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This week, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration ordered companies to stop selling homeopathic hCG diet products. The pills, pellets and drops—diluted from pregnancy hormone hCG—are fraudulent and ineffective for weight loss, the agency said. It’s the latest in a series of FDA crackdowns on illegal weight-loss products—though previous efforts have mostly involved faux-’natural’ diet aids laced with unlisted (and often illegal) pharmaceuticals. The problem with the homeopathic hCG products—that they actually contain little to no trace of an active substance (in this case hCG)—is uncommon in the diet drug world, though typical of homeopathic remedies.
The hCG diet is perhaps 2011′s most talked-about fad diet trend. HCG stands for human chorionic gonadotropin, a hormone produced by the human placenta during pregnancy and found in the urine of pregnant women. The original hCG diet involved low-dose, daily injections of hCG, along with an ultra-low calorie diet (about 500 daily calories, high in protein and low in carbs and fat). The hormone injections allegedly reduced dieters’ appetites, making the reduced calories bearable. Marketers tout hCG dieters who’ve lost 20-30 pounds in as little as a month.
The Journal of the American Medical Association and the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition have both warned that hCG is neither safe nor effective as a diet aid. But hCG diet success stories abound. And the popularity—and high price—of the injections spawned the sale of ‘homeopathic hCG’ pills, pellets, drops and sprays. Prepared via homeopathic dilution, they contain either no hCG at all or only trace amounts.
While people sometimes use the term ‘homeopathy‘ in reference to all sorts of natural remedies or alternative medicine, homeopathy actually refers to a very specific process of successive dilutions of a natural, medicinal substance into a preparation or remedy used in treatment. Many homeopathic remedies have been so diluted as to contain no trace of the original medicinal substance. This makes them, in effect, harmless—but not effective. According to the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine, “most analyses have concluded that there is little evidence to support homeopathy as an effective treatment for any specific condition; although, some studies have reported positive findings.
This is largely because a number of its key concepts are not consistent with the current understanding of science, particularly chemistry and physics.
In the case of the homeopathic hCG remedies, “people think that if they’re losing weight, HGC must be working,” said the FDA’s Elizabeth Miller in a statement. ”But the data simply does not support this – any loss is from severe calorie restriction. Not from the hCG.”
Here’s a kind of unintentionally hilarious (yet informative!) video from the FDA and Miller about over-the-counter hCG.
i have lost alot of weight with diet and exercising and then i just watched my eating but stopped exercising…..and my weight went back up. what a shocker! sitting on my butt made me gain weight, even with healthy eating. surprising. there is no “get rich quick” scheme when it comes to weight loss. get over it
I joined this website “Get Official Samples” and i got free stuff from it, it took about a week for me to receive? something i actually wanted so just join them and it is easy and free
Great post on the FDA’s decision to ban the hGC drug–I had no idea what the drug actually came from! Your post was really informative!
I thought you might like this video (link: http://www.newsy.com/videos/fda-says-hgc-homeopathic-diet-is-unsafe/) about the FDA’s ban and the drug–it goes a lot into bloggers’ opinions on the whole ordeal.
HCG WILL GIVE YOU A HEART ATTACK AND LITTLE WEIGHT LOSS
The Anti Obesity drug makers and diabetes drug makers take in 10 billion$$$$ every year with no cure!!
Food Chemicals are the cause of the diabetes and obesity crisis
The FDA and Drug makers know this and are laughing to the Billionaire$$$ bank
The food chemicals break the gut(insulin) and this is the cause of the diabetes and obesity crisis
A filmmaker has been reversing diabetes and Obesity in now 10 countries and the drug makers do not promote the story
just google SPIRIT HAPPY DIET
All I can say is I lost 17 pounds in 23 days and have kept them of without much effort for four months. The difference between 500 calories with hcg and without is that with it I had energy, was focused, did not lose muscle and lost my “matron” fat– on my back, arms and hips. A couple of years ago I tried to get by on 900 calories a day but was starving, cranky and exhausted. Gave up after 4 or 5 days. The 3 pounds I lost (water, I imagine) was back on within a day or two. My mom, age 70, has also done HCG. In 23 days she lost 13 pounds that have stayed off. The last time she dieted she did Ideal Protien. She lost 25 pounds over 6 and a half months. Gained ten back before she started hcg. It’s too early to tell how she’ll do in the long run (she has more to lose) but she also lose matron fat so she looks quite a bit thinner than when she has been at this weight before. (The same can be said for me). Both of us agree HCG was the easiest diet we have ever been on. No cravings. No hunger. Seriously. I wish the FDA would leave hcg alone.
I agree that it is the best diet I have ever been on and believe me I have been on all of them. I started off working out at the gym and eating healthy a year and a half ago, I went from 214 to 155 I literally worked my butt off, but then I gained 16 pounds back in one month even though I was eating healthy, I was not working out so much. I then went on the hcg and and went from 171 to 139. I absolutely believe in the hcg and love it. I have to say that I have met people that are not losing and are hungry, so I do believe that there are some fake products out there and those are the ones the FDA should go after, but leave the good ones alone. Do your research and go by word of mouth and listen to real people who have done it and swear by it. I also recommend reading Dr. Simeons book Pounds and Inches he was a genius, the book is my bible.