The CDC reports that over 30% of Americans are obese, and over 60% of Americans are overweight. Let's face it, the US loves processed foods right? It's not as if half the country is overweight and the rest is extremely thin. We know that every state has a minimum of 1 in 5 people being obese.
Wouldn't it be great to lose 40 pounds in 40 days? And keep that weight off? The HCG diet often helps patients do just that. Just to make it clear up front, the HCG diet is not FDA approved for losing weight. But it is commonly used in an "off-label" fashion for this purpose with impressive results.
There is a deep divide in the medical community over the efficacy of the HCG diet plan along with its safety. The HCG used is actually FDA approved for fertility and is short for human chorionic gonadotropin. It is produced in copious amounts during pregnancy.
The diet was introduced in the 1950's by Dr. ATW Simeons, a British endocrinologist, at his Italian weight loss center. He found that injecting small amounts of HCG suppressed appetite and encouraged losing weight. Patients at his clinic often underwent multiple rounds of the treatment.
The diet entails significant caloric restrictions, which is hammered by critics. In response, numerous weight loss doctors put their patients on a modified diet with 800-1200 calories per day. Interestingly though, with 500 calories going in, patients still obtain the rest of their needs by going after fat reserves in the body for caloric needs while on the diet. The HCG tends to preserve lean body tissue and free up stored body fat, allowing for the daily loss of about a pound.
Patients on the HCG diet typically are not hungry despite the calorie restriction, not tired, do not have headaches, and actually feel very health. Why? It has not been completely elucidated why this occurs when a person is taking in less than half the normal caloric intake he or she is used to.
There are critics who point to long term effects of the diet or organ problems, but to date those have not been proven in the literature. Weight loss on the diet typically averages 30 to 40 pounds in 6 weeks. A second round of treatment may be very beneficial as well, but a plateau may be seen during that portion.
With weight loss may come other benefits. This includes having one's high blood pressure come down which may eliminate the need for medications along with seeing reductions in cholesterol, triglycerides, and high blood sugars.
The debate is not going away anytime soon until more research comes out. For now, the diet just continues to get more popular.
Phoenix Integrative Medicine represents the premier weight loss center in Phoenix and Scottsdale, AZ along with providing bioidentical hormone replacement and wellness programs for anti-aging and cancer prevention.
The practice offers top notch Scottsdale and Phoenix weight loss programs tailored to the individual needs of patients. Programs at the center include HCG weight loss, Bioidentical hormones Arizona, aesthetic, anti-aging, wellness, and cancer prevention all provided by First Rate Naturopathic Doctors Arizona.
