One of the most controversial diets out there is the HCG diet. It stands for Human Chorionic Gonadotropin, which is a natural pregnancy hormone. This diet was previously defined as a 500-calorie diet with daily injections of HCG.
The hCG claims to reset your metabolism. It’s an ultra low-calorie diet that you lose so many pounds in a day without feeling weak or hungry.
hCG is taken either by shot or oral drops, sprays, pellets for 8 weeks. But these are not approved by the FDA for weight loss. Shots are legal. They aim to treat fertility issues. The shots keep you from losing muscle while you’re on the diet.
There are only 2 meals daily—lunch and dinner. Both set of meals must have one vegetable, one slice of bread, one protein and one fruit.
- Beef
- Chicken breast
- Crab
- White fish
- Shrimp (without fat)
- Veal
- Onions
- Chard
- Beef greens
- Fennel
- Red radish
- Cucumbers
- Asparagus
- Cabbage
- Tomatoes
- Green salad
- Bread like breadstick or melba toast
- Orange, strawberries, grapefruit, apple
- Water
- Coffee
- Tea
- Tbsp of milk daily
Consuming only 500-800 calories daily has risks like gallstone formation, imbalance of electrolytes that keep the body’s muscles and nerves to properly function and irregular heartbeat.
By stirring up hormone levels in the body, including testosterone, the hCG hormone build muscles but breaks it all down. There are hormone receptors on muscle fibers that react to the greater hormone levels in those who take hCG.
Huge amount of muscle is lost every time there’s a rapid weight loss with crash dieting. Every time you lose muscle, bad changes will also occur to your body, shape and metabolism will slow down that you will regain that weight you lost quickly.
Related Pages
- Guide to Analyzing Diets
- Comparison of diets — a complete list