HCG Weight Loss Program
What Is HCG? HCG, or human chorionic gonadotrophin, is a hormone naturally produced in women during pregnancy. This hormone is used medically to treat people for a variety of conditions, including healthy regulation of other key hormones.
Overview
HCG therapy lasts 23 to 40 days, depending on weight-loss goals. The therapy involves daily injections of HCG hormone, combined with a very low-calorie diet (500 calories per day). Average weight loss is half to one pound per day.
How Does HCG Work?
The mechanism of action is still not clear. The diet’s founder, Dr. ATW Simeons, author of the book Pounds & Inches, believed that the HCG diet effectively reset the hypothalamus (“central hormone-control station” in the brain). This reset improves metabolism and allows the body to release abnormal fat stores (but not muscle or reserve/structural fat) and then use them for fuel. This means you’ll reduce clothing sizes without compromising muscle tone.
What Patients Can Expect
Weight loss begins with the first injection, intranasal spray, or sublingual tablet and includes a two-day high-caloric lead-in. This lead-in provides the body with extra calories to get through the first few days of diet restrictions.
After the lead-in is complete, the fuel your body needs comes from the 500 calories you eat each day along with the fat that the HCG mobilizes (1500-4000 calories per day).
Patients can expect to have normal energy and activity levels during the diet. They should weigh themselves every morning on a digital scale.
After the HCG therapy and diet are complete, patients adhere to a low-fat (no sugars/starches) diet for three weeks. This is followed by slowly introducing portion-controlled sugars and starches into your diet, with the long-term goal of limiting unhealthy sugars and starches.
Are There Any Side Effects?
The most frequently experienced side effects are pain/bruising at the site of injection (only if HCG is administered via injection). Headache, irritability, fluid retention, breast tenderness, and depression may occur, due to lack of food during the two-day high-caloric load and/or release of toxins (Dr. Gagnon will recommend nutriceuticals to help metabolize these toxins). Allergic reactions are possible but very rare.
A Word about This Program
HCG in this program is being used “off label” for weight loss. This means it was originally not intended for weight loss, but that it can be used legally by any physician who feels it is clinically effective. We have found HCG to be an effective tool for our patients who desire significant weight loss. However, it is important to note that results may vary.
For more information or to begin the HCG Weight Loss Program, contact Dr. Gagnon.
