and leprosy in India when he turned his attention to weight-loss and obesity in the 1950’s.
One day, a woman came to his office in Rome for a weight-loss consultation. He was on the phone as she sat down and when he looked up at her, he noticed she was emaciated. Her skin was dry and loose, her collarbone and ribs protruding. He hung up the phone and was about to tell her she had the wrong doctor when she stood up. “I know you think I’m mad, but just wait.”
As she rounded his desk, he saw that she had enormous hips and thighs below her small waist.
Dr. Simeons had studied a hormone called hCG (Human Chorionic Gonadotropin). hCG is produced in the placenta of pregnant women. It converts stored body fat into nutrition for the baby.
The HCG hormone was being extracted from the urine of pregnant women and given to young boys suffering from Froehlich Syndrome. These were the so called “fat boys” with oversized breasts and undersized sexual organs. He had noticed that the HCG helped the boys lose their appetites and inches around their hips.
Dr. Simeons treated the woman with 125 IU’s (international units) of pharmaceutical HCG via daily IM injections. Within 8 weeks, she lost 8 inches around her hips. He claimed by using the hCG, combined with a calorie-restricted diet and a 30 minute daily walk, the woman was able to get rid of her reserve fat.
By 1967, weight-loss patients from around the world flocked to Dr. Simeon’s clinic in Rome. He was treating Hollywood starlets, royalty, the rich and famous.
He was spending enormous amounts of time telling other doctors and hospitals about his HCG diet, so he put together a protocol titled, Pounds and Inches: A New Approach to Obesity.
His claim: Men and women who used the hCG diet had no headaches, hunger pains, weakness or irritability and lost on average a pound a day.
By the 1970s, hCG was the most widely administered obesity medication in the United States, but it was only approved by the FDA as a fertility drug. So in 1976, the Federal Trade Commission ordered Dr. Simeons to stop claiming his hCG program was safe or approved by the FDA for weight control. The order did not stop the clinics from using hCG. It just required that patients be informed in writing the following:
“HCG has not been demonstrated to be an effective adjunctive therapy in the treatment of obesity. There is no substantial evidence that it increases weight loss beyond that resulting from caloric restriction, that it causes a more attractive or "normal" distribution of fat or that it decreases the hunger and discomfort associated with calorie-restricted diets.”
Dr. Simeons originally put his patients on a strict 500 calorie diet with very tight controls on exactly which foods could be used. Dr. Simeons prohibited his patients from use of regular medications prescribed by their physician, however, because he required his patients to see him every day, he could resume a specific medication if needed. His patients were not allowed to eat breakfast or take any vitamins except for coral calcium. They could only take hCG by intramuscular injection.
The new 800 calorie hCG diet protocol suggests a daily calorie intake between 550-800 which has been found to be more tolerable, much safer, and has produced similar weight loss results. The body is technically “starving” if a less than 800 calorie diet has been consumed for the day. It is suggested to stay between 725-750 calories daily to prevent going above the 800 daily limit. This increase in calories has enabled my patients to complete the entire 6 weeks with reduced complaints of hunger, weakness, and headaches. The additional calories added to the protocol were mostly obtained from adding more protein sources providing 3 major benefits. Protein:
1.Assists in preserving lean muscle mass
2.Increases fat burning
3.Helps curb appetite by up to 40 % throughout the day
I have found that combining the following guidelines will result in maximizing your success:
1.Stay below 800 calories
2.Higher protein intake compared to the original (increase your intake of protein)
3.Follow the food guide provided
4.Take a daily whole-food multi-vitamin/mineral and suggested supplements
5.Eat breakfast and snacks
6.Continuing all prescription medications
7.Participate in light cardio aerobic exercise or physical activity for 30 minutes daily
8.Drink half your body weight in ounces daily
9.Have good coaching support
10.Maintain an accurate daily food journal
11.Stay POP and you will DROP. (POP-Perfect on Protocol)
The thousands of patients I have coached have successfully lost weight while taking hCG without the effects of feeling tired and hungry. In addition, many have reported an increase in energy and motivation. Most women who carefully follow the new hCG Diet Protocol have lost, on average, a half a pound per day or 20 to 35 pounds in 40 days. Men who carefully follow the new 800 hCG Diet Protocol tend to lose more, about a pound per day or 35 to 45 pounds.
As a licensed health care professional, I feel it is imperative to educate the hCG dieter on how to lose weight safely while on the hCG diet or any restricted-calorie weight loss plan. Modern medicine and nutritional information has vastly improved since the 1950’s when the original protocol was first discovered. My goal is for you to learn why a healthier approach to the original protocol will have a positive effect on your body’s response to weight loss and assist in the prevention of weight-related diseases.
Please make sure you have approval from your physician before beginning any restricted-calorie diet.
hCG Weight Loss Clinical Studies
Successful Weight Loss Intervention Using a Modified hCG Diet
In 2010, the President of the ASBP performed a 6-week successful clinical study on a modified 800 calorie hCG diet with the use of sublingual Rx hCG hormone. 19 hCG patients were compared with 19 patients using an 800 calorie daily meal replacement diet without hCG. "Results: The modified hCG diet patients lost an average of 19.84 lbs in 6 weeks, whereas the meal replacement patients lost 14.75 lbs. The average decrease in BMI in the hCG group was 3.18 and 2.48 in the meal replacement group.” Conclusion: “Sublingual hCG appeared to be significantly better in weight loss than a similar meal replacement diet of comparable protein and calorie composition. The results revealed a relatively rapid weight loss in 6 weeks with preservation of lean body mass. Furthermore, it appears that this approach could have a benefit to the patients in that they demonstrated reduced usage of controlled substances for appetite. As this study revealed that sublingual hCG with a modified diet was beneficial to patients in assisting them with weight loss..."
To view the full clinical trial, please visit http://www.weightshop.net/documents/Bryman%20HCG%20Article.pdf
American Journal of Clinical Nutrition
www.ajcn.org and the American Society of Bariatric Physicians Research Council, 333 West Hampden Avenue, Englewood, Colorado 80110
