# HCG for weight loss **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 12, 2011, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hcg-for-weight-loss/574448 "2011-03-12T19:54:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2011, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hcg-for-weight-loss/574448/1 "2011-03-12T19:54:41Z")
Someone I know is considering this, and I am wary that it is pure nostrum (thanks to whoever used that word in a post and taught me a new one). From what I understand, they give daily injections or pills of HCG over a period of a month or less. It may be combined with an ultra low calorie diet, which would seem to cause weight loss on its own, but I’m no dietitian (or “nutritionist”). I would like to know 1) whether it works, and especially 2) whether its safe. Yes, I did google, but it was a low signal-to-noise ratio, mostly ad sites. My BS meter also went from a soft pinging to full on alarm bells when the #1 link on one of my searches was to Kevin Trudeau. ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2011, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hcg-for-weight-loss/574448/2 "2011-03-12T21:13:36Z")
I have a friend who is currently doing this diet with his wife. They’ve lost a bunch of weight. It’s basically a low-fat, calorie-restricted version of the Atkins diet, with them eating one portion of meat and a low-cal vegetable for each of three daily meals, keeping it under a certain number of calories per day, I think 800 calories. They take drops of the HCG, which cost them $120. They believe that the drops 1) help keep their bodies from burning their own muscle protein (which isn’t the case, the body won’t cannibalize its own protein as long as sufficient protein is ingested) and 2) that the drops keep them from feeling hunger on such a light diet (which is actually due to eating protein). I figure they’re probably not hurting themselves any by taking the drops, and if it makes them feel like they’re taking magic drops which will enable them to stick to the diet, fine. My husband asked me not to burst their bubble, because they’re losing a lot of weight that they needed to lose. A low-fat version of an Atkins diet won’t hurt them any in the short run, and as they add fat back in, they’ll be fine. 800 calories a day doesn’t sound like enough to get by, but it is, and they’ll be fine. The diet appears to have been dreamed up many years ago by a doctor who was way off base in his thoughts on HCG and its benefits to pregnant women, but the diet works fine without the HCG drops. Injections are certainly where I’d draw the line between not bursting their bubble and telling them they’re idiots, though. ---
**Author:** ![pohjonen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pohjonen/32/423_2.png) [@pohjonen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pohjonen)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2011, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hcg-for-weight-loss/574448/3 "2011-03-12T21:13:47Z")
I did this in the 70’s in California. Then, it was $50 a week for a daily injection and the diet was 500 calories a day. I lost 25 pounds in 6 weeks. I think that would have happened without the injections. It’s just that paying $50 a week and getting weighed daily was a powerful incentive to not cheat. The menu: Breakfast: 1 poached on on dry toast and 4 oz. of orange juice Lunch 4 oz cottage cheese OR yogurt Dinner 4 oz chicken breast or other lean meat and 4 oz of vegetable In other words, concentration camp fare. Of course you lost a lot of weight. ---
**Author:** ![elbows](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b3f665/32.png) [@elbows](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elbows)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2011, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hcg-for-weight-loss/574448/4 "2011-03-12T21:41:47Z")
Hcg = ??? ---
**Author:** ![md2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/73ab20/32.png) [@md2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/md2000)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2011, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hcg-for-weight-loss/574448/5 "2011-03-12T22:14:47Z")
hCG for weight loss??? Because when I think of people who lose weight, pregnant women come to mind. Riiiight! I heard a doctor at some university hospital on the radio the other day who said that not only does it not work, it is dangerous. He mentioned blood clots and other conditions that might happen. The real trick to weight loss, as mentioned above, is by following the diet. ---
**Author:** ![waterj2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/858c86/32.png) [@waterj2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/waterj2)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2011, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hcg-for-weight-loss/574448/6 "2011-03-12T22:36:41Z")
This was just in the New York Times the other day, so it’s gotten some attention. Best comment [from here](http://www.lawyersgunsmoneyblog.com/2011/03/ny-times-dangerous-expensive-diet-fraud-has-fans-and-skeptics): > [@](#): > > Limiting yourself to 500 calories a day “mimics” anorexia in the same way that injecting heroin every day “mimics” heroin addiction. That article has a link to the Times article, if you need more of a “on one hand the actual research says one thing, on the other hand, the doctors promoting it say another” type treatment. ---
**Author:** ![pohjonen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pohjonen/32/423_2.png) [@pohjonen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pohjonen)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2011, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hcg-for-weight-loss/574448/7 "2011-03-12T22:42:51Z")
HCG - Human chorionic gonadotropin. I didn’t know it has been used for weight loss since the days of [Mario Lanza](http://www.umm.edu/news/releases/hcg.htm) and was possibly responsible for his early demise. ---
**Author:** ![elbows](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b3f665/32.png) [@elbows](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elbows)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2011, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hcg-for-weight-loss/574448/8 "2011-03-12T23:33:39Z")
Thank you! ---
**Author:** ![Romeo\_and\_Whatsherface](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8797f3/32.png) [@Romeo\_and\_Whatsherface](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Romeo_and_Whatsherface)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2011, 12:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hcg-for-weight-loss/574448/9 "2011-03-13T00:13:35Z")
Wow, that Mario Lanza article was an eye-opener. Thyrotoxicity? Sounds like that HCG stuff might not be so harmless after all. The article doesn’t say how much HCG you’d have to take to get thyrotoxic (If that’s a word, and it is because I say so.), but I don’t think it’s a good idea to mess around with your thyroid. My mother was a huge Mario Lanza fan and had some of his LP’s. She wouldn’t have used this word or admitted it, but she thought he was hot. I never realized he struggled so much with his weight or died so young. Sad. ---
**Author:** ![njtt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecd19e/32.png) [@njtt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/njtt)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2011, 12:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hcg-for-weight-loss/574448/10 "2011-03-13T00:29:06Z")
I didn’t know what HCG stood for either, but Google took me to [Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_chorionic_gonadotropin), which appears to imply (in a rather garbled introductory paragraph), that it might tend to cause cancer, and cites the _Journal of the American Medical Association_ and the _American Journal of Clinical Nutrition_ to the effect that “[hCG is neither safe,[15] nor effective as a weight-loss aid](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_chorionic_gonadotropin#Weight_loss).” ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2011, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hcg-for-weight-loss/574448/11 "2011-03-13T00:34:50Z")
> [@md2000](#): > > hCG for weight loss??? Because when I think of people who lose weight, pregnant women come to mind. Riiiight! I know, right?! I’ve found this one to be quite the head scratcher myself. What, if anything, is the proposed mechanism of action here? Anyone know? I’m far too lazy to go wading through nonsense to find out. ---
**Author:** ![MandaJo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ac91a4/32.png) [@MandaJo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MandaJo)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2011, 12:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hcg-for-weight-loss/574448/12 "2011-03-13T00:39:39Z")
> [@WhyNot](#): > > I know, right?! I’ve found this one to be quite the head scratcher myself. > > What, if anything, is the proposed mechanism of action here? Anyone know? I’m far too lazy to go wading through nonsense to find out. Near as I can tell, some dude had a theory–more of a hunch–that hCG prevents women from losing muscle when they are pregnant and starving, and to deplete strictly fat reserves. As far as I know, there is no evidence whatsoever that this is the case. The idea is supposed to be that hCG allows you to go on a starvation diet without risk of losing cardiac muscle or any of those other wonderful complications of anorexia. ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2011, 12:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hcg-for-weight-loss/574448/13 "2011-03-13T00:46:00Z")
> [@MandaJo](#): > > Near as I can tell, some dude had a theory–more of a hunch–that hCG prevents women from losing muscle when they are pregnant and starving, and to deplete strictly fat reserves. As far as I know, there is no evidence whatsoever that this is the case. > > The idea is supposed to be that hCG allows you to go on a starvation diet without risk of losing cardiac muscle or any of those other wonderful complications of anorexia. Ah…so the HCG doesn’t actually \*cause \*any weight loss, or make weight loss easier, it just (maybe) keeps you from depleting protein stores while you starve yourself. OK, got it. And…don’t want it. ---
**Author:** ![waterj2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/858c86/32.png) [@waterj2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/waterj2)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2011, 12:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hcg-for-weight-loss/574448/14 "2011-03-13T00:47:36Z")
Meanwhile, the more plausible theory is that seeing a doctor to get expensive injections makes someone likelier to stick to the 500 calorie a day diet. ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2011, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hcg-for-weight-loss/574448/15 "2011-03-13T20:27:16Z")
Thanks for the responses so far. It sounds like it ranges from “Expensive and unnecessary” to “OMG! Will kill you” ranges. I am going to assume that the latter is an exception rather than the rule, but it looks like not the best idea. Have to slowly convince now. ---
**Author:** ![Canadjun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/76d3ee/32.png) [@Canadjun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Canadjun)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2011, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hcg-for-weight-loss/574448/16 "2011-03-14T01:15:32Z")
Is that the same HCG (beta-HCG) that is used in a pregnancy test? If so, that could be “interesting” if someone is concerned they might be pregnant (or want to become so). :eek: ---
**Author:** ![MandaJo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ac91a4/32.png) [@MandaJo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MandaJo)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2011, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hcg-for-weight-loss/574448/17 "2011-03-14T01:29:14Z")
> [@Canadjun](#): > > Is that the same HCG (beta-HCG) that is used in a pregnancy test? If so, that could be “interesting” if someone is concerned they might be pregnant (or want to become so). :eek: It is. Though I really, really hope no pregnant woman would be trying a 500-calorie a day diet, and I like to think even people like this would discourage women who were trying to conceive. But yes, I am sure anyone who received one of the shots would show up pregnant on a pregnancy test. Women who are taking the homeopathic versions probably would not! ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2011, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hcg-for-weight-loss/574448/18 "2011-03-14T01:36:40Z")
> [@MandaJo](#): > > But yes, I am sure anyone who received one of the shots would show up pregnant on a pregnancy test. **Women who are taking the homeopathic versions probably would not!** No, they would show up as infinitely pregnant. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Pullet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/edb3f5/32.png) [@Pullet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pullet)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2011, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hcg-for-weight-loss/574448/19 "2011-03-14T02:37:19Z")
My favorite part is finding out how they get the HCG in the first place. It is derived from the [urine of pregnant women](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_chorionic_gonadotropin#Production). Pregnant women desperate enough for money to collect and sell their urine. ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2011, 3:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hcg-for-weight-loss/574448/20 "2011-03-14T03:12:04Z")
Hmm, if the diet is like what **needscoffee** ’s friends did (low carb and low fat), there is a program at the Cleveland Clinic called the [Protein-Sparing Modified Fast](http://my.clevelandclinic.org/disorders/obesity/hic_psmf_diet_program.aspx) that is as such, and they do not require any injections. Just regular meetings with a doctor and dietician, blood work and nutritional supplements. Note that on the linked page, under costs, they don’t even mention the supplements - meaning, they aren’t selling supplements they just want you to buy some at Wal Mart. Sounds like the OP’s friends are getting duped - and scarily so! [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hcg-for-weight-loss/574448.md?page=2)