What is HCG?
How does HCG work for weight loss?
What does ‘off-label’ mean regarding using HCG with LUS?
How is LUS (Lighten Up Systems™) HCG used for weight reduction?
Is there a difference using Oral vs. Injectable HCG?
Is HCG safe?
The LUS – HCG protocol is very low calorie, will I get hungry?
Wouldn’t I lose the same amount of weight eating a very low calorie diet without LUS?
Will LUS interfere with any medications I am currently taking? What about birth control pills or Depo-Provera injections?
Will I experience any changes in my menstrual cycle on LUS?
How will I feel during Phase II of the Lighten Up Systems™ program?
How much weight can I expect to lose?
Human Chorionic Gonadotropin is a peptide hormone produced in largest amounts during pregnancy by the placenta and mother. HCG performs several important functions during this time. It maintains progesterone production from the corpus lutem up until 12 weeks of fetal development when the placenta takes over this role. It is also speculated that this hormone affects immune tolerance, which is critical for pregnancy. HCG is also a hormone that is present in all of us, women and men, throughout our lifetimes in low – but now detectable – levels. This fact comes as a surprise to many….even many physicians. It should give us a bit more security about the fact we are administering a hormone in minute amounts that is actually ALWAYS with us in an effort to lose weight.
HCG is a hormone comprised of two protein sub-units, alpha and beta. The alpha sub-unit is nearly identical to that of other hormones (from the pituitary gland) which stimulate the gonads (testicles and ovaries), Luteinizing Hormone (LH) and Follicular Stimulating Hormone (FSH) and the thyroid gland (TSH). The beta sub-unit is unique to HCG. HCG is structurally very similar to LH. It is in fact produced in the adult in the same cells of the pituitary gland where LH is produced. Finally…it has been established that HCG and LH share a common hormone ‘receptor’. The receptor is the molecule that a hormone must bind to in the cell or nucleus to have a hormonal ‘effect’ manifest or happen.
In medicine, we use HCG in infertility with IVF cycles to stimulate the mother to make multiple follicles or eggs for harvesting. We also use it in men for infertility and testosterone supplementation protocols as it stimulates the testicles to improve semen analyses and make more testosterone.
How does HCG work for weight loss?
It is clear that HCG works to decrease hunger and this is likely due to increasing the levels or the effectiveness of the satiety hormone leptin, which would help control hunger while on calorie restriction. It also acts to facilitate lipolysis, or the freeing up of free fatty acids from fat stores, which effects weight loss. Most importantly, it appears to allow the hypothalamus to re-set or re-calculate our weight ‘set-point’ in such a way that we can return to regular calorie intake and NOT regain the weight. This is, by far, the MOST remarkable clinical feature of the program and speaks most loudly to the significant impact HCG has on the central nervous system.
How all this happens is a subject we will address in an upcoming book on HCG that will surprise many and hopefully lead to the medical community taking a closer look at this amazing hormone’s ability to help us….in many ways.
What does ‘off-label’ mean regarding using HCG with LUS?
The term ‘off-label’ refers to the fact the Food and Drug administration has not approved HCG for use in weight loss. In other words no (usually pharmaceutical) company has taken the time or spent the money to perform the studies necessary to establish its usefulness. There are several reasons this has not yet happened that are outside the scope of this response but the key point here is that it is perfectly legal and OK for physicians to use medical devices and/or drugs in an off-label way.
The Food Dug and Cosmetic Act and the courts actually allow for and EXPECT that physicians will from time to time use drugs/medical devices for reasons other than those for which they were approved initially.
Off-label does NOT mean dangerous or irresponsible at all. The above facts reflect the reality that the drug/device approval process is a lengthy, costly, often politicized process that could occasionally prevent the availability of clearly useful treatments for patients if indeed it were policy that practitioners could ONLY use drugs for the exact reasons that they were initially approved. This allows physicians to consult the literature and make informed decisions for their patients when some new application becomes apparent for a drug or medical device.
How is HCG used for weight reduction?
Fifty years ago, a British doctor with a clinic in Rome, Albert Theodore William (A.T.W.) Simeons, M.D., discovered that administration of small amounts of intramuscularly injected HCG coupled with a very low calorie diet over six-week cycles facilitated remarkable and rapid and well tolerated weight loss and body re-contouring. Dr. Simeons reported on his findings for the medical community in the early 1950s.
It is important for patients to understand that the use of HCG for effective weight loss MUST be in concert with a structured program of dietary caloric restriction with very specific food choices, appropriate nutritional support and copious water and green tea intake. One does not just use the injections and expect weight to magically fall off.
Is there a difference using Oral vs. Injectable HCG?
Yes in our experience absolutely. The gold standard for effective HCG would be injectable. Dr. Simeons’ in his original work used intramuscular injections. Lighten Up Systems™ utilizes daily subcutaneous injections. With either of these methods of injections patients will show positive blood testing for HCG which we feel is obviously significant and important. We do offer convenient orally dissolving tablets for patients in some instances and these are effective BUT, there have been many instances where patients in our system start with the oral tablets and do not respond appropriately and immediately after a change to injections we observe that weight loss and mood improve immediately.
This speaks volumes to us. So while there is clearly a place for oral delivery we always want to see each patient realize what we feel will be maximal results.
HCG is extremely safe and non-toxic particularly vs. other medical approaches for weight loss. To start with it is a bio-identical hormone and not a foreign chemical as most pharmaceuticals are. Mom and baby produce in excess of 1,000,000 IU per day during pregnancy. There are no reports of any adverse effects on the mother or on fetal development. The small amount we use for weight loss has absolutely NO side effects. There is no medical literature indicating toxicity with use at these levels. It is our finding that many patients on HCG for weight loss experience unexpected positive side effects including: improvement in mood, relief of chronic joint pain and remission of certain fibromyalgia symptoms.
It is important to note that HCG is approved for use for infertility in women and for conditions of low testosterone and infertility in men in MUCH higher doses than those used for a weight loss program and in these settings HCG is not associated with any known long term medical consequences. This is reassuring.
HCG use for weight loss is an off label use of the hormone, however, and patients are placed on a very low calorie diet as well. Therefore it is a MUST that patients seeking these services are under the care of a physician who is familiar with its use in this regard! We cannot stress this enough throughout the course of this website.
The LUS – HCG protocol is very low calorie, will I get hungry?
HCG administration along with calorie restriction mobilizes fat (lipolysis) and makes it available to the body as an energy source and this assists in reducing hunger. There is evidence also that HCG administered by subcutaneous injection may facilitate increasing the levels of the satiety hormone leptin or at least improve its ability to signal the brain that we are full and sated. As you are taking in fewer calories, your body can access the energy you have stored in fat cells. A consistent feature of the LUS program is a marked absence in hunger in patients. We see this consistently and it is confirmed over and over again by observing patients who are on the program and for various reasons have their HCG supply become inactive. Immediately they report (within 2-3 days) increased hunger, difficulty sticking to the diet and a marked fall off in their weight loss. Patients should be aware that during the first week there may be ‘cravings’ which represent a withdrawal-like syndrome as sugars and starches are removed from one’s system. Patients are very clear that this is NOT hunger, per se, and it always abates by 5-7 days into calorie restriction.
Wouldn’t I lose the same amount of weight eating a VLCD without HCG?
While it is true that the amount of weight lost with pure calorie restriction approximates that lost with the LUS diet the following points should be considered and differentiate this ENTIRELY from pure calorie restriction:
- With LUS there is minimal/no hunger and moreover patients are comfortable. In fact the LUS diet frequently elevates mood and increases energy.
- Maintaining a true 500 cal/day diet without HCG for three or six weeks would be extremely difficult. Most will not be able to pull this off.
- Structural fat under the skin and in joints is spared and abnormal subcutaneous and abdominal fat areas only are targeted. This effect results in improved body contour with inches lost.
- The loss of abdominal fat specifically is often accompanied by a marked improvement in health as diabetes, chronic pain, sleep apnea and often hypertension improve dramatically!
- Regular calorie intake is resumed immediately.
- Weight loss is easily maintained afterward. There appears to be a re-setting of the hypothalamically determined ‘weight set-point’ in patients treated with HCG for weight loss.
HCG administration does not interact with any type of birth control pills or hormone replacement. In addition, most commonly prescribed medications for chronic medical conditions are permitted during the diet.
Will I experience any changes in my menstrual cycle taking HCG?
There may be a slight disruption in a woman’s cycle because some stimulation of the ovaries occurs. Symptoms reported are primarily spotting or irregularity. Patients are asked to take three days off from their injections and increase their protein intake during their menstrual cycle if hunger or irritability increase.
How will I feel during Phase II of the Lighten Up Systems™ program?
Patients are typically very comfortable while on HCG and the low calorie diet and often experience an increase in energy and positive mood. Symptoms such as headaches, mood swings or feeling lightheaded DO NOT typically occur.
How much weight can I expect to lose?
In one six week cycle women can lose between 20 – 35 lbs. and drop 2 dress sizes while men can lose between 30 – 50 lbs.