HCG, short for human chorionic gonadotrophin, is a hormone secreted by the female human body during pregnancy and in the pituitary gland of both males and females. Its primary function is to keep the placenta and embryo safe and healthy, but lately HCG has been growing more and more popular as a weight loss method. It all started when Dr. Albert T. W. Simeons, a British endocrinologist, published his findings with his weight loss diet and stated that HCG can be used to get rid off excess fat stored in the body. His studies were based on years of research with pregnant women in India and boys with weight issues and pituitary gland problems.
HCG can be taken in the form of oral supplements or injections. Dr. Simeons advises taking HCG while following his diet, a very low weight loss program consisting of less than 500 calories a day. He claims that HCG injections for weight loss will help keep you feeling full so you don’t suffer too much from the very low food intake. The diet program of Dr. Simeons has received much criticism from nutritionists and physicians as being too low in calories to be healthy or even safe, and his findings on using HCG as a weight loss tool has been described by many health advocates and researchers as ineffective, controversial and even dangerous.
The HCG diet is a popular weight loss plan which involves following strict caloric restrictions and taking daily injections of the human chorionic gonadotropin hormone–HCG. As with any diet plan, there are side effects associated with the HCG diet, some of which come from the hormone injections, and others which are a result of the extreme low calorie diet.
The side effects of HCG injections include, headaches, dizziness, leg cramps, irritability, depression, restlessness and false pregnancy symptoms in women. Additionally, numerous individuals experience injection site swelling. The majority of the HCG injection side effects will also be experienced by anyone who is following a diet featuring sever caloric restrictions. The HCG injection side effects may not sound life-threatening but they are serious enough to warrant medical care and attention in some cases. Some advocates of HCG will argue that most of the above HCG injection for weight loss side effects are similar to those suffered by people going through a low-calorie diet, and that those effects are actually the HCG diet side effects and not just from the HCG alone. If a person finds that his or her side effects are particularly severe, a doctor should be consulted before continuing the diet.
Most of the time, adding some calories to the diet will alleviate most of the troublesome side effects. However, a person may also wish to slightly decrease the amount of HCG he or she is using. The headaches and irritability should subside once the number of calories are increased. If one raises his or her caloric intake and the symptoms do not subside, it may indicate that the symptoms are related directly related to the HCG injections for weight loss.
For the majority of individuals the restless feeling subsides after 15-20 days of following the HCG diet plan. However, if very troublesome side effects continue despite efforts to adjust the number of injections and increase one’s caloric intake, it may be best to discontinue the diet.
If a person experiences site swelling at the site of the injections he or she may wish to discontinue their use and switch to the HCG drops or tablets. Many individuals who switch to the tablets or drops find that they experience little or no HCG drops side effects when following the diet. This suggests that the majority of the side effects associated with the diet are directly related to the injections. It is for this reason that many individuals opt for HCG drops or tablets.
Recommendation:
Despite the many supporters of the HCG diet out there, the fact still remains that HCG diets and taking HCG pills or injections as a means of losing weight is not approved by many scientific and medical communities. A very low-calorie diet like the HCG diet can cause malnutrition, wasted muscles and organs and even heart failure, which are all not worth risking no matter how desperate you are to lose weight. And the HCG drops side effects may not seem very risky, but they can disturb your daily life and even lead to other health problems more serious than being overweight. Consult your doctor first before even considering the HCG diet or injections, and know that there are other, healthier weight loss methods with far less health risks and controversies.
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