Your Opinion: Warning on HCG for weight loss

Lisa Finley, Jefferson City Medical Group

Wednesday, July 13, 2011

Dear Editor:

As a registered dietitian working exclusively in weight management, I feel compelled to offer consumers additional information regarding HCG for weight loss. My area of practice includes the option of a low-carbohydrate, very-low-calorie diet under the direct supervision of Dr. Christopher Case, an endocrinologist, and Dr. Alan Rauba, an internist/diabetologist. Patients on this program experience rapid weight loss with decreased hunger.

Consumers purchasing HCG drops should be aware it is impossible to absorb HCG under the tongue due to its molecular weight. At approximately 39,000 daltons, a protein molecule this size cannot pass through oral tissues. Also, once in contact with enzymes in saliva and gastric acid in the stomach, the molecule would be broken into peptides and amino acids, rendering it non-functional. Injections of HCG have not been proven to aid in weight loss and also carry unknown long-term risks. The FDA considers HCG as a weight loss aid fraudulent.

A 500-calorie diet is typically prescribed with HCG. However, are consumers also aware that food-based very-low-calorie-diets were associated with nutritional deficiencies and electrolyte abnormalities causing heart rhythm disorders, leading to death in the 1970s? The National Institutes of Health and the National Heart Lung and Blood Institute state that “VLCDs ... require special monitoring and supplementation ... and are used by specialized practitioners experienced in their use.”

For more information, please see our program descriptions and my article, “Unpacking the ‘Magic’ of HCG at http://www.jcmg.org.

Issue-oriented letters to the editor in response to this or about other local topics are welcome. All letters should be limited to 400 words. The author's name must appear with the letter, and the name, address and phone number provided for verification. Letters that cannot be verified by telephone will not be published. Send letters for publication to editor@newstribune.com

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Not_Sure 1 year, 10 months ago

So, is the News Tribune now accepting advertisements thinly disguised as letters to the Editor? "Advertorials" in magazines are clearly labeled as advertisements.

online_editor 1 year, 10 months ago

No, we did not collect money to publish the letter. It was submitted for free like the rest and judged to be of importance because of the public health issue it raised. (Sorry that I inadvertently left commenting turned "on" on this page originally, but I wanted to address the question before I put that back to normal. We ask responses to the "Your Opinion" letters to the editor be in the same fashion as the original letters, with signed name included and a telephone number for identity verification. You can e-mail editor@newstribune.com to have your letter published on this or other Your Opinion topics.) --Rick Brown, online editor, News Tribune

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