As another new year kicks off, many feel motivated to finally accomplish long-held weight loss goals. In pursuit of rapid results, some consider attempting intense fad diets aided by questionable supplements like over-the-counter HCG drops which flood today’s diet marketplace boasting magical fat-burning powers. But do these pregnancy hormones in a bottle help regular folks drop pounds as promised? Or do healthcare professionals argue any benefits fail to outweigh the demonstrated dangers?
Yet despite both a lack of evidence and the diet’s associated health dangers at just one-quarter minimum nutrition, today’s $72 billion diet industry heavily markets easy weight loss allegedly tied to over-the-counter HCG supplements. As consumer hopes for fast results soar parallel to New Year’s fitness resolutions, homeopathic HCG oral drops, pellets, and sprays now abound online and in pharmacies advertising effortless fat burning for just pennies a day.
2022 research on HCG & weight loss
But do facts support the too-good-to-be-true claims tied to taking HCG? In multiple 2022 clinical reviews by bariatric physicians and researchers affiliated with Hopkins, Penn State, and the Obesity Medicine Association, no high-quality data demonstrates HCG Diet Chicago supplements uniquely improving or accelerating fat reductions versus the well-established impacts of severe calorie restriction alone. Across both short and longer-term human trials, severely limiting nutritional energy intake to 500 calories daily predictably triggers substantial weight loss with or without HCG, affirming such intense dieting as the driver versus supplements. Per obesity specialists, nothing suggests the hormone itself provides additional advantage either for losing initially or maintaining long-term reductions versus personal diet and fitness measures customized under medical guidance.
Dangers of extreme caloric deprivation
However, while animal research shows even brief periods spent in starvation mode lead to concerning loss of structural heart, muscle, and bone mass, some still insist on signing up for a doctor-supervised very low-calorie HCG diet plan. For those determined to attempt medically short-term HCG protocols regardless of questionable efficacy, health practitioners strongly emphasize crucial safety precautions.
Per Harvard and Johns Hopkins guidance, extremely low-calorie plans risking nutritional deficits must include regular check-ins tracking weight, key vitals, and clinical warning signs indicating problems like electrolyte imbalance or arrhythmias. Supplementing key nutrients through approved vitamins, minerals, and protein supplements also helps counter malnutrition while medical teams personalize diet adjustments to the lowest safe caloric level for an individual based on factors like body composition.
Based weight loss strategies
The endure short-term risk and burden for unproven supplements, substantial research by Mayo and Cleveland Clinics argue that customized nutrition and fitness plans emphasizing lots of nutrient-dense foods, activity in line with ability, community support, and optimal sleep set most dieters up for long term success losing and keeping pounds off. Commercial drops, pills, and radical regimes promoting unrealistic fast fixes inevitably fail over months while gradual, sustainable lifestyle habits better support maintained health.
