A yoga client asked me about HCG the other day and what my thoughts are on it. I am not a weight loss specialist and knew nothing about HCG, so I decided to look into a bit.
What is HCG?
HCG or human chorionic gonadotropin isa hormone produced during pregnancy by the developing embryo and then later by part of the placenta. HCG is thought to protect the baby from the mother’s immune system and contributes to rapid and sustained growth by stimulating progesterone production. The progesterone thickens the lining of the uterus and enriches it with more capillaries for the fetus. HCG recruits extra fat in the body and sends it to the developing baby for fast growth and protection.
What does HCG do?
HCG is similar to Luteinizing Hormone which is produced in the Anterior Pituitary Gland. LH helps to maturize cells in the ovary and testes, stimulating ovulation as well as testosterone production in the testes.
The Simplified History of HCG
HCG for weight loss came about when a scientist noticed fat loss in his pregnant patients. This scientist decided to administer a small amount of HCG to his overweight patients with a restricted calorie diet of only 500 and monitor the results. Consistently, his patients lost 4-5 lbs/ week; In addition the weight stayed off for the long term! Hence the beginning of a new weight-loss program.
Using HCG means?
Years later HCG has been in use by many people trying to lose those stubborn pounds. Recently the FDA toted it as a substance not approved by the their governing board. Not being a doctor or an endocrinologist, I have to assume there must be a correlation between levels of progesterone, testosterone and metabolism; higher levels of these hormones creates a faster metabolism. Which seems to make sense being that most youth of pubescent age have high metabolisms. We have all watched a teenager scarf down thousands of calories and still look great in their swim suit.
In summary:HCG, a stimulator of the sex-organs, produces more testosterone and progesterone; there-fore it increases metabolism and encourages fat cells to be utilized by the body. Combine this with a low caloric intake and the body has no choice but to use stored fat for energy. Brilliant, right?!
For some people this is great; obesity is a national epidemic and most average individuals want to lose 20-30 pounds. My question is: do we really want to be messing with our sex hormones in order to lose weight? Perhaps we should look at our food source, activity level and mind-set before we mess with our biological functions with a supplement. Most of our meat sources are inundated with antibiotics and hormones in order to make the meat juicy, plump and healthy. If you compare meat that is grown from a small organic farmer it is much different from one that is raised on a big ranch with poor quality of food and living. Looking at the source of our food and other habits of living might just fix this epidemic of obesity we are suffering from.
Granted some people need hormone supplements. They have gone so far down the rabbit hole and need to work closely with their health care team to get healthy. These people, especially people who are aging and aren’t producing the same amount of progesterone and testosterone as they used to might actually benefit from HCG but this should be determined by your health care provider.
Is HCG for you?
I don’t follow the diet fads all that much and as you can see, I am traditional in the sense of how you lose weight. If you are young to middle-age, it might behoove you to examine your activities of daily living. What is your caloric intake? What is your activity level? What about your mindset? Look at your habits and change them! It is all about lifestyle and mindset in my opinion. In my profession as a massage therapist have seen many people who are overweight obsess over negative emotions, have low levels of activity and eat a diet rich with sugar, rancid oils and empty of vitamins and minerals. And then they complain about being overweight, in pain, and unhappy; looking for some medical reason this is happening.
Everybody raves at how fast you can lose weight on HCG. And it stays off! This is the kicker for all diet fads. Usually people complain that once they go off the diet the weight comes right back on. Which is why lifestyle and mindset are so important. We live in a society that values quick and easy so naturally we would value a quick and easy weight loss. It comes down to self preservation and will power. Without the drive to self preserve and the will power to follow through we get what we have now in our society, an epidemic of obesity and depression.
Ok , first of all you have to look at this from an over weight persons point of view. I have been over weight most of my life,not everyone has a great motabelism, and if you have the genetic thing going on you’re lucky. I didn’t know how to eat the way i do now. Vita life in priest river has the hcg program and it is a wounderful program. I changed the way i used to eat for myself and my husband. The program works if you follow it and you eat healthy while you are on it and they teach you how to change the way you eat for the rest of your life not just for now. It has to be a life change or it will never work. I’m still over weight but not as big as i was, I feel wounderful and so does my husband. I recomend this program one hundred percent. If i had to do it over, i’d do it again. I’m healthier now for it and i’m eating healthier for life,do i cheat? Yea i splearge once in a while. I don’t eat anything like i use to. I thank Vita life for helping my husband and myself for getting healthy.I couldn’t have done it on my own,and in turn would have been unhealthy with out it.You can’t just take the drops and expect it to stay off you need the whole program. It works.
Thanks for commenting Lori. I agree with you that it has to be a lifestyle change in order for a weight-loss program to work. And to be clear on my stance, you need to walk in somebody’s shoes before you come down too hard on their decisions. Good for you on taking the initiative and choosing a healthier way of living!