HCG Prescription Diet Shows Promising Results

Diet Shows Promising Results

From Alternatives Newsletter Spring 2010

Registered Nurse Michelle McCaslin was looking for a healthy and effective way to lose weight after a change in her schedule as well as hormonal and thyroid issues had prompted a weight gain.  That’s why McCaslin, a nurse at Alternatives, was intrigued when she heard about the hCG prescription diet.  She has since lost 12 pounds.  The hCG diet is a decades-old plan that is finding a new following.

HCG Prescription Diet Shows Promising Results

Registered Nurse Michelle McCaslin was looking for a healthy and effective way to lose weight after a change in her schedule as well as hormonal and thyroid issues had prompted a weight gain.  That’s why McCaslin, a nurse at Alternatives, was intrigued when she heard about the hCG prescription diet.  She went on the plan and has since lost 12 pounds.  The hCG diet is a decades-old plan that is finding a new following.

This innovative diet is name for the hormone that makes up the main component of the plan: hCG or Human chorionic gonadotrophin.  HCG is a glycoprotein hormone produced in pregnancy that is made by the developing embryo after conception and later by a portion of the placenta.  Its role is to prevent the disintegration of the corpus luteum of the ovary and thereby maintain progesterone production that is critical for a successful pregnancy.

How this vital hormone came to be used to assist in weight loss was the work of the late British physician, Dr. A. T. W. Simeons.  Dr. Simeons discovered that small doses of hCG given to overweight men and women would decrease their appetite and help them lose weight specifically around their hips, thighs, buttocks and stomach.

He first published a report on the topic in 1954 while practicing in Rome, Italy.  Dr. Simeons went on to devote years to this research.  During this time, he noticed several important factors including the lack of symptoms one would expect from a patient on a very low calorie diet.  For example, his patients had no headaches, hunger pains, weakness or irritability as long as the low calorie diet was combined with hCG. 

What’s more, patients lost significant amounts of weight while their bodies reshaped naturally and seemingly without effort.  The hCG also regulated metabolism, correcting that which initially caused the obesity.

Here’s how the diet works: patients inject themselves daily with a minute amount of this same hormone, which serves to drastically curb the appetite so that dieters can sustain a 500-calorie diet for six weeks at a time, said Kathi Bratberg, RN, B.S. Holistic Nutrition at Alternatives.  “No one is sure exactly how hCG initiates weight loss at this low dose, but it appears to change insulin metabolism at the level of the fat cells.”

McCaslin, the Alternatives’ nurse who has been on the program, further explained that the hormone appears to release calories from deep stored fat into the bloodstream to help curb the appetite.  “If you are hungry, the diet simply is not working.”

Patients at Alternatives follow this regimen:

·        125 iu of hCG is administered daily (with the exception of menstruation.)

·        Until 3rd injection the patient eats excessively.

·        Following the third injection, the 500 calorie diet and personal care product restrictions are applied and continue through 72 hours after the last injection.

·        For the continuing 3 weeks, all foods are allowed except sugar and starch; this includes sweet fruits.

·        After the 3 weeks starches are introduced into the diet in very small quantities and weight is monitored to ensure weight maintenance.

“Patients are monitored throughout this period,” Bratberg added.  “I’ve watched people on this diet and they have few cravings; they’re satisfied, they feel good and have a clear mind, and they sleep well.”

Each round of treatments lasts a minimum of 26 days, and 23 of those days require a daily injection of hCG. Treatment may last as long as 43 days (with 40 injections), unless a patient loses 34 to 40 pounds before the allotted time has passed. 

Patients don't receive hCG injections for the last three days of any treatment period so that it can cycle completely out of their bodies before they resume a normal diet.  Once they are off the diet, patients gradually reintroduce the components of a healthy diet.

McCaslin said she has experienced no ill effects from the diet and is pleased with her weight loss progress to date.  She also takes supplements for thyroid and cortisol, and she exercises. 

“Research has shown that some patients can lose up to 30 pounds in six weeks, and the weight stays off,” Bratberg said.  This diet is for both men and women.  For more information, contact Alternatives: A Center for Conscious Health, 402-827-9450.