Will FDA Warning Stop the HCG Diet Craze?

I noticed my local health food store didn’t have any of the HCG drops on the shelves today. When I asked the person who stocks the shelves, he said they stopped carrying it. It was the same situation at a chain store that sells supplements.

Turns out officials with the Food and Drug Administration issued warning letters to companies that sell HCG, or Human chorionic gonadotropin.

According to an article in the Huffington Post, the FDA believes HCG products could be dangerous.

I am a firm believer in letting consumers make their own decisions about which products they want to use. As long as the warnings are on the label and consumers have all the facts, let people make their own decisions.

I personally would stay away from HCG. In fact, it’s one of the few diets I have not tried for my Five Days on a Diet blog.

Any low-calorie diet would prevent me from exercising. Having too few calories also makes it difficult for me to perform my job duties as a writer and editor.

But I know a lot of people who love HCG.

I noticed one store was carrying an HCG “supplement .” Some HCG products were labeled as “homeopathic remedies.” HCG is not an approved ingredient for homeopathic drugs.

While regulators may think they are doing people a favor by “protecting them,” they may have stirred the wrath of the mob of dieters that swear by HCG.

Some people claim the only reason people lose weight on the HCG diet is because they are following the 500-calorie diet that includes two meals a day of a vegetable, protein, fruit and a tiny piece of toast.

Dr. Oz talked about the diet on “The Dr. Oz Show.” Although he did not endorse the diet, he did say it deserves a second look since so many women have success with it.

The controversial diet isn’t new. It was started by A.T.W. Simeons in the 1950s, who found using a protein from the placenta curbs a woman’s appetite. Just the thought of it makes me want to skip a meal.

Maybe HCG curbs a dieter’s appetite or maybe it’s just an expensive placebo effect. But the idea of the FDA making that choice for me or anyone else is the real crime.

Laura Cone is a “professional dieter” who chronicles her diets at Five Days on a Diet blog.


People also view

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *