HCG Diet Dangers
The hCG diet is popular for dramatic weight loss in such a short time. Naturally, buyers would be wary of caveats and fine prints as dieting affects health and well-being in various levels. As with any weight loss programs, hCG diet protocols caution dieters to religiously stick to guidelines to minimize side effects.
Is it safe to lose up to 2 lbs. (or more) a day with the hCG diet?
Unaided, the body can lose up to a pound a week given regular exercise, healthy diet, adequate fluids, sufficient sleep and minimum stress.
Losing one pound a day, therefore, simply looks too good to be true. However, it is possible.
The human chorionic gonadotropin is nature’s override in case the mother is not aware of her pregnancy and therefore fails to secure nutrients to support the growing fetus. Therefore, the hormone directs the hypothalamus to let go of fat supply it has hoarded over time and channel that stored energy to the womb. Without pregnancy, these energy reserves fuel the body’s basic metabolic functions. Thus, it is possible to safely lose even more than two pounds a day when your metabolism requires it.
Is the hCG diet safe for everybody?
Like any weight loss effort, pre-screening is essential for the success of the diet program. The hormone was traditionally applied to women of child-bearing age who cannot conceive because of irregular or absent menses. In the same vein, the diet is best applicable to women, and men, over 18.
Further, the dieter has to be in generally good health (without diseases or ailments that may be aggravated by the hormone) to get into the program. Obviously, the diet is not recommended for women who are planning to get pregnant, who are currently pregnant, and have just given birth. Their extra weight is a form of fat reserve that the fetus and their lactating bodies can tap into in case of “energy crisis”; that is, not being able to hold the food down as a symptom of pregnancy. In nursing mothers, a healthy amount of post-partum weight is in fact required because nursing burns up a lot of calories.
Is there anything unpleasant I might feel during the hCG diet program?
If hCG is administered as a prescribed injectable (and supervised by medical professionals), a number of dieters experience headaches, vomiting, nausea, constipation, diarrhea, and male breast enlargement. This is so because the hormone is given in concentrated doses. As the diet program evolved into oral drops, side effects were less noted because hCG in a bottle is diluted several times.
Women who are into their hCG cycle may experience fatigue, nausea, swelling, breast tenderness, and bloating before and during their menses. The ovaries can also get hyper-stimulated (as hCG was first used as an egg-production stimulant), so proper timing of the hCG cycle is important. Ideally, hCG cycles should be spaced over time so as not to interfere with ovulation.
However, these are rare side effects as higher doses of hCG are required for it to have the same effects as a reproductive agent. In lower doses, hCG is naturopathic and does not interfere with other bodily functions.
How does the hCG diet program compare to other weight-loss programs?
Side effects experienced during hCG cycles are temporary but the weight lost is permanent. And weight lost is actually “fat” lost; hence, dieters coming off hCG programs look lean and healthy. In contrast, other diet programs achieve results at great costs. For example, high-protein, low-carb diets deprive the body of adequate amounts of glycogen (which are derived from complex carbohydrates) to fuel basal metabolic processes. In response to this shortage, the body uses up glutamine which is a building block of protein. So instead of mobilizing fats, the body takes away proteins from lean muscle to meet calorie requirements. The end result is lean muscle mass lost, leaving the dieter looking haggard and sluggish.
