FDA cracks down on human chorionic gonadotropin, HCG

FDA weighs in

They’re at it again. The FDA is cracking down on supplements they claim are “unsafe”–but, true to form, their motives aren’t as altruistic as they’d like us to believe…

This time, they’ve set their sights on weight loss products that contain human chorionic gonadotropin, or HCG. They claim there’s no evidence that these products actually promote weight loss, and that the calorie-restrictive diets that generally accompany these supplements are hazardous.

A representative from the FDA said, “these products are marketed with incredible claims and people think that if they’re losing weight, HCG must be working; but, the data doesn’t support this; any weight loss is from severe calorie restriction, not HCG.”

First of all, how do they know that? If there haven’t been any studies to support that HCG does work, then there haven’t been any studies to say that it doesn’t work, either.

Second, they’re claiming that “consumers on very low calorie diets may not be getting enough vitamins, minerals and–most critically–protein.”

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not a big fan of the 500-calorie-per day diet that most companies recommend with their homeopathic HCG products (we can thank Hollywood for this rumor–a la Drew Carey…then again, look at him now–he’s kept the weight off using this exact regimen). But that doesn’t mean we need to throw the baby out with the bath water…

The fact is, you could be eating 5,000 calories a day and not be getting enough vitamins, minerals, and protein. In fact, most Americans do! So the FDA’s attempt to “save” us from nutritional deficiencies is laughable, at best.

Plus, if people think that the HCG is working, it doesn’t cause them any harm, and they lose weight, who cares if it is just one big placebo effect? Isn’t that better than them gaining more weight?

Ah, but there’s the catch!

From a health and safety standpoint, it IS better for the ever-expanding (pun intended) obese population to lose weight. But if people lose weight using homeopathic HCG supplements two things happen: