Dangerous Dieting: Know the Risks of the Fad Diets

Diets come and go and a new fad craze is always waiting to take its place. One of the more popular methods people are turning to for rapid weight loss right now is human CG. I was first introduced to human CG about a year ago when a student where I teach was telling me that his parents were getting it for him to lose weight. 

Not knowing much about it at the time he explained that he took human CG and then only ate a diet of 500 calories per day. I guess what scared me most was that he was so comfortable taking this drug like it was some kind of magic potion. I began to research it more after I heard of 2 other coworkers who were on the same diet. The deeper I looked into it, the scarier the situation became.

Even though it is widely popular right now a "quick fix" weight loss drug, human CG is not newly discovered. Human chlorionic gonadotropin, or human CG, was brought to the public's eye back in 1954 by Dr. A.T.W. Simeons in his manuscript "Pounds and Inches: a new approach to obesity". Through his research Dr. Simeons combined injections of human CG with a low calorie diet to help his patients burn fat while preserving muscle in the body. 

His premise was that human CG is a naturally occurring hormone in pregnant women that causes the body to release fat storage for energy. Some claims have made that people using Dr. Simeons' formula can 1-2 pounds per day. In fact, as I am writing this article I typed the term "lose weight" into the services section of craigslist and 80% of the ads were for some form or another of the humann CG diet. All of course were touting rapid weight loss.

The problem is that if something sounds too good to be true, then it probably is. The FDA has put a ban on all over the counter (OTC) human CG products that encourage consumers to participate in a severely restrictive diet. 

The FDA has approved the use of human CG for women who are experiencing fertility issues and for patients with other conditions. However, the FDA has not approved human CG for weight loss. According to the FDA's website, prescription drug labels note that there is "no substantial evidence that human CG increases weight loss beyond that resulting from caloric restriction."

I cringe when I hear people considering or promoting human CG as a healthy method of fat loss for 2 reasons. First, it is not a sustainable life style choice. The very fact that it is a pregnancy related hormone should hint that it is only to be used in the body for short amounts of time. You can't just live your life taking human CG injections to control your weight and live off a 500 calorie a day diet. As with most people, when they go off a "diet" they regain the weight plus some and are back where they started off worse.

Secondly, as the FDA points out, it is a potentially dangerous diet. The Mayo Clinic points out that when there is such a sever caloric restriction there is a risk for gallstone formation, irregular heartbeats, and an imbalance of electrolytes that are needed to keep the body's muscles and nerves functioning properly. Like most fad diets, human CG, does not recommend balanced nutrition. While you are limiting your caloric intake, you most likely are giving yourself greater micronutrient deficiencies. I have yet to read an article or see a website that promotes the use of vitamins, minerals, phytonutrients, and antioxidants.

A healthier approach to weight loss that is sustainable would be to modify your diet with nutrient rich meal replacement product coupled with high quality vitamin and mineral supplements. This approach is both safe and sustainable. You can create a caloric deficit of 500-700 per day with this approach, even if you are not regularly exercising. You are also making sure that your body gets the nutrition it needs to allow you to live a long and healthy life without taking the risks that come with fad diets like human CG.