There are thousands of diet methods out there, whether it be the cabbage soup diet, the raw food diet, or the grapefruit diet they all range in their success rates but they also vary in how healthy or unhealthy they are. The new fad diet, known as the HCG Diet, was created 50 years ago in Rome and includes injections of HCG which is a hormone present in pregnant women, according to newjerseynewsroom.com.
Along with these injections, dieters will also need to lower their calorie intake to 500 calories and can expect a decrease of a pound a day.
The injections are not approved by the FDA for weight loss and are normally just used for fertility use. However, a doctor prescription is not required due to the availability of the drug online. HCG injections cost about $99 for a 45-day supply.
According to their website Dr. ATW Simeons discovered this drug and began administering it to people that were overweight. The drug works by taking body fat and utilizing it which allows them to lose up to 3500 to 4000 calories a day. The site lists side effects that include insomnia, lethargy, head aches, loss of mental clarity, and severe fatigue.
According to the Huffington Post, the hormone is supposed to stop the body from shutting down due to starvation, however, outrage by Pieter Cohen, assistant professor at the Harvard Medical School, reportedly stated, “Can you lose weight on it? Of course, but that’s mainly because you’re hardly consuming any calories. And any benefit is not going to last””.
Although the drug promises a pound a day of weight loss the health risks are undeniable. Starvation diets already call for a calorie intake of 500 calories and the HCG diet requires an extra added dose of unnatural hormones.
The HCG Diet website claims that the diet works, is fast and safe, keeps the weight off, and is also available in drops that are just as effective as their injections. They claim that although it was created in 1950, it most recently became part of the diet craze in 2000 due to the fact that the diet actually works and the availability of the hormones in drops rather than injections. A dieter can expect not only the drug but also helpful tips and recipes that will help them lose the weight and millions have done so since.
