getting. Only a doctor can prescribe the actual hormone made by a pharmaceutical company under strict FDA standards or compounded by reputable, highly skilled compounding pharmacists. This assures potency, purity and quality.

The controversy of whether or not it would work with or without the hormone may persist until we have better studies. Those that I read that were negative did not necessarily follow the protocol. Until that happens, I carefully monitor my patients and watch their waist waste away and put smiles on their faces. So, if you want to try the HCG diet, go to a qualified physician who can determine if it is safe for you and where you can be monitored and obtain pure, potent HCG. Waist away!