Pharmaceutical vs Homeopathic hCG

You can’t Google “hcg” without seeing these sensational headlines: “Lose 1-2 LBS/DAY Buy hCG,” “Lose 23 lbs in 23 Days For Only $70, “or “Buy hCG Here Save Up To 72%.”
I find this quite appalling, and you can see why the FDA requires the following on hCG advertising, “There is no substantial evidence that hCG increases weight loss beyond that resulting from caloric restriction.” That pretty much sums up what is happening to those people who take homeopathic hCG; they are actually only doing an unsafe version of a VLCD (Very Low Caloric Diet).  VLCD’s should only be done under the direct supervision of a physician, because its important that vitals like blood pressure are monitored. Its amazing that so many people want to put their long-term health at risk by answering an internet or Facebook ad, or watching a YouTube video on hCG.
There is a reason why no physician would ever put a patient on a VLCD or ‘hCG for weight loss’ program without doing a detailed medical history and ordering certain blood tests. They are not doing this to make money, they are doing this to ensure you are safe; that is the difference - your physician has your safety as his number one priority, whereas homeopathic hCG distributors have profit as their number one goal!
So what is homeopathic hCG? In this article: You Could Be Damaging Your Health From The Use of Homeopathic “HCG” Drops While Following The hCG Diet Protocol (http://ezinearticles.com/?You-May-Be-Damaging-Your-Health-From-the-Use-of-Homeopathic-HCG-When-on-the-HCG-Diet-Protocol&id=4641922), the author says “recent data has shown that homeopathic “HCG” is a liquid preparation comprised of a mixture of vitamins, herbal stimulants and microscopic trace amounts of hCG, if any at all. This preparation is comparable to licking an aspirin with the hope of alleviating a severe migraine headache.” The fact is, that since Dr. Simeons was a physician, he didn’t use homeopathic hCG for his clinical studies.  He used the real, pharmaceutical grade, 100% hCG.  So the success stories you see and hear on the internet are mainly those who are in essence doing a 500 cal/day VLCD diet, and have yet to discover that they will most likely gain the weight back within a few months.
So we now understand that you might as well take a placebo if you are going to take homeopathic hCG, since what you are doing is really just a VLCD and putting your body in ketosis. Once your body is in ketosis, you will lose weight, but the question is, what type of weight?  Muscle is usually the first to go (which shows up on the scale rather quickly), then it will consume the easy to access fat, which your body actually needs. Dr. Simeons says that by using pharmaceutical grade hCG, you will actually burn the abnormal fat (the stubborn stuff around your abdomen and thighs), which is one of the main benefits of doing an hCG program for weight loss. The benefit in using pharmaceutical grade hCG is that it helps reset your metabolic rate.  I know in my case, before doing the IAPAM’s hCG protocol for weight loss, my resting metabolism was way off, but 3 months after, I had it checked again, and it was normal (in fact, after losing 30lbs, I was able to eat more food than before I started).  So for me, it certainly reset my metabolism.  I did my first round in January 2010, and today I am 0.1lbs above that weight, so did it stay off? YES!!!
If you spend time on hCG related Facebook groups and listen to the comments, it’s absolutely frightening to hear what people are saying. Everyday there is someone posting about a medical complications (i.e. “I have had menses for days now and normally only have a light one due to IUD. Usually its only 2 days, now its a week! Is it related to the diet?” No, go see a doctor right away!!!). I clicked on one ad on Facebook and it took me to a website that sold homeopathic hCG and showed an ABC news clip of a doctor who was using pharmaceutical grade hCG, but they made it sound like this was the same program they offered!! It’s just not possible. No reputable physician would ever prescribe hCG without doing a through medical history and ordering labs for a patient.
The bottom line is that hCG is an FDA controlled substance and requires the prescription of a physician. You have no idea what is actually in the hCG you buy on the internet, and you could be risking your health by doing so. However, taking pharmaceutical grade hCG for weight loss, under the supervision of a physician, is nothing new and has been around 50 years.