hCG: Controversy or Control?

Just a post-Christmas update to get out of the way. I weighed in this morning (after not doing so on Christmas Day) to find that despite a bit of indulgence, I have dropped .4 pounds since Christmas Eve morning.

No on to the hCG.....

In the Somae Health plan, there is a 7-week course of taking a hormone known as hCG. I've posted about it a few times (click the hCG tag below to sort out those posts), but I wanted to take a little bit of time to reflect on the hCG treatments and whether or not I think they were helpful in my weight loss.

Before I started the Somae Plan, the hCG injections were one of the top reasons that I was hesitating. Giving up an unhealthy lifestyle was really the biggest hurdle, but nonetheless, the hormone injections did scare (and concern) me a bit. After all, inject female hormones into my body to lose weight. Sounded like quackery to me.

I read articles from the New England Journal of Medicine and other publications about the Very Low Calorie Diets (VLCD) and the use of hCG to combat fatigue and hunger while on a VLCD. The science was compelling, but still not widely accepted. In fact, in 1974 the FDA required doctor's to advise patients that hCG was not proven to help in weight loss.

That being said, I had seen the results first-hand when my personal physician went on the Somae Health plan (with hCG) and lost an amazing amount of weight. I was convinced to try it...what did I have to lose (other than the $1200).

I have to say, I think there may have been only 1 day in my 12 weeks on the Somae Plan where I truly felt hungry...and none of those was while on the hCG treatments in Phase 2. I did have some days where I had less energy, but they were few and far between and the weight kept coming off. In full disclosure, I lost more weight per day, on average, during the induction period of Phase 1 where I was basically cleansing and healing my digestive system than I did during the hCG phase (Phase 2) also known as "Accelerated Weight Loss".

I have a relative doing hCG treatments right now through a different company. She is using the sublingual (under-the-tongue) drops. She seems to be doing well, too, though I'm waiting for an update. I have a friend from high school who is now using the Somae Health plan WITHOUT using hCG. He hasn't gotten to the VLCD component yet, but I'll be very interested to get his take on how his energy and hunger levels do.

So, did I answer the question for you? Probably not. There is a lot of research out there, and this new weight loss "fad" is not as new as it may appear. The original studies on hCG go back more than 50 years. Did it work for me? I would have to say that it probably did. I'm working on trying to lose more weight now without the hCG but relying on the lessons I learned while on the Somae Health plan as far as eating and exercise. Are all hCG programs designed alike, probably not...but Somae Health and it's mentor program definitely worked for me.

I'm more than happy to answer specific questions about hCG or the Somae Plan in general.....just shoot me a comment or an email.