To the uninitiated, the hcg diet plan may appear intimidating. The diet has many esoteric rules and expenses.
A person who doesn’t have a good introduction to the diet may become frustrated and quit before the diet can effective cause weight loss.
Furthermore, recent controversy surrounding the hcg diet may scare a potential dieter away. I’m writing this article to address all of these items and to provide potential dieters with a safe, fun method to implement the hcg diet in their everyday lives.
What is HCG diet
Before we jump into the basics of the hcg diet, we should first understand what the hcg diet is. The acronym hcg stands for human chorionic gonadotropin hormone. This hormone is produced by the human body during pregnancy.
Albert Simeons created the hcg diet. While studying the hormone’s effects on the human body, Simeons reached the conclusion that the human chorionic gonadotropin hormone, when applied in small doses, helped people lose troublesome fat tissue while still retaining muscle tissue.
The modern version of the hcg diet plan still follows the basic principles established by Albert Simeons. Unlike the paleo diet, the modern hcg diet directly focuses on daily caloric intake and the hcg hormone. Shortly after making his initial discovery of the human chorionic gonadotropin hormone’s natural weight loss property, Simeons tweaked the diet.
Simeons coupled the dieters hcg ingestion with a low, daily caloric intake of 500 calories per day. He believed that the hormone also acted as an appetite suppressant thereby allowing dieters to comfortably limit their daily calories such a low amount.
HCG diet plan
We now understand the basics of what the hcg diet entails and where it comes from. Our next step in understanding the hcg diet plan is the actual ingestion of the hormone. Dieters ingest the human chorionic gonadotropin either orally or through injection.
Injection is generally seen as the most effective way to ingest the hormone as dieters generally have the best results. However, it is clearly the least convenient method as well. Dieters must inject the hormone directly into muscle tissue. Moreover, doctors must administer the drug as the pure hormone is no longer sold over-the-counter.
The cost of doctor visits and hormones adds up making hormone injection more expensive than oral ingestion. With that being said, the best part about hcg injections is that it’s done under the close supervision of a trained, professional doctor.
HCG hormone can be ingested orally or it can be administered by injection.
Alternatively, many hcg dieters prefer oral ingestion of the human chorionic gondotropin hormone. This type of hcg is sold in a liquid format called hcg drops. As I previously stated, oral ingestion is a much cheaper alternative to injections.
Many dieters will probably also find these hcg drops to be much less intimidating than routine injections. A dieter ingests hcg drops by squeezing a drop of the hormone underneath his or her tongue.
HCG drops may sound perfect. However, this is where a fair amount of the controversy over the diet begins. In the past, hcg drops were sold over the counter in pharmacies and health shops such as GNC.
However, the FDA put a prescription requirement on all products with the hcg hormone. Unfortunately, this requirement hasn’t stopped companies from marketing ‘hcg’ products that don’t contain any actual human chorionic gondotropin hormone in the solution.
Many of these so called ‘homeopathic’ hcg supplements are misleading and potentially dangerous for dieters interested in the hcg diet plan.
Controversy regarding injection and oral ingestion of the hormone
Furthermore, much controversy exists as to whether the human body can properly, orally ingest the hcg hormone for weight loss purposes. I do wish to note that the FDA has stated that the hcg hormone itself is not dangerous to consumers. Diet is the final and most important topic to address regarding the hcg diet plan.
What foods are you allowed to consume
As previously stated, the hcg diet is only effective if dieters limit themselves to 500 calories per day. Simeons’ plan suggest dieters eat two whole meals per day. Each meal must include a protein, vegetable, bread, and fruit.
Dieters may not eat salmon, eal, tuna, or herring. The diet also does not allow dieters to eat any sugar, butter, or oil. Dieters may drink up to one tablespoon of milk per day. Vegetarians may have to supplement meat for extra doses of skim milk to receive a comparable amount of nutrients.
Recommended calorie intake
Again, the daily diet on an hcg diet plan must not exceed 500 calories per day. Many hcg dieters prefer to use berries as a nutritional supplement to satiate their hunger between meals.
So, there you have it. The hcg diet may come with its own set of pros and cons. The 500 calories can be a bit difficult to manage at first. Also, the actual hormone has come under a great deal of scrutiny lately. As I said before, the FDA themselves have conceded that the hcg hormone is safe for human consumption.
Conclusion
This diet may not be suitable for everyone. However, the diet has helped many loss weight and keep the weight off in the past. If you are interested in partaking in the hcg diet, I strongly recommend you have a frank discussion with your family doctor about it. Ask your doctor to give you an unbiased opinion about whether this diet is right for you.
