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You’ve heard of them all and maybe even tried some: the insanely popular, so-called miracle diets that promise to take inches off of your waistline in just days with minimal or no effort at all. From the Low-carb diet to the infamous Cabbage soup diet, the long list of fad diets is always generating the next big weight loss sensation. The latest diet craze that is taking the world by storm is the hCG Diet.

HCG stands for Human Chorionic Gonadotrophin, a naturally occuring hormone that’s found in high quantities in the urine of pregnant women. When used as a weight loss aid, the hormone supposedly increases metabolism and eliminates fat. It was first proposed 50 years ago by Dr. Albert T. Simeons, who claimed in his book, Pounds & Inches: A New Approach to Obesity, that hCG mobilizes stored fat, therefore suppressing hunger and redistributing fat from the waist, hips and thighs.

The controversial hCG diet plan incorporates a daily injection of hCG and VLCD (Very Low Calorie Diet) and a severely restrictive 500 calorie diet. It claims a jaw dropping 1-3 pound loss per day. The extreme diet is not readily endorsed or supported by health and medical professionals. In fact, in 1976, the Federal Trade Commission ordered the Simeon Management Corporation and all affiliated companies to stop claiming that their hCG products were safe and approved by the US Food and Drug Administration. Also, in 2007, the FTC charged infomercial king and author Kevin Trudeau for deceptive marketing when he declared in his book The Weight Loss Cure They Don’t Want You to Know About that hCG was the absolute cure for obesity that had been “suppressed by the American Medical Association, the FDA, and medical associations around the world.”

The side effects of using hCG range from the mild (headaches, extreme dizziness, irritation and pain where the injection was given) to borderline dangerous. According to CNN Health, some women on the diet developed OHSS (Ovarian Hyperstimulation Syndrome) that can result in the swelling of the abdomen, diarrhea, vomiting/nausea, significant weight gain, shortness of breath and in some cases, even death. In addition, the semi-starvation regime that goes along with it will most likely cause loss of energy, muscle and protein from vital organs.

While the hCG Diet may melt off pounds, like most fads it is a temporary diet that can be hard to manage and even more difficult to endure. Before you consider starting the diet, keep this catchphrase in mind: If something sounds too good to be true, it probably is. Avoid the quick fixes and instead focus on leading a healthy life. Search for a safe and sensible long-term lifestyle plan that combines plenty of exercise and healthy eating, and is effective and easy to maintain. Do your body justice by giving it the respect and care it deserves.

Article Written by Kathleen Kim