Updated 4/18/23./ Have you heard of the HCG diet? It’s been around for over 60 years. I first heard of this diet in 2007 in a book called “The Weight Loss Cure They Don’t Want You to Know About”. What I would like to do here is review the scientific studies that have been performed on the HCG diet protocol and let you draw your own conclusions about whether HCG injections help weight loss or not. This review will focus on the original version of HCG diet – the version that uses injections of the hormone HCG.
Homeopathic HCG Review
HCG drops (homeopathic version of this diet)
What Is The HCG Diet & The Simeons Protocol?
HCG stands for human chorionic gonadotropin. This is a hormone that women make when they are pregnant. In fact the most natural way to raise HCG levels is to get pregnant.
The HCG diet dates back to about 1954 when a doctor named Albert Simeons started giving HCG injections to obese people. He published his study in the Lancet, a well-known medical journal.
The HCG diet consists of daily HCG injections coupled with a 500-calorie diet. In addition, people are also told to refrain from using hardly any fat. Even the fats in cosmetics are to be avoided during the HCG diet. There are many HCG diet books to help people with
the food portion of the program.
According to Simeons, giving HCG along with the 500-calorie diet was better for weight loss than just giving them 500 calories. He claimed that his technique achieved fast weight loss without people being hungry. This, he stated was because HCG suppressed the appetite and enhanced people’s moods.
HCG injections also were alleged to burn fat from specific body areas. Today we would call this claim “spot reduction” – ridding fat from only certain locations like troublesome areas of the thighs for example.
It’s my understanding that in the Kevin Trudeau’s weight loss book, he speculated that HCG stimulated the hypothalamus of the brain to get the body to start burning fat. Whether that's true or not, I cannot say.
For more on Kevin Trudeau, see my review of Herpes Cure Report.
What matters is that Dr. Simeons claimed that the HCG injections could result in weight loss of between ½ lb and almost 2 lbs per day on average.
Is there any proof this is true? Let's look at the clinical studies on HCG and weight loss and see what we can discover.
HCG Diet Research. Does The Simeons Protocol Work?
There is HCG weight loss research. Doctors have looked at this weight loss solution several times since the early 1950s. I have linked to the actual scientific studies so you can read them for yourself if you like.
In 1963 Craig and associates tested the Simeons diet in 20 overweight women. The study lasted 45 days. Women were split into 2 groups:
- one group received daily shots of HCG (125 units)
- the other received shots of a placebo
All women ate only 550 calories a day contained in 2 meals. Women could drink as much water, tea, or coffee as they liked (no sugar in tea or coffee).
Results: Women getting HCG injections did not lose more weight.
In 1973, Asher and Harper tested the HCG diet in 40 overweight women for 6 weeks. The study was published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.
Women either received either
- daily HCG injections (125 units)
- or a saline placebo.
All women consumed a 500-calorie diet.
Results. Asher and Harper found that women getting HCG injections lost more weight than those who received a placebo.
In the study, it was stated that Harper, who did the “clinical work” also “has an active practice using HCG for weight reduction”. In science, this is technically a no no. Some might see this as possible bias (even unconscious bias) on the part of the researcher.
However, the connection of the researcher to the HCG diet was clearly disclosed at the beginning of the study. They were not trying to hide this, and I will call this study a “win” for the HCG diet.
It was because of the findings by Asher and Harper that in 1976, Stein and colleagues decided to test the HCG diet. In their investigation, they used a similar protocol as Asher and Harper (Asher provided Stein with their research design).
They tested the HCG diet in 51 young women (ave aged 33). The study lasted 32 days. Women were split into 2 groups:
- One group received daily injections of HGC (125 units)
- The other group received injections of a saline placebo
All women were put on the identical 500-calorie diet as in the Asher and Harper study. Women were also instructed to drink 8-10 glasses of water daily.
Results. This study found that the HCG diet did not help weight loss.
Women getting HCG did not lose any more weight than those getting the placebo. In addition, women getting HCG injections did not lose
more weight in specific body areas (as the HCG diet proponents often say will happen).
Also, in 1976, another HCG study was performed by Young and colleagues. In this study, there were 202 people.
For 6 days a week, people received either
- injections of HCG (125 units a day)
- or saline injections (placebo)
In addition people also ate 500 calories a day and received lectures on diet and behavior modification twice a week for the length of the study.
All fat was excluded from the diet except for the fat that was associated with the protein that people ate from food.
This study also tested whether HCG treatment helped people maintain their weight loss better. This was accomplished by giving people 6 weeks of no HCG injections coupled with education about how to eat properly.
Results. At the end of the study, researchers found that HCG injections did not lead to any greater weight loss or weight maintenance than those who did not get HCG injections. In the words of the researchers:
“… we could not demonstrate by any objective indicator that HCG was beneficial in promoting weight loss, nor was there any significant difference in fat loss or body circumference measurements”
In 1977, Shetty and Kalkhoff did a small study of HCG in 6 hospitalized obese women. The women were only given 500 calories a day and injected daily with 125 units of HCG for 30 days. Another 5 women were given the exact same diet yet injected with a placebo.
Results. According to the authors, weight loss between groups was “nearly identical”. Measurements of the circumferences of the chest, waist, hips or thighs also showed no differences between the HCG and placebo groups. Any changes observed, the authors noted, was consistent with “semi-starvation” and weight loss”.
Also in 1977, Greenway and associates tested the HCG diet for 6 weeks in 40 healthy women (age 20-40) who were randomly divided into 2 groups:
- One group received HCG
- The other group got a placebo
Both groups received injections 6 days a week for 6 weeks. Greenway did not specify how much HCG women received in their investigation (I’ll assume it was 125 units but I cannot prove this).
Results. People getting daily HCG injections did not lose any more weight than women who received a placebo. Likewise, there were no differences in body circumferences or mood in those who received HCG injections. The Greenway study was concluded with these words (note these words were written in 1977):
“We feel that the 20 year history of the use of HCG in the treatment of obesity should come to an end because injections of placebo appear to be equally effective in all respects.”
In 1983 Birmingham and Smith reviewed 6 of double-blind studies of the HCG diet conducted at that time.
Results. They concluded that only one study (the Asher and Harper study mentioned above) found that HCG injections caused weight loss more than placebo. The other 5 studies found that HCG injections do not cause weight loss.
In 1990, Venter and associates tested the HCG diet in 40 obese women for 6 weeks. In this double-blind placebo-controlled study, women were either given daily HCG injections or injections of a placebo. All women were put on the same diet that supplied 1200 calories a day.
Before and after the study, they tested body weight, body circumferences, and hunger level.
Results. The HCG diet “showed no advantages over those on placebo in respect any of the variables recorded”. So HCG didn’t work.
In 1995, Lijesen and colleagues performed a meta-analysis of 24 previously published HCG diet studies.
A meta analysis basically means that the researchers added together the results of a bunch of studies, to see if they could find “the big picture”.
Results. They concluded that “there is no scientific evidence that HCG is effective in the treatment of obesity”
and that:
“it [HCG] does not bring about weigh loss or fat redistribution nor does it reduce hunger or induce a feeling of well being.”
Summary Of HCG Weight Loss Studies
| Study | People in study | Study design | Results |
| Craig (1963) | 20 | Double-blind placebo controlled | HCG doesn’t work |
| Asher/Harper (1973) | 40 | Randomized double-blind | HCG works |
| Stein (1976) | 51 | Randomized double-blind | HCG doesn't work |
| Young (1976) | 202 | Randomized double blind cross over | HCG doesn't work |
| Sheety (1977) | 6 | Randomized double-blind | HCG doesn't work |
| Greenway (1977) | 40 | Randomized double-blind | HCG doesn't work |
| Birmingham (1983) | 358 | Meta-analysis of 6 HCG studies | HCG doesn't work |
| Lijesen (1995) | ? | Meta-analysis of 24 HCG studies | HCG doesn’t work |
Note. This is just a sample of the HCG weight loss studies. There are several others.
HCG Diet Video
Here's a quick video revealing the research on the Simeons Protocol and other HCG diet research
Watch this video on my YouTube channel if you prefer.
HCG Diet And The Thyroid
Some ask if this diet can help the metabolism or thyroid or improve hypothyroidism. I am not aware of any research that looked at the HCG diet protocol and checked to see if it altered the level of thyroid or TSH levels. As people lose weight -through any diet – metabolism does tend to decrease.
This is why its often easier to lose the first 50 pounds than the last 10 pounds of weight. Whether or not HCG can change this drop in metabolic rate needs more research.
Some say that HCG shots (and HCG drops) help people preserve muscle during weight loss. Again, I have not seen any scientific proof that the protocol reduces muscle loos when dieting. Theoretically, eating only 500 calories per day would eventually cause the body to start cannibalizing itself to maintain adequate energy.
Whether HCG injections can reduce/reverse this process is unknown as far as I can tell and is likewise deserving of better research. These 2 aspects of the HCG diet would make for very interesting topics for graduate students to research (hint, hint to the grad students reading this).
HCG Injection Side Effects
Most of the human HCG injection weight loss studies did not report anything bad happening but its also true many did not last long enough either. Here are some things to consider if you embark on trying this yourself.
If you do HCG injections, you really should do it under a doctor's supervision. Don't buy the HCG hormone on the internet and inject it yourself. Don't listen to any “internet expert” who makes claims about how much to use or anything like that. There are doctors who will prescribe HCG for “off-label” use. While I have been critical of doctors who do this (see the HCG drops review), it's likely safer when used in conjunction with a physician who knows about this stuff than using a do-it-yourself approach.
Do not share needles to reduce costs. That is a surefire way of getting a disease.
Realize that weight loss may not be so great without also reducing calorie intake. That said, I could not recommend only 500 calories per day. Instead, why not try a safer amount, such as 1500 calories per day? If HCG really does work, then it should even work – albeit slower – when a more rational reduction in calories are consumed. Slow weight loss help stabilizes metabolic rate better than fast weight loss.
See the review at Dr.BillSukala.com for more insights.
Can HCG Cause Cancer?
In a 2016 paper titled Evidence for, and Associated Risks with, the Human Chorionic Gonadotropin Supplemented Diet, published in the Journal of Dietary Supplements, the authors call attention to the possibility that the use of HCG hormone may promote and spread the growth of cancer.
In their paper, the authors point out that there are different variations of the HGC molecules. Two of these types are called:
- Hyperglycosylated HCG (hCGh)
- hCG free beta-subunit (hCGb)
These kinds of HCG are thought to be linked to cancer promotion. I have yet to see clinical studies published that directly link HCG to cancer in humans, although the authors mention they have people online speculating that HCG may have caused their cancer. I have seen these websites myself. Performing an online search for “Did HCG injections cause my cancer?” should reveal websites where this topic is discussed.
Does The HCG Diet Work?
Some say that HCG needs to be used soon after being prepared, or it becomes useless. Could this be why all the other HCG studies show it doesn't work? Could all the other researchers have made a critical mistake? Maybe. In theory, there may be something to this- if HCG really does break down as fast as they say.
Could there be a conspiracy by the medical community to prevent people from knowing the truth about HCG? I don’t think so. Here’s why.
Covering up proof that the HCG diet works would be very difficult because EVERYBODY can read the HCG diet studies. ANYBODY can replicate the studies today using the very same procedures and see if it works. So why don’t the sellers of the HCG diet protocol – instead of invoking the name of Albert Simeons– do their own HCG diet research, publish that research and prove to the world that the HCG diet really works?
Here's HCG supplements on Amazon if you want to see what others are saying.
What do you think?
Joe, thanks for a thoughtful and detailed approach to the protocol.
I’ve personally lost and maintained a 30 lb loss for over 2 years now as a result of the hCG protocol, despite having a number of health setbacks with surgery and tick-borne disease that caused a lot of inflammation and bodily upset. It lost of total of 60 lbs, but various health issues, combined with losing my exercise program from medical restrictions have put some back. However, I’m still 30 lbs and 4 sizes less of me than there was for many, many years, and I don’t have to work very hard to keep it there, just eat real, healthy food.
Full disclosure: I have since gone back to school and gotten certified as a health coach, and specialize in helping people lose weight and maintain healthy weight, including helping people with the hCG protocol.
What I’ve learned in my experiences with my hCG clients, with myself, and in the thousands of people providing anecdotal evidence in various groups around the web is that while the hCG protocol works, it only works well if one sticks strictly to the protocol as it was designed by Dr. Simeons. I have seen hundreds of people who followed altered food plans with different foods or higher calories lose, but then fail to maintain those losses for long afterwards (which to my way of thinking is the critical factor here, since anyone can lose weight, it is keeping it off that is the hard part).
Additionally, I’ve come to realize that ‘standard’ food plans from the FDA/ADA/etc. nearly always result in weight gain, or at best no loss if one wishes to lose. I definitely have come to realize that ‘calories in-calories out’ has no meaning. There was an active person earlier in this comment thread that mentioned that the ‘standard’ approach didn’t work for them.
What a person must do to maintain their weight loss after any plan depends on that person’s bodily needs, and that varies from person to person. Some thrive on low-carb or paleo style approaches (actually many, possibly even the majority from the anecdotal evidence I’ve seen), some from vegetarian, some from low fat, or gluten free. Basically, there is no one way to ‘eat for life’ that will work for everyone, which is why traditional ‘diets’ like Weight Watchers, etc. fail for so many, as they are a ‘one size fits all’ approach. It is ludicrous to assume that a white European-descended male requires exactly the same food balance as an Asian woman or South Pacific Islander. You can see how that works in the decline of health in groups such as the Inuit and Okinawan peoples when ‘western’ food was introduced to their cultures, with our processed, high sugar/carb low fat approach.
You can also see it in our own population since the introduction of the ‘heart smart’ low fat eating style, where the incidence of heart disease, diabetes, obesity and many other disorders has risen *sharply* since the American populace was convinced of this as a ‘good’ way to eat. In fact, the study that started this entire thing has since been shown to be in error in the assumptions made.
It is indeed sad that no one has chosen to perform a modern, double-blind randomized study of the hCG protocol as it was designed. Regarding the studies you list (I list the same ones on my web site for those who wish to research), if you look into the food plans, nearly all of them deviate from the protocol as it was designed, so they cannot really say they are getting results for the effectiveness of the Simeons protocol, since they don’t follow it.
Dr. Simeons notes in several places in Pounds and Inches that any deviation, no matter how small, causes the entire process to become unbalanced, and unreliable in the ability to maintain these losses. As regards Dr. Oz, well, for one, he has a diet book to promote, so of course any other approach is ‘no good’ because of that, and secondly, he has advertisers to make happy, so anything he says is suspect. I don’t give any ‘TV’ doctor any credence, they are tainted by their association with advertising and media. Case in point was Dr. Oz’s derogatory and inflammatory responses to Gary Taubes when he was on the show, despite a mountain of evidence showing that Taubes approach is very valid for many people. Interestingly, his own wife was doing the hCG protocol (albeit the ‘homeopathic’ one, which I reserve judgement on), while he was doing the show.
Does hCG work? If you ask the people who performed the studies, no. But if you ask the hundreds of thousands of people who have not just lost weight and kept it off, but gotten off their heart meds, thyroid meds, diabetes meds and other medications, they will tell you resoundingly, YES. It worked for them.
Is it hard? Yes, it requires a very strict approach for 40 days, then another 21 days of avoiding sugars and starches to ‘set’ things. Then one goes on to eat ‘normally’, which is the really hard part, because you have to figure out which foods work for your body, and there isn’t really a guide for that anywhere.
I do know that the number of people I have observed over the last 5 years of researching and coaching people with the protocol that those who attempt this *without* hCG experience extreme hunger and weakness, where those who do use hCG have hunger, but not the extreme hunger or weakness they get without it, so something is happening there. Placebo effect? Perhaps, but I am inclined to think not, given that this effect occurs in the majority of those doing the protocol. Again, these are based on my observations of those posting in various support groups over the last 5 years, as well as my own experience and that of my coaching clients.
Does it work? The science has never (to my mind, since all the studies were flawed by their design) been adequately tested. However, the overwhelming anecdotal evidence is out there showing an awful lot of people who are no longer obese or even overweight after doing this protocol. Study or not, that sort of evidence is pretty hard to refute. I see it succeed every day with people, and a significant percentage of them (60-70% per Dr. Simeons’ study, but in my experience, more like 40-50%) keep the weight off long-term (longer than 2 years). I attribute some of that difference to the fact that in the 50’s we weren’t overrun with Frankenfoods and inundated with advertisements for such foods and other unhealthy foods, and as such didn’t have as many poor choices to work with. Given that traditional weight loss programs have a success rate of less than 5% maintaining over 1 year, I’d say that is a pretty good result.
If nothing else, this protocol has given back an awful lot of people their health, and to hear them talk about it, their lives. That, right there, is evidence enough for me, even if a study is never done.
Frankly, given some of the evidence that has come to light of late regarding skewed studies and shadow companies behind creating studies that really aren’t (note all the ‘studies’ showing Splenda and Nutrasweet are ‘safe’, when these products have health complaints with the FDA totaling over 70% of all the FDA complaints submitted), I don’t place a lot of faith in so-called studies anymore. Seems to me like the American medical, agri-conglomerate and pharma industries have gotten so corrupt that it is difficult to believe them if they tell us the sky is blue. So, I’ll take real people with real results any day, at least right now. Is that scientific? Perhaps not, but at least they’re honest.
Vicky, thanks for your impute. I’m still hoping somebody, somewhere does a good randomized placebo study on HCG. Given its popularity, it does not seem to be popular with researchers, and that’s just sad.
Hi Debbie,
Happy to say I am now a size 2! Only problem is…I am 5’9″ and it is hard to find pants that fit the length of my legs in a size 2. I think jean makers think that if you are a size 2 you couldn’t possibly be tall. LOL.
Anyway this is where I purchase my hcg: http://www.hcg1234.com/204.html
Good luck! I love HCG
so are u doing the shots if so what are u paying and if not which liquid are u doing and where do u get it. Thanks Deb
I decided to do the hcg diet one more time. I have a photo shoot in 2 weeks so I want to be as skinny as possible. As you remember I went from a size 12 to a size 4 in 3 weeks the first time. I am trying to get back to the size I was in my 20s and I am almost 50 now. I have been on the diet for 5 days and have lost an additional 7 lbs! I have only 4 more lbs to go to hit my target. I LOVE HCG!!!!!!
I would like to announce that it has been one year since doing the hcg diet and I have not gained any weight back! 😀 HCG is my miracle!
Hi Joe, I just wrote to you on another post regarding your protein drinks when I found this post. I recently did this hCG diet but with a different kind of drops. I lost 20 lbs the first time around and the second time around down another 10. I had plenty of energy, no cravings, lost lots of fat, muscle is fine. Hope this helps. If you have any questions let me know.
ok thanks, and its no problem but you have spelled my name wrong in each of the responses to me, lol. Its Lakiira. Ttyl Joe..
Likiira, oops! maybe I need to get a new prescription of glasses 🙁
oh, and I started to drink the “Naked” green juice. Its supposed to be good for energy. It tastes really good. Do you know if its good for me? lol
Latiira, I have not heard anything bad about naked juice. Id look at the calories per serving and see what it says. next time Im in the supermarket, I will check it out 🙂
HI, Thank you Joe, that is really sincere of you. I do care more about being healthy and feeling better than weight loss, and I know that once that starts the weight loss is an added bonus…Im so glad I found someone so informative and genuine on the internet, I dont get that very often. But I will try and incorporate a shake, and since its been nicer here in Chicago, I started to walk the dog around the park. It usually takes an hr…I love to walk and run in the summer, but I packed the pounds on this winter and I had some extra stressors that didn’t help either. But I just got a great new job and Im ready for a healthy lifestyle change that I can stay with even in times when the depression lurks in. Thanks for your suggestions. And it does help, Lakiira
Lakaria, thanks for your kind words! Im glad to help and glad you found a great new job 🙂
Hi Joe No fights from this woman! The Fat thing you are talking about I understand. The way My doc says the Hcg works is………… If you only eat 10 grams of fat a day. The hcg feeds off of the fat you have in your body! Thats how it works. 🙂
Ok Debbie thanks 🙂
wow, this discussion was very informative and lasted for so long…I really appreciate you Joe for setting up such a website, and this kind of forum. I had never heard of hcg before this. I came for info on sensa (what a hoax), but after reading about hcg, Im glad I got all this info, from so many different sources. Im about 40-50lbs overweight, mid 20s, and I lack energy. I battle with depression, anxiety, and Im an over-eater.
Joe, you mentioned a high protein/low carb diet with supplement shakes for NicolePSU, do you think that would work for me and could you expound a little more on a plan like that? Thank you and did you ever hear from NicolePSu and her results from the hcg??? I was interested in hearing her outcome. Keep up the great work Joe and thx again! you’re a smart guy and this is very selfless of you.
Lakiira, thanks for your very nice words!I dont think I ever heard back from NicolePSU. Im guessing she’s been busy with college. As for yourself, the protein may help curb your appetite but what we eat is not only about appetite. Depression can also cause us to overeat. Why dont you try this instead. A protein shake is fine – here is my smoothie recipe http://supplementclarity.com/quick-easy-smoothie-recipee/ – I think you might be best served by not focusing on weight loss only but rather focus on being healthy. I think if you made choices based on that, that your weight would change and this I think would help your depression to a degree also.
Maybe start small, say you will go for a 30 min walk each day for example and build on that. If you want to toss in a protein shake that’s fine. Also think about what else you might do to be healthy. I like small steps Lakiira and looking at the big picture, rather than just looking at weight loss. All of this stuff is related so by looking at one aspect of things, the other things that it touches – like weight loss and having more energy – tend to alter as well.
I hope some of this helps Kakiira.
Sorry about my spelling. I think you all keep going over this! Allot of you want to try but are scared! So was I. If you are afraid of the injections use the drops. I have a friend that did the drops and like me ate 1200 cal and lost weight and is happy! The FAT GRAMS being the most important Do Not go over 10 grams a fat a day! If you do u will not lose weight that day! And like anything else it may work for u, it may not! Guess you will have to try it and see! Good Lucks Oh by the way I did not lose any muscle U ask me how I know that. Its my body I know my body I am 60 and should know my body! So should everyone else! As far as cook books Amazon They have and HCG cook book and there is another book by a family who all eat fat free and just type in fat free cook book!
Debbie, thanks for letting me know. I didnt know about HCG diet cookbooks. I’m glad you feel that you did not lose muscle although I contented that the only way to really know for sure is to measure it scientifically. I know that is something most people can’t do but just wanted to point that out. Also,when it comes to fat grams, each gram of fat has about 9 calories (in contrast carbs and protein both have about 4 calories per gram). So as you cut back on fat grams, you are also cutting back on calories. When it comes to weight loss, calories are more important than fat grams. Not looking for a fight on this, just trying to stick to the evidence.
First off why would you all believe anything that the FDA or the Gov say’s, about meds. Do u all realize how many good people are dying daily by listening to their Bull! My mom being one. My brother is still alive after taking drops of Lumina cell food for the last year before that, He was he was taking MMS, He has no remission and he is 3 year past his death date. He is doing better now then since he got sick. Hcg does work. The injections! I know I did it. Now if you fail to keep eating right u will gain the weight back but the weight loss is quick and the foods u eat u should be eating anyway. Ii was amazed by how much better I felt. I am not going to believe what and body says except who I put my health in. i have seen so many doctors and none can tell me anything because most of the time they guess! Tired of being brain washed!
Lisa, I didn’t intend to be shaming, just provide the scientific facts. Simeon’s study was poorly designed and based on a flawed idea that HCG causes weight loss. That was the theory in the 1950’s when HCG was discovered, but endocrinologists now know that HCG actually increases leutin production, which INCREASES fat stores. In addition, the plasma levels of HCG given via injection in this diet are just a tiny fraction of what they are in pregnant women. And that’s with a direct injection.
What do you suppose levels will be with drops or, worse yet, the creams that some are selling? There haven’t even been tests on the drops or creams. Think about it….have you ever known a pregnant women to lose weight while pregnant. Not only does she put on weight from the growth of the uterus, placenta, and baby, but she puts on extra pounds over and above this. If HCG causes weight loss, would this happen?
Check this out: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1237915/pdf/westjmed00268-0035.pdf
And this as well:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1365103/pdf/brjclinpharm00004-0042.pdf
I’m only advocating people do their homework before they jump on the bandwagon of a charleton snake oil salesman like Kevin Trudeau (who, by the way, was fined $38 million by the FDA for his promotions of this diet, among other things).
My recommendation: don’t listen to anyone but a board certified bariatric physician and clinical nutritionist/dietician. Only them, and not some snake oil salesman, can provide good advice and a medical sound program for weight loss.
http://www.thehcgdiet.com/pdf/pounds-and-inches-by-dr-a-t-w-simeons.pdf
Here is the Simeons protocol
Deanna, thanks so much for posting this for me! I will read it today. Upon glancing at it, the first thing that jumped out at me was that this does not seem to be a peer reviewed paper. I did not see any citation for which medical/scientific journal this paper was published. I will look more closely at this but if Im correct.
Thanks for this excellent review. As a dietician, I am biased in favour of dietary intervention but had not gotten round to reviewing all the HCG studies.
I know doctors who claim they have experienced personal results with HCG but agree that pretty much everyone will lose weight on such a low calorie allowance.
Most of the studies done are relatively short & don’t include follow up as to how many people regain weight after returning to their usual habits.
What interests me more is that apparently, the placebo groups adhered to the restricted diet equally with the active treatment groups for the study periods. It’s of course not ethical to knowingly prescribe placebos but can’t help wonder if this explains the anecdotal accounts above for the oral drops.
Unfortunately, I can’t get myself to believe in homeopathics so can’t do a study on myself but would be interested to know whether those who had success with the drops believed that they would work or were at least open-minded to the possibility before they started taking them.
Thanks again for your work.
Michelle, thanks I appreciate your feedback.
In terms of the doctors that haven’t done a study, I think it’s because there’s no incentive to. If they already have a successful HCG practice and have told patients that the treatment works, the only thing a study could do is disprove what they’ve been saying. No one wants to look like an idiot.
Lisa, that sounds logical to me.
You know, you’re right. I looked online for the clip again, and it was in a video on Youtube. Since the clip on the study on fat loss isn’t in any of the other full show segments, I watched that video again closely. It looks like someone pulled another dr. oz clip from a different segment (with a different expert) to make it look like the hcg diet had a significant difference in fat loss. My mistake.
I’m also looking at more and more videos that are stating the side effects people have experienced and I’m starting to worry.
Lisa, thanks very much for looking!
Not that it should sway people a specific way, but Dr. Oz said the diet should go under further investigation rather than immediately dismissing it as a fad: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n9aR4EtqBOI&feature=related (same uploader has all the parts of the program). Interesting information about the weight loss too — Dr. Oz did his own study on starvation v. hcg with a muscle/body fat component. Interesting that the starvation group lost 2.5x more muscle than the hcg group.
There was an MD that did the program himself and recommended it. Again, not solid evidence, but perhaps something to think about.
Now I would just like to see how many of these patients have kept this weight off after a year / not had their metabolisms impacted.
Lisa, I saw that TV episode. I dont remember seeing the the “Dr.oz study of HCG” and its not in the video clip you provided. can you provide the clip where he talks about his study. I’d like to see it. While I’m skeptical, I’d agree with Dr. Oz on this, namely let’s do a fresh study of the HCG diet. It’s been decades since anybody has looked at it.
I will say I am disappointing in the doctors who prescribe HCG to people for weight loss because they in particular in a PERFECT position to do an HCG study. They have the HCG and they have the patients. They also have access to appropriate placebos. They know how to do research. As far as I can tell, none of them have stepped up to the plate and done that study.
Average Joe, before you go shaming people who have claimed to have results and asking them if they’ve done their research, I want to ask if you’ve done yours and read the original manuscript from the HCG diet by Dr. Simeons? If the mechanism of the diet works the way it says it does, it makes sense that your body could work on 500 calories and use excess fat to burn it because all of your fat stores are mobilized for the “baby’s” use (HCG makes your body think you are pregnant).
I’m not 100% convinced, but all of the studies done thus far haven’t proved nor disproved the theory, just that weight loss occurs at the same rate as a starvation diet. The Dr. Simeons diet doesn’t claim to make you lose faster, it claims to burn fat and keep the weight off. There haven’t been any studies that have tested this, so for now, I’m keeping an open mind.
Lisa, do you know where I can read the original manuscript of Dr Simeons? I dont think I was ever able to read the original peer reviewed study when I wrote my review. I looked but was not able to locate it.