HCG Diet: Fad or Fantastic?
Author: Dr. Sonja N. Fung You have probably all heard of the HCG diet being the next miracle cure for obesity and weight loss, but what else have you heard? Is it as beneficial as you have heard? What are the risks? Are you a candidate for the HCG diet? Here’s the 411 on HCG and how it came into the lime light. What is HCG? In the 1920’s, researchers discovered human chorionic gonadatropin or HCG. HCG is a hormone produced by women only during early pregnancy and peeks at 14 weeks. This is the hormone that is measured on urine pregnancy test strips. HCG works to sequester calories and nutrients for the fetus regardless of how much or how little the mother eats. How does this work? HCG is reported to selectively metabolize calories from areas with high fat stores, such as the abdomen, hips, and thighs. How HCG was discovered for weight loss? In the 1950’s a British doctor practicing in Rome, Dr. Simeons, found that young hypogonadal boys treated with HCG lost their excess weigh