Lighten Up Systems™ is a complete program for medically supervised weight loss using a combination of specifically designed nutritional support products for each cycle along with injectable HCG and a very specific patient protocol to guide each patient through the process.
The diet involves real, whole foods during and afterwards.
Lighten Up Systems™ offers each patient a complete kit for use with each short or long cycle.
The practitioner just supplies the hormone prescription and their time and guidance!
HCG use for weight loss MUST be administered by a competent, trained physician. Using HCG in this fashion currently represents an ‘off-label’ use of the hormone and, as such, demands strict medical supervision in ALL circumstances. The SYSTEM is critical to follow for optimum results for each patient.
About HCG
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?
Well that is the $64,000 question for sure! 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.
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 intake. One does not just use the injections and expect weight to magically fall off.
Is HCG safe?
Although The FDA has not approved HCG Therapy to lose weight, 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.
Clearly no one has THE answer. Drugs, surgery, liposuction and a myriad of meal plan programs and still, you are not able to effectively find a solution to losing weight. 10 pounds or 100 pounds, it matters not. How do you weed through all these options which promise effective weight loss that you can KEEP off? What can you do for yourself to bring clarity to what the problem is and to decide exactly how best to address the situation for you?
Why is it so hard to stay thin?
We often are made to feel as though a weight issue reflects some sloppiness or ‘failure of willpower’ on our part. Nothing could be further from the truth. Knowledge is power. Understanding the issue is half of the battle in letting ourselves off the hook and empowering us to take effective action.