HCG diet plan is a weight loss plan which is made up of two main parts, which are the HCG diet product as well as a very low calorie diet (VLCD). The HCG diet product is said to be able to help burning the stubborn fat of the body as well as reducing the hunger feeling. There are various types of HCG diet product, which can be taken either through HCG injection, or orally in the form of HCG drops, pills, sprays, etc. The very low calorie diet on the other hand is a diet which contains as low as 500 calories. By strictly following the HCG diet plan, it is said that a person can easily lose 1 to 3 lbs daily while not losing lean muscle.

The HCG diet plan involves three phases, which are better known as loading phase, maintenance phase and stabilization phase. The first phase is loading phase that goes for the first two days. In these two days, HCG treatment starts but dieters are allowed to freely consume whatever food they like. This phase is to prepare the body for the oncoming weight loss process. From third day onwards, the maintenance phases starts where dieters have to follow a VLCD. This phase will continue for a minimum of three weeks or long enough until the goal weight is reached, but no longer than 40 days. This is considered one round.

After finishing a round of HCG diet plan, dieters will proceed to stabilization phase. At this phase, HCG treatment will be stopped but VLCD will be continued for another three more days to allow the hormone to be cleared from the body system. Soon after that, dieters can gradually increase their calorie intake to about 1000 calories daily but still avoiding sugar and starches for the next three weeks.

HCG Diet: Very Low Calorie Diet

A lot of foods are not allowed in the HCG diet. All foods should be cooked without added oil and all visible fats on the protein sources have to be trimmed. Applications of cosmetics, lotions, oils, as well as medicines are not permitted too with few exceptions.

While on very low calorie HCG diet, a person can have nothing else but tea or coffee with artificial sweetener for breakfast. For lunch, the menu is only included of 100grams of lean protein sources, one veggie, a serving of fruit as well as a piece of toast. The same menu will go for dinner though the food choices can be altered. There is no food for snack times. Dieters can always spare some food from a meal and serve it during snacks. Drinking at least two litres of plain water is also recommended.
People who have tried this diet plan claim that it works well and successfully helping them losing unwanted pounds. However, most researchers who have performed various studies on this field have disagreed with this point of view. They conclude that HCG diet products are just a placebo and are not effective in weight loss. The main source of weight loss is the extremely low calorie diet which is not only unsafe but dangerous to a person’s health.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has never approved HCG for the purpose of weight loss and all HCG diet products sold in the market are illegal. FDA has advised public to stop using whatever homeopathic HCG products as well as stop adhering to the diet plan and it is hazardous and may even claim a person’s life.