HCG, Lipotropics, B6, B12

I want to know your thoughts. I know several people who are taking HCG injections and I am getting mixed views, and also about the B6 and B12 and Lipo anything. Does anyone know about these?

What I do know is that I can't figure out why anyone would inject themselves with a pregnancy hormone for weight loss. Even if it worked, WHY???

Well if its safe, and you lose weight, then WHY NOT?

Original Post by malinrmt:

Well if its safe, and you lose weight, then WHY NOT?

 Who says it's safe? The same people that change their minds daily on things like butter or margarine? Sugar or artificial? The drug companies that put out a drug and then recall it? Maybe HCG is safe, when you're a pregnant female. Why would you want your body to think you are a pregnant female if you're NOT?

Well that's how a lot of birth control works.  I am not saying it is safe but after I do research (which is what I am doing now ) I will make an educated decision.  I am looking for anyone who knows about the product, please disregard if you do NOT.

B6 over 75 mg/day causes nerve damage....watch out.

Thank you, I didn't know that.  I will definetly ask about that.  They are recommending once a week, so I need to find out how much they are putting in it. 

You should just google the things you want to know about.  Do your own research and don't rely on uneducated opinions from a weight loss forum.

Original Post by malinrmt:

I want to know your thoughts. I know several people who are taking HCG injections and I am getting mixed views, and also about the B6 and B12 and Lipo anything. Does anyone know about these?

My understanding of the hCG is that MEN take it to increase the amount of testosterone in their body. The hCG's site of action is the Leydig cell in the testes and I'm sure it won't work the same in the female. Also, after a while of using this stuff your body compensates for the increased testosterone by inhibiting the production of it, so then you have to take the hCG just to get normal amounts of testosterone. 

As far as the B vitamins go, they are very important parts of catabolic processes within your body. Making sure that you are not deficient will help you keep a normal energy level, but I don't know if taking more will help increase your energy above that. Here's a small article that I found about it: Do vitamin B supplements increase your energy?

And lastly about the lipotropics. One of my professors is a world renowned biochemist who has done work in understanding the human lipostat system. There are a LOT of different hormones in your body that will change the rate of metabolism of fat, and this is where lipotropics come from. But there are MANY back up pathways within this system that we still don't know very much about. So the lipotropics are just a quick fix that will quickly be exhausted and your body will build more fat even when you take them. All studies of these hormones show that eventually, everyone gains the weight back.

Your best option to lose weight has always been a lifestyle change. The dieting and exercise may not be the easiest way, but it will always be the best.

HCG IS indeed a pregnancy hormone.  While you're pregnant, it helps your body to make sure the fetus is receiving enough nutrients (among other things).  For women who have intense morning sickness, this means their fetus will be using fat stores not usually readily available to be used as fuel for the body.

As far as being taken for males who are not developing through normal pubescent routes, this is true.  However, it is taken in MUCH higher doses and for a much longer time.  While dieting, it is only taken for a maximum of 40 days at a time and you must wait 6 weeks between the first and second cycles and 8 weeks between 2nd and 3rd cycles.  The amount of time in between cycles increases the more cycles you do so that the body does not develop an immunity or a dependancy on the hormone.

As for the VLCD that goes with it, HCG deals with the hypothalmus gland to tell the body that it is indeed not starving.  A double blind study showed that HCG actually increased the amount of Fat Weight (FW) lost and decreased the amount of Lean Weight (Lw) lost while dieting on low calorie diets.  The most dramatic results were found to occur at a daily dosage of 250mg while larger doses had no increased benefits whatsoever.

I have seen other areas of this forum where people have posted that they had to take pills and injections and assume they are the same as this diet.  That is most likely not the case, as most promoters of the HCG diet do not recommend taking anything other than Calcium and sometimes vitamin B supplements.

As for the safety of the product, no long term side effects have been associated with the use of HCG for dieting.  In larger doses, as mentioned, it can have lasting effects if you take it for a longer period of time.  This, as I've mentioned, does not happen when using this type of diet, because the doses are smaller and the period of time they are taken is much shorter.

For more information on this diet, please look at Dr. Simmeons' (sp?) manuscript.  You can find it several places on the web if you do a google search.  I strongly recommend that anyone who has doubts about the diet or just wants to understand it better read it.

Original Post by smilbie:

As for the VLCD that goes with it, HCG deals with the hypothalmus gland to tell the body that it is indeed not starving.  A double blind study showed that HCG actually increased the amount of Fat Weight (FW) lost and decreased the amount of Lean Weight (Lw) lost while dieting on low calorie diets.  The most dramatic results were found to occur at a daily dosage of 250mg while larger doses had no increased benefits whatsoever.

I would like to read this study if you have the reference.

I started the HCG/VLCD on Wednesday of this week and it is now Sunday, I am down 7 pounds already, the process is very scientific and interesting, if you look at www.hcgslimagain.com it is a website for a local clinic here that sets you up on the program, supervised by a doctor and a nutritionist. Also the books by Kevin Trudeau help to explain everything, there is a manuscript on the link i have listed for informational purposes as well. The injections are done into your fatty tissue aka your midsection with an insulin needle- but can also be administered into muscle tissue with a much larger needle, or the mixture can be mixed so as to be administered sublingualy - under your tongue - via mouth. The dose is nothing near that for purpose of steroid/bulking up sometimes used by body builders, nor that for prepubesent boys. It is also far lower than even that of a pregnant woman. But when you think of how women during their first trimester can be so deathly ill unable to eat even a cracker it is hard to understand where her nutrients are coming from, they are indeed coming from the fat reserves she has stored up - that we all have stored up. Taking the hormon leads to your body utilizing those same reserves. To date I have had no negative side effects, feel extreamly full, and have lost weight. My mother who has been on the program since Oct 7th (Today being Nov 23) has lost 32lb and dropped only 2 pounds of lean body mass, so 30lb of fat.

It is not for everyone, such as atkins, zone, cabbage soup..... but it works for me.  Thanks!

You realize that Kevin Trudeau is a scam artist, right?

Scam artist or not, i am in a smaller size, not hungry, and eating organic. Eh ... it's a wash to me.

the diet is actually based off of Dr. Simeons "Pounds and Inches" protocol. Kevin simply wrote a book about it. I red the book before i knew what it was and thought it was a complete scam, but i went into a medical weight loss center where they offer the shots on a daily basis along with a strict diet (this is not a good diet if you don't have will power). So far (in 14 days) i've lost 13 pounds and counting. I'm not tired and not famished due to lack of calories since the HCG is actually burning 1500-2000 calories from your fat storage everyday (that is why you loose about a pound a day on it). I'm obviously not a doctor, but i'm pretty sceptical about things and this did every single thing I was told about it. Its great! If you want to loose weight, this is a good way to start.

Original Post by ejensen88:

the diet is actually based off of Dr. Simeons "Pounds and Inches" protocol. Kevin simply wrote a book about it. I red the book before i knew what it was and thought it was a complete scam, but i went into a medical weight loss center where they offer the shots on a daily basis along with a strict diet (this is not a good diet if you don't have will power). So far (in 14 days) i've lost 13 pounds and counting. I'm not tired and not famished due to lack of calories since the HCG is actually burning 1500-2000 calories from your fat storage everyday (that is why you loose about a pound a day on it). I'm obviously not a doctor, but i'm pretty sceptical about things and this did every single thing I was told about it. Its great! If you want to loose weight, this is a good way to start.

Hi I am new here but couldn't help but read this. I want to warn you first hand that these injections are not good. I started a program last year in January, and took the shots with a RHN. She administered them, and I followed a pretty strict diet plan.  Moving forward to July I decided to stop seeing the RHN and getting the shots because I was at my goal weight. I started in Jan. @ 198lbs July came and I was 134lbs! I lost ALOT in a very small amount of time. I regret doing it this way only for the simple reason that as soon as I got off the injection I started gaining...not very noticeable at first but now it is Feb 2009 and I am back up to 176 LBS!!! This is a spot I never thought I would see myself back at after loosing ALL THAT WEIGHT...

I have now realized that the injections were a quick and easy way of loosing the weight and now I need to teach myself to do it all alone. It's going to be a VERY TOUGH road know this...a part of me just wants to go back to the injections...but I know in my right mind that; that is how I got myself this way!!!

Yes quick and easy fix....but NEVER longterm unless you plan on staying on the injections your entire life....

Lissa83, I was very interested to read about your experience with the shots and that particular diet.  In Canada, we have a Dr. Bernstein selling a diet plan that is uber low calorie, supervised by RNs and includes shots of B vitamins, but I'm not sure exactly which.  I've heard of a lot of people having great success with this and fast weight loss and I even considered it for a while but decided it wasn't for me.  (I am terrible at programs you have to pay for.  One year I signed up for California Weight Loss, which cost $1,200 and then they pestered you and pestered you to buy supplements for additional huge sums of money. As in $100's of $.   I bought it all and never went back.  Crazy I know.)

Even though the program you went to worked great, there seems to be an element of "too good to be true" in it, just like the Dr. Bernstein plan.  Thanks for telling about your experience.  The old fashioned way of learning to eat properly and exercising more better equips us to be more honest with ourselves about what is truly realistic.

My husband & I both lost 50 lbs each on the HCG Protocol and did not gain any of our weight back, either.  I posted our story on another thread here.

bookitytygal

I was on the diet in the 70's and it worked great.  I actually lost enough weight to play college basketball.  I did gain weight back over 30 some years because the Doctors did not want to prescribe it.  My son in law went on it and lost over 25 lbs and is still on it.  Of course this is not for everyone just like accupuncture etc is not for everyone.  Keep paying those giant drug compainies.

yes im new to the site was trying to find out more about the hcg diet wondering where i could order it from a good legit website alot of people say most websites are scams plz help

The best place to order it from what I can tell and what everyone says is All Day Chemist which is www.alldaychemist.com. ; They seem to ship better and have the best prices.  The problem is that not only are some of the sites a scam but some of the clinics and doctors overcharge by a unbelievable margin.  Good luck as it really works.