The Skinny from Dr. Z

There is daily chatter in my private Facebook group (now over 11,000 members) about which HCG product is best. Some members are of the philosophy that the only or REAL HCG product is the prescription HCG injections. Other HCG dieters have had tremendous success with the drops available online and swear that my InsideOut HCG drops are the REAL deal. As a newbie to the HCG diet world, I hope this blog will clear things up so you can not only determine “real” HCG from fake, but also find the confidence and wisdom to decide which HCG product is right for you.

When I began practicing with HCG weight loss, years prior to publishing my book HCG 2.0 – A Modern Adaptation of the Traditional HCG Diet, I was of the group that believed the ONLY and/or REAL HCG product was the prescription HCG injections. Even as a chiropractor, I didn’t buy into the homeopathic business. However, when my medical director and I were losing 10-15 patients per day because we were charging $450 for 30 days of prescription HCG injections, we began to reconsider.

The story was always the same, a new patient would walk in and say “my friend or brother or sister or neighbor lost 25 pounds on HCG diet drops that they bought online or down the street and paid only $100.” My medical director and I would talk ourselves in circles about the benefits to prescription HCG (REAL) Vs. homeopathic HCG drops, but in all honesty, we didn’t have an argument. Most homeopathic HCG drops work. Sure, we were getting great results too, but our results were costing patients about $15 per pound. You do the math.

As a result of the mass exodus of patients seeking a more affordable HCG product, I decided to do some investigating. I soon found an FDA approved, homeopathic manufacturer that assured me that his HCG product would get equal, if not better results than the “real” HCG I’d been using. I was skeptical, but I slowly began recommending his product, first to those that were afraid of needles, but as it became apparent that the homeopathic product worked, I began recommending it almost exclusively. The good news – I haven’t looked back, my patients are losing MAD amounts of fat while maintaining muscle mass; and best of all, my patients don’t have to tap into their retirement savings to get thin.

I’m not the only HCG professional that echoes these results. Many in the industry will tell you the same. Linda Prinster, author of The HCG Weight Loss Cure Guide, which is not a very progressive book in comparison to mine, but is still often used by many MDs as the industry standard for patient education, says the same thing. Prinster says that “with committed patients both prescription and homeopathic HCG products will yield weight loss of 20-30 lbs. in 30-40 diet days”.

Dr. Emma, another HCG guru agrees. So if both products work, what is REAL HCG?

I understand that both work, but I'm still confused!??

Again, if you’re an HCG diet newbie, of course you’re still a bit confused. Over the next couple of paragraphs I’ll explain the different HCG products and where all the confusion comes from. However, what I want you to remember is that both products work and that the HCG 2.0 protocol can be combined with either.

THE SECTION BELOW DETAILS AND DESCRIBES BOTH THE PRESCRIPTION HCG AS WELL AS THE HOMEOPATHIC HCG…

Let’s start with homeopath HCG drops –

But prior to that, let’s define homeopathy. Homeopathy is the alternative medical developed in Germany at the end of the 18th century. It is based on the “law of minimal dose” — with the focus being that exposure alone to a particular compound provides the greatest effect. The Homeopathic HCG that you’ll find from an FDA approved manufacturer (like that in my online store) uses the intact HCG molecule, in combination with a magnification process, to increase its potency. You’ll find this on the label under drug facts. The Homeopathic HCG used in my practice is labeled (3X, 6X, 12X, 30X, 60X), which is an indication of its potency.

Homeopathic HCG drops are NOT to be confused with products that you’ll find on the shelves of Wal-Mart that say non-hormone HCG. Considering that HCG is, by it’s very nature, a hormone, this is just a cheap product trying to make a buck on a hot industry and the result is that it confuses the market place and aggravates the FDA. Stay away from this product.

Now Prescription HCG –This is where a lot of the confusion begins, reason being, the delivery systems can be different as well. By delivery system, I mean how does the hormone enter the body. This could be by subcutaneous injection, pellets that dissolve under the tongue (sometimes called trochees), or even sublingual drops that mimic the delivery system of the homeopathic HCG drops. Below I’ve further broken down the different delivery systems. The two most common are the injections and the sublingual pellets.

HCG Injections – Injections were the method used by Dr. Simeons in his clinic prior to the publication of his now famous manuscript Pounds and Inches; A New Approach to Obesity (don’t bother reading it, it was written more for doctors than patients). His dosages ranged from 125 IUs to 200 IUs. He warned that increasing dosages beyond those ranges could, in fact, be counter-productive, which may account for why the homeopathic version is equally as effective.

Please bear with me here, because this get’s a little weird. During the time Dr. Simeon was practicing, and prior to bio-identical hormones therapy, the HCG hormone that was used in Dr. Simeons’ clinic was harvested from the urine of pregnant women, usually in underdeveloped countries, which made for an unsterile product, duh, right? This is why many believe that the diet disappeared for nearly 50 years, as a result of a Foot and Mouth epidemic that broke out in the UK from unsterile HCG. I can’t say this with complete certainty, but I felt it worth mentioning. It seems logical that this could be the reason the diet lost popularity so quickly.

Today, with the advances in bio-identical hormone therapy, HCG is compounded in a pharmacy and mixed with bacteriostatic water. Bio-identical Hormone therapy uses a protein from a yam or soy bean and alters it to become the exact replica of that which is produced in the human body, creating a safe and sterile product. It’s typically made at compounding pharmacies or boutique pharmacies that specialize in individualized medicine, which is why they are so expensive.

Sublingual HCG Drops or Pellets – As I stated above, when I began working with HCG, injections were the only available option. As the diet gained in popularity, pharmacies were quick to develop more patient-friendly HCG products that don’t involve syringes. The sublingual tablet w/B12 is the most common, but there are also trans-dermal creams, lozenges and nasal sprays.

Now, with all of the information above, we’re clear that prescription HCG injections as well as the homeopathic HCG drops work and when combined with my HCG 2.0 protocol lead to rapid weight loss. So finally, what is real HCG? Both! And you can find both products in my online store.

ONE WORD OF WARNING – DON’T BE BARGAIN SHOPPER WHEN IT COMES TO YOUR HEALTH

There are many internet retailers out there trying to make a quick buck on a hot industry. In December 2011, the US Federal Drug Association, and the Federal Trade Commission, issued warning letters to seven online retailers of homeopathic HCG. The letters warned that selling drugs unapproved by the FDA was illegal, in addition to making unsupported and exaggerated claims regarding HCG and its effects on weight loss. My advice here is to be careful with what you purchase via the Internet. I don’t feel that there’s any danger with purchasing a product online, but the quality could be suspect. If you’re purchasing online, at the very least make a phone call to find out if the retailer has a medical professional on staff. Also, stay away from any HCG retailer that offers a guarantee on their results. Medical professionals don’t offer guarantees.

In summary, there will always be debate over which HCG product is better. If it’s your first experience with HCG, start with my drops. They’re affordable, they’re effective and if you have any questions, you can email me at [email protected]... but only if you’ve read the book. I’m not going to explain my diet to every person looking for a quick fix. Trust me, you’ll learn a lot from my book, most specifically, how to keep the weight off.

It’s great for my bank account, but I don’t want you doing my diet once every January. HCG 2.0 is about sustained weight loss. And that’s what you’ll get from the book and from all of the products on my site.