I recently was made aware of this drug called Human Chorionic Gonadotropin (HCG) when I heard that one of my friends was using it to lose weight. My friend has always been a larger person, not fat, but built pretty well. However, In the last couple years this person started to gain weight because of some unfortunate circumstances in their life. There are many people who go through rough times that try to cope with their situations by eating.
This friend made the choice to buy these HCG Injections and has already lost a ton of weight. Before I knew anything about the drug, I asked my friend about it and he told me that you have to inject it. Of course I was totally thrown off and completely cautious when I heard that my friend was injecting himself with a drug for weight lose. I have never been a believer in taking pills, or injections for weight loss…in fact, I am strongly against it. I immediately went home and started researching this drug called HCG. Here is what I’ve found:
Human chorionic gonadotropin, or HCG, is a hormone produced during pregnancy, found in the blood and excreted through urine. HCG injections are prescribed to treat infertility by causing ovulation in women and increasing sperm count in men. Recently, people started to use it to help with losing weight, but there has been no research supporting the theory that HCG injections are good for this purpose. When you are on the HCG injections, you are supposed to be on a 500 calorie per day diet. Most people credit the weight loss to the diet plan.
There are many effects on the body that can occur from taking HCG injections. Here are some of those effects…pelvic pain, abdominal swelling, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, swelling of the hands or legs, weight gain, difficulty breathing and urinating less than normal, blood clotting, welling, warmth, redness, and numb or tingling sensations in an arm or leg.
The problem with taking HCG Injections, is that you will actually gain weight once you get off of it, and probably a lot more weight then when you first started.
I really enjoyed learning about The Abs Diet. The Abs Diet teaches you how to eat healthy, and it does a good job breaking everything down and making it into an achievable plan. The nutrition side of it all actually reminds me of the South Beach Diet, but what the South Beach Diet Lacks (a workout plan), The Abs Diet provides. Not only does The Abs Diet teach the importance of proteins, carbs, and fat, but also it also teaches you the importance of a workout routine, and actually provides you with one.
The First Phase – You pretty much eat normal size portions of food, but you will eliminate all carbohydrates. This will probably be the toughest phase, to get through, because a lot of your really good foods have carbohydrates in them. This strict first phase lasts for two weeks, and in this two weeks, you will eat lean meats. Turkey, chicken, shellfish are all accepted in this first stage, some selected vegetables, nuts and low fat cheese are also accepted in this first phase of the South Beach Diet.
So does the Atkins Diet work? Yes, it actually does work. But if the Atkins Diet works, why is there so much controversy over it? Let me tell you why I do not like the Atkins Diet. The Atkins Diet is great for short-term weight loss, but bad for a lifetime of health. By eliminating foods with carbohydrates, you are limiting yourself to all the wonderful nutrients that help your body. With the Atkins Diet you pretty much only eat foods with protein, which includes steak, chicken, eggs, bacon, and turkey, and even though this sounds great, they are also high in saturated fat. So even though you might lose 20 to 30 pounds, you will actually be doing damage to yourself in the long run.
