Despite the fact that they work exceptionally well and get results where other diet programs fail, there is nothing magic about HCG weight loss programs. The use of the HCG hormone (which is usually a fertility treatment) for dieting success is based on nearly two decades of scientific research that was undertaken by Dr. Simeons over sixty years ago.

The Medical Science Behind the HCG Diet

Dr. A.T.W. Simeons was a specialist in the study of endocrinology. This branch of medicine is concerned with the body’s “ductless” glands, such as the thyroid and hypothalamus. The latter plays an important role in metabolism and how one’s body utilizes energy sources.

When Simeons was working in India on the staff of a Mumbai hospital in the 1930s and 1940s, he had an opportunity to observe the effects of HCG when administered to overweight patients suffering from a particular thyroid dysfunction that had caused them to become dangerously obese. Small doses of this hormone, derived from the urine of pregnant women, resulted in significant weight reduction in these patients.

Dr. Simeons on the Nature of Obesity

In 1954, Dr. Simeons published a paper entitled Pounds and Inches, in which he described obesity as a pathological condition due to a combination of genetic and environmental factors, not simply the result of overeating. According to Dr. Simeons, certain people are predisposed to weight gain, regardless of how much or little they eat, while others can “pack it away” and never gain a pound.

He concluded that part of the problem was the absence of the human chorionic gonadotropin hormone (HCG). It is in plentiful supple during childhood and adolescence, but largely gone by adulthood reintroducing HCG into the endocrine system helps to restore balance and eliminate excess pounds.

Why a Low Calorie Diet is Necessary

HCG does not work by itself. It is not a “magic bullet.” Rather, it causes physiological changes in body chemistry that allows weight loss to occur under certain conditions.

When calories are reduced under normal conditions, the body will resist these weight loss efforts in every way possible. Instead of excess fat disappearing, the first to go is lean muscle tissue, followed by structural fat. The excess fat, known as adipose, is consumed only when everything else has been used and by that time, most dieters are so weak and discouraged that they understandably give up on the program.

The problem lies in the biochemical nature of adipose. This is a form of fat that is not easily broken down. HCG helps to break down these deposits so that the energy stored in the fat molecules can be used first in making up the difference under a low calorie regimen.

HCG also helps to re-regulate the hypothalamus gland, which controls bodily metabolism. The hypothalamus is like the body’s “thermostat.” When fuel (calories) is in short supply, this gland reacts by slowing down metabolic processes.  HCG prevents this from happening and forces the hypothalamus to obtain energy from adipose first rather than last.

By combining Dr. Simeons’ Very Low Calorie Diet with HCG, HCG weight loss programs can work where other diets do not.