With people losing weight at the amazing rate of 20lbs in 15 days, many users are hailing the HCG diet as the end-all to overweight problems. Promising to curb your hunger and drop a pant size in only a few days, HCG injections and drops are gaining popularity with customers and even medical professionals everywhere. But despite this new trend, there are still many unanswered questions surrounding the concept of using pregnancy hormones for weight-loss.

HCG Dieting Dangers:

Because HCG is not man-made, but rather a hormone found in women during pregnancy, many assume that is must be safe for dieting. However, while the FDA has approved the use of this hormone for infertile men and women, they have not necessarily approved it for rapid-weight loss. Experts still maintain that the best way to lose and keep off weight is to eat healthy foods, exercise and maintain other healthy habits. Even when dieting, nutritionists suggest that a minimum of 1200 calories be consumed per day. With HCG websites, however, a maximum of 500 calories per day is allowed. With a diet plan like that, it is no wonder that people shed the pounds.

On U.S. News Health Report, Dr. Pieter Conen, a professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School, stated that, “any benefit will not last.” People are not truly changing their eating habits; they are simply cutting out eating almost all together. This is where the majority of weight-loss is coming from, not necessarily the HCG drops. After the HCG cycle is over and consumers are free to eat what they want again, they will go back to their old habits and may even binge; causing them to gain back the weight they just lost. Even though there are relatively few complaints from consumers about their HCG dieting, the ones that do come through are almost identical to the short-term effects associated with mal-nutrition.

• Headaches
• Constipation
• Nausea
• Gained weight during and immediately after regime
• Hungry all the time
• Hair-loss

Medical professionals confess that they do not know many of the long-term risks associated with this hormone. However, many do believe that the above short-term effects could be an indication of greater and more serious side effects, including:

• Blood clots
• Muscle and bone loss
• Gall stones

Conclusion:

Because not everything is known about the HCG, if you are considering taking it, you are cautioned to talk to your doctor first about the health risks involved. There have been many success stories with HCG, and it may very well be the dieting plan that works for you, but be aware that there are many scams on the internet looking to take your money for a knock-off drug. So, before committing, be sure that you are only considering HCG drops and not the high-risk injection, as well as receiving professional advice. When you are using HCG, strive to not only lose rapid weight, but to change your eating habits for the better; implement fruits and vegetables and practice portion rationing. These habits will stay with you after you have finished the diet and will help your body maintain all the necessary nutrients it needs to enjoy a healthy lifestyle and an ideal weight.

Secondly, those that have a past history of eating problems are not advised to go onto the diet since it does alter the way in which people eat drastically. Those that have problems with anorexia in the past are going to find that they fall right back into their old ways and will cause more problems then they will help correctly. For these reasons, it is important for a doctor to prescribe the diet to the person in order to make sure that problems are not going to arise through the use of the diet.

Secondly, those that have severe stomach issues and allergies may find that the HCG Diet is just not possible to stick to since it has a very strict food list to choose from. Those that do have these problems should talk to their doctor about what diet they could use and succeed with since the doctor may be able to use the HCG Diet for them, but make a few adjustments. In fact, most doctors can tweak the HCG Diet to make sure that it fits the patient better and will help them succeed in weight loss. Therefore, for anyone that is interested in the HCG Diet, should talk to a doctor, as there may be changes that they can make to make it work.

For starters, limit yourself on how many people you go out to dinner with, too many times there will be no selections for you on the menu, thus you will have to cheat on the diet. If you must go out for a dinner meeting or something, then consider just having water, or a green salad in order to stick to the diet. Secondly, let people know that you are on a very strict diet, and most people will make sure that they are not tempting you with what they are eating since most people know how it feels to feel tempted while on a diet.

Secondly, the HCG injections sometimes causes people to experience headaches. This is something that will also decrease in activity once the body gets use to the injections and the presence of the hormones. Plus, the amount of food that the person takes in is usually much less than what they are used to, thus they develop a headache from not getting that food.

For those that are experiencing severe headaches, they should talk to their doctor as it could be their headaches are something that is completely unrelated to the diet and may be due to allergies, migraines or other ailments. Otherwise, taking a pain reliever is going to help the person get through the day.

Another common stomach issue is nausea when on the HCG diet and this is because the HCG hormone will cause this. There really is no getting around this, however, you doctor may suggest some medicine to keep it at bay especially if it becomes a huge problem. Overall, stomach pain is going to accompany the diet, however, most agree that it is well worth it when they lose the pounds that have been plaguing them for years.

First, if you feel that when you go to the grocery that you are going to buy those impulse buys, then consider having someone else go to the grocery for you, thus removing temptation. Be sure to provide them with a list itemizing your meal plan.

Secondly, when you feel that the stress is getting the better of your life and you would normally turn to food to decrease the stress, take up a meditation exercise like yoga. This will not only help deal with the stress, but also help to tone your body along the way.

Third of all, consider going to an emotional eater support group, where you can talk with others the pressures you are feeling about cheating on the diet and receive words of encouragement, as well as other ways that people have battled the problem of emotional eating. While some cities have HCG clinics which can provide this added level of support, most do not. The best thing to do in this case is to jump online and utilize the many HCG support forums out there. Some of our favorite forums to visit include:

http://hcgdietinfo.com/hcgdietforums/forum.php

http://hcgforums.com/

http://www.hcgweightloss.com/forum/forum.php

For starters, eat the meals that are planned out. Do not simply start skipping meals because you believe that you will lose even more weight. Those that do this often find that they are going down a dangerous road of becoming anorexic and end up in the hospital for an eating disorder.

Secondly, when giving yourself the HCG injections, you must make sure to sterilize the area that the injection is being given in order to cut down on the number of germs and bacteria that gets into your body. Doctors will explain the exact procedure and people must be sure to do this. Under no circumstances should the person increases the amount of HCG that they are putting into their body in an effort to lose even more weight, this is very dangerous and could lead to irreversible damage.

Another common safety concern for those on the HCG diet is that they lose too much weight too fast. The doctor will be monitoring your weight loss and if they notice this, they are going to increase your diet calorie intake so that the person is not losing weight at such a rapid rate.

That is a common question and the answer seems to be that they do not work as good. The reason is that they are not to the same level as the hormone that doctors prescribe give to their patients. Those that use the homeopathic HCG are going to find that they are not losing weight as much as those that are using the traditional HCG hormone. So the best advice that anyone could take from anything is to steer clear of the Homeopathic HCG, especiallyif they are truly dedicated to losing weight. Most doctor will advise that these homeopathic remedies are more like placebos in the effect that they have, meaning no affect whatsoever. However, those that sell the product still make a lot of money off those that fall for the scam.

Since the HCG Diet utilizes the HCG hormone that is found during pregnancy, many people may experience nausea as they would if they were pregnant. Headaches are a common side-effect since the person is limited the amount of sugar and caffeine that they ingest, however, does go away within a few days. Hunger is also one of the side-effects that subsides in a few days after the body gets use to the diet, as well as lack of energy. However, the energy does return and usually much better since the body is working on less fats and other bad fats that are usually ingested. Overall, the side effects are something that the person may experience for the first few days, but once the body gets use to the HCG Diet, they usually subside.