The Truth about HCG Diets

With so much conflicting information in the media today, selecting a diet program can seem overwhelming. Every day, a new fad is announced: açai berry diets, green tea diets, miracle diet pills and even hormone replacement therapy. How does one know which diets really work? Human chorionic gonadotropin (HCG) diets have been used since the 1950s to safely and effectively counter obesity in both men and women. Recently, however, so-called “experts” selling competing products have attacked HCG diets by falsely claiming that they are unsuccessful—even dangerous. They point to several reasons, including the fact that the FDA has not approved HCG for weight loss. These detractors argue that this diet is a fad and, like all other diet trends, this too shall pass. They even claim that HCG diets are dangerous because they help you lose fat too quickly-results that they claim cannot be sustainable.

Contrary to these unsubstantiated claims, when HCG is prescribed along with a Very low calorie diet (one that utilizes adequate amounts of protein) and is closely monitored by a medical professional, HCG tends to significantly enhance the diet. According to the testimonials of thousands of patients and the observations of many physicians, HCG diets can considerably reduce a patient’s appetite and produce a general sense of well being that increases the likelihood of adhering to the diet by avoiding hunger pains and increasing energy. Detractors attack the HCG diet based on potential risk factors that most patients who are adequately medically supervised do not experience. This paper provides facts to counter the most common claims made against the HCG diet. It will discuss our competitors’ unsubstantiated warnings that the diet is ineffective and potentially dangerous and will shed light on the successful methods developed by Blissful Wellness Medical Weight Loss Centers, LLC.

Decoding the Misinformation

The Facts about Obesity

The number of adults in the United States who suffer from being overweight or obese are staggering. According to a National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey published by the Center for Disease Control, 32.7% of U.S. adults 20 years and older are overweight, 34.3% are obese and 5.9% are extremely (morbidly) obese. This translates to over 70 % of the adult population. Children who are over weight have now reached over 30%. The consequences are more than cosmetic. Overweight and obese people are at a higher risk for a number of health problems, including:

• Coronary heart disease
• Type 2 diabetes
• Endometrial, breast, and colon cancers
• Hypertension
• Hypercholesterolemia
• Asthma
• Stroke
• Liver and gallbladder disease
• Sleep apnea
• Osteoarthritis
• Infertility

Obesity is a serious health conditions that requires a medical solution. HCG diets that are closely monitored by medical professionals can be a solution to alleviating these health concerns by increasing a patient’s the ability to remain on a diet, a critical step toward meeting weight loss goals.

Legal Data

Detractors have pointed to the Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) ruling in 1976 as evidence that HCG diets are dangerous and ineffective. However, this lawsuit did not prove that HCG was dangerous or ineffective. Instead, it found that the marketing of specific HCG diets by certain weight loss clinics violated consumer protection rules and mandated the use of a disclosure statement in future advertising. This disclosure states that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has not approved the HCG for weight loss; that these drugs do not cause more attractive redistribution of weight on their own; and that the treatment has not been proven to produce results other than those expected from a 500-calorie diet. Additionally, and more importantly, it reaffirmed and protected the ability of physicians’ to recommend off-label uses to their patients for existing drugs.

Studies

Detractors also point to studies, supposedly, showing the ineffectiveness of HCG. Coincidentally, they fail to mention other studies that show HCG as an effective method for weight loss, like: ASHER WL, HARPER HW: Effect of human chorionic gonadotropin on weight loss, hunger, and feeling of well-being. American Journal Clinical Nutrition, 1973; 26: 211-218. You can read the report at http://www.ajcn.org/content/26/2/211.full.pdf. It’s valid to note that studies in favor or against the HCG method have largely been criticized and many times discredited for different reasons, especially for the methods used to obtain or interpret the data. While we are aware of many other studies, to us, there is no more validity needed than the thousands of success stories we have witnessed in our clinics and how this diet, has changed the life of so many people for the better and the absence of any harm caused to patients, even to the ones with less than expected results.

FDA Approval

While it is true that the FDA has not yet approved HCG for weight loss, it is approved as an infertility treatment in both men and women. Physicians have recognized the hormone’s “off-label” use to counter obesity for many years. Off-label uses of medications are quite common. For example, according to the American Cancer Society, some cancer treatments, such as chemotherapy, may be FDA-approved for treating one type of cancer, but are often used by doctors to treat other forms of cancer. Coincidentally, HCG has proven, according to different studies, to be a contributing factor to reducing risk of breast cancer (http://m.cebp.aacrjournals.org/content/4/5/437.abstract). Although there are hundreds of drugs with off-label uses, some common examples are shown in Table 1.

On the other hand, examples abound of drugs that the FDA has approved, such as Vioxx, only to later be pulled off the market for being extremely dangerous. Although the FDA approval process is in the best interest of patients, it is not failsafe. According to the John Hopkins School of Medicine’s Health Alerts, “Approval by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) means that clinical studies have proven a drug to be more helpful than harmful for specific diseases and conditions. But FDA approval does not guarantee that a drug is absolutely safe and universally effective.” Table 2 below shows ten well-known examples of drugs that had received FDA approval and then were pulled off the market as dangerous.

Table 2: Previously FDA-approved medications removed from market after serious health effects were found.

In our opinion, HCG holds enough merits to be considered a weight loss drug. There are no documented deaths or cases of people being seriously harmed, caused by the use of HCG. However, there are several cases of death due to gastric bypass and lap band surgery. Both of these procedures are FDA-approved and are commonly used weight loss methods. Based on the FDA doctrine of a drug being more helpful than harmful, the HCG carries, at least, one of the requirements to be considered for FDA approval.

HCG Plus Program: Sustainable Results

It is important to note that not all HCG diets produce the same results. After extensive research, Blissful Wellness Medical Weight Loss Centers has developed a safer, more effective treatment that is medically supervised and tailored to individual patient needs—the HCG Plus Program. Blissful Wellness has administered thousands of HCG diets and most patients (over 98%) report an increased sense of well being and a decrease in appetite or even total suppression. Although maintaining weight loss in the long-term requires proper nutrition and exercise, the HCG Plus Program has been shown again and again to produce and sustain dramatic weight loss.

The difference is in the method and its target. Many HCG diets do not produce sustainable results because they result in a consistent loss of muscle mass, thus causing a metabolism slowdown with subsequent plateaus. Moreover, these diets fail to address the lack of adequate supply of vitamins, minerals, and essential amino acids. At Blissful Wellness we have developed an alternative HCG plan that enhances a ketogenic diet and targets specifically the reduction of fat not muscle. To counter the deficiency of important nutrients on a restricted diet, we make available to our patients pharmaceutical–grade multivitamins and highly refined Omega 3. While we can’t produce the results many claim they are achieving with the HCG, we can consistently deliver results of 15-20 pounds per month. In many cases, we see results of 25 pounds or more and, on occasion, 30 pounds or more. These results come from the loss of fat mass and not muscle. This is a key difference compared to other diets and is also one of the main reasons our patients keep the weight off long-term.

Again, the HCG Plus Program focuses on patients losing fat, not muscle mass. Most other weight loss centers only focus on patients losing weight—any kind is acceptable as long patients can see the scale going down. Blissful Wellness’s professionals do not settle for this. By incorporating a high quality, highly absorbable protein-enhanced nutritional supplement, the HCG Plus Program preserves muscle mass and obtains weight loss from fat, thus further enhancing the weight loss experience.

Physicians at Blissful Wellness stress a truly medical approach to HCG diets. When joining the HCG Plus Program, patients undergo a thorough medical consultation, lab work, including Thyroid-stimulating Hormone tests (to detect thyroid problems) and an electrocardiography (EKG). Patients’ diets are further tailored based on their individual Resting Metabolic Rates which are obtained by using highly sophisticated equipment and not just mere estimations. If decreased metabolic rates are detected, we implement mechanisms to recover the metabolism so that weight loss can be increased.

At Blissful Wellness we are conscious that losing the weight is only half the battle and in our constant commitment to defeat obesity, we are launching a series of programs that will offer specially trained counselors to help patients deal with the psychological side of obesity, as well as exercise physiologists to help patients start and maintain an effective and appropriate exercise regimen. This maintenance program will also, in time, make use of the latest technology to help us remotely monitor patients’ progress over extended periods of time to ensure they succeed in conquering their weight.

In comparison to competing weight loss programs, our HCG Plus diet is more effective when measured in pounds of fat lost per dollar spent. Programs at Blissful Wellness start at only $159 for 4 weeks!  Competitors with HCG diets or other programs are much more expensive—typically $800 for 6 weeks, or $30 or more per pound. That’s more money spent with not a single additional pound lost and this difference is even more notable when comparing prices with pounds of fat loss. When comparing prices make sure to ask for the consistent results they obtain, it’s not worth to you knowing that a few people lost 40 pounds in a month but what the consistent results obtained for people in your weight range. Our results are consistent and our success is repeatable.

While detractors and competitors spend their time and efforts in making self- serving statements and trying to scare the public away from the HCG diet, Blissful Wellness has increased its investment in research and the development of new products and services that can further enhance patients’ experience. We are truly committed to winning the battle of obesity. For us, this is not just a side business as it is in many centers which also sell laser hair removal procedures, hormone replacement therapy, and even tanning services. For us, this is not just a business. It’s a passion. And we are on our own quest to defeat obesity. For that reason, we make available hundreds of diets a year free of charge to low-income individuals. We also make available hundreds more diets to medical personnel to help raise awareness of this problem and help spread the word of the benefits associated with losing weight. No other weight loss center is more committed and invested in our community.

Hormone Replacement Therapy’s Potential Risks

Like HCG diets, bio-identical HRT has not been FDA-approved for weight loss. In fact it hasn’t been approved for many of the uses several clinics are marketing it for. Even more noticeable are the risks associated with HRT which are well documented even for its labeled uses. According to the Mayo Clinic’s summary of a clinical trial of 10,000 women over one year undergoing HRT, doctors found that:

In the largest clinical trial to date, the combination estrogen-progestin (Prempro) increased the risk of certain serious conditions…Women taking estrogen plus progestin might experience:

• Seven more cases of heart disease than women taking a placebo.
• Eight more cases of breast cancer than women taking a placebo.
• Eight more cases of stroke than women taking a placebo.
• Eighteen more cases of blood clots than women taking a placebo.
• An increase in abnormal mammograms, particularly false positives.

As the physicians at Blissful Wellness direct all of their efforts toward increasing their expertise in weight loss, they are not experts in hormone replacement therapy (HRT) bio-identical or not, and therefore cannot attest to the benefits of these methods or lack thereof.

This summary regarding Hormone Replacement therapy is just to show how easy is to try to discredit something without having all the facts, based only on surface research and even more, it further affirms the use of off-label hormones by physicians; some of them with great results.

Closing statement

To our patients, we hereby renew our commitment to keep producing safe, healthy and cost effective ways to battle obesity and to never let commercial interests get in the way of giving you the best services and offering the highest quality products. We recognize that being overweight or obese is more than cosmetic—it is a serious medical condition with associated health risks. The physicians at Blissful Wellness take your health very seriously and are dedicated to providing you with the care and support you deserve.

To our competitors and colleagues, here it is an open call to join forces in the battle against obesity. This is a serious medical condition that requires a global and multidisciplinary approach to be solved. The team at Blissful Wellness Medical Weight Loss Centers proposes that we all set aside our differences in methods and fight this disease with every tool we have available, while maintaining the safety of our patients at heart. Let’s together spread the word about the dangers of obesity. Let’s become true advocates for our patients. Together, we can conquer and eradicate this disease for the benefit of our generation and many other generations to come.

The Blissful Wellness Medical Weight Loss Centers team