Protein, fat, and carbohydrate all have their roles for the HCG diet. Keeping the proportions of these food groups within a narrow range is crucial for proper fat loss. Here is a valuable tip on HCG diet protein.
Protein is a key component of hCG diet plans. I will explain why the protein portion of this diet is so crucial. Protein has several metabolic effects that are critical to success when losing weight on an hCG diet. …
This is simply the stoppage of your weight loss from one day to the next. This is why it is crucial for you to weight yourself every day. Normal progress is a weight drop of a half a pound to a pound (sometimes more) from one day to the next.
When you weigh the same from one day to the next, then you have started a plateau. Most people look at the lack of change as a fluke the first time they notice it. Depending on the individual, the trend may believed only after two days or more of no progress. Sometimes it takes four to six days before some people finally realize that they are stuck, meaning on a weight loss plateau.
1) Best Way: The Simeons Apple Day Strategy
In his book, Pounds and Inches, Dr. Simeons recommended an apple day on the very first day that you find yourself on a plateau. An apple day has two components: 1) eat nothing but six apples all day long; 2) drink as little water as possible. His explanation involves getting sludgy food moving again. It is a challenge to make sense out of this explanation in a physiological way, so just rest assured that it almost always works.
This method removes excess fluids in a hurry, so it is common for weight to drop two pounds from one day to the next. After that, your normal progress should be restored.
2) Increase Bowel Movements
Constipation and infrequent bowel movements are the main problem leading to an HCG weight loss plateau. This makes impeccable sense. You must move your bowels at least once per day during the protocol, and two or three times per day would be better.
Taking in more water is generally the easiest and most effective way to increase bowel movements. However, if this does not work as fast as you want, simply adding soluble fiber to a glass of water will accelerate the process. The easiest soluble fiber to find and use is psyllium powder. It is the main ingredient of Metamucil, although that product contains too many lousy ingredients to be recommended (e.g., sugar or aspartame, artificial color, etc.). Besides, a good nutrition store will offer pure, unadulterated psyllium powder at a much lower price than any grocery store brand.
3) Adhere More Closely to the Original Diet Protocol
Modern variations of the protocol include adding lean ground beef and mixing multiple vegetables at the same meal. The original protocol was more of a sure thing, so eliminate ground beef and have only one vegetable at a time instead of in mixed salads, etc. Also, make sure that your carbohydrate source (e.g., Melba toast) is just the right amount. You can even reduce this amount if need be.
4) Vary Your Food Sources Within the Same Day.
If you are in the habit of eating chicken breast at every meal, or otherwise the same kind of protein source, then substitute a different source for one of your meals. In other words, do not eat use the same kind of meat twice in the same day. This also goes for eating the same type of fruit or the same type of vegetable. Change them up and see how this can move you off of your plateau.
5) Eat Enough!
If you think that eating less and less will be helpful, what you will find is that a too-low caloric intake will slow down your metabolism. You must eat the minimum daily amount of 500-550 calories to keep your metabolic rate just right for burning the abnormal fat from your body. When this rate goes too low, you will hit a plateau and stop losing weight. So eat enough!
All the best in overcoming your weight loss plateau,
This HCG diet video is a great starting point for learning about the diet. It explains how to get started and gives some important pointers on the best ways to get your weight loss goal.
New to this diet? Take your first steps by watching this vlog and learn about how to start. 1. Read Pounds & Inches by Dr. Simeons which can be found here: www.hcgdietinfo.com. 2. Order HCG online at this trusted site: www.pharmacyescrow.com 3. Join …
Link to PharmacyEscrow.com
The HCG source mentioned in this video is a non-U.S. pharmacy online. I have checked it out and it is a legitimate company. The link to their site is here:
Sometimes calling something an HCG diet scam might seem harsh. However, when marketing hype overshadows a tried and true diet protocol with scare tactics, I feel a need to point it out. Before you take a look at what I mean, keep in mind that this latest hype is not a new HCG diet as claimed, and the products behind it do not contain any HCG whatsoever. Buyer beware.
Many people on injections have reported many issues like raised blood pressure that have complicated their already unhealthy state of being overweight. These numerous concerns have HCG dieters switching over to a Utah company’s new …
And while we are at it, here is an interesting diatribe against the HCG diet that represents the following aspect of human nature: A person will find evidence for whatever he or she already believes. If you believed even half of the nonsense in this post, it would scare you out of your wits about the HCG diet protocol. Of course, that seems to be the idea. Read on, and be amazed by the sound of axes grinding:
I would NEVER recommend something as nebulous as hcg to any woman I loved. My mother suffered from high blood pressure and high cholesterol (common in many Black women her age… hell, it’s common in Black women MY age), and I personally …
The HCG diet menu will keep you slim for life. During the protocol, HCG diet foods must be low in fat. Dietary fat distracts the metabolism of abnormal body fat and leads to the storage of body fat in the presence of dietary carbohydrate. Here is how to make this protocol work to keep you slim the rest of your life.
HCG Diet Foods
The widely known four main components of the HCG diet consist of: 1) a low fat meat protein source; 2) a vegetable; 3) a fruit; and, 4) crackers or breadsticks. These four categories primarily represent two of the three food groups, i.e., protein and carbohydrate. All of them are either low fat (meat, vegetable, fruit) or no fat (crackers).
Recommended meats are obviously the sources of protein. The other three categories are sources of carbohydrates. They are allowed either as whole foods (vegetables, fruits) or in very limited amounts per meal (crackers).
Making Dietary Fat and Carbohydrate Work Together
The low carb part of this protocol is crucial for keeping the liver from becoming saturated with stored carbs. A carb-saturated liver converts excess carbs to triglycerides that go back into the bloodstream and eventually into storage in fat cells. Neither of these outcomes is healthful when excessive.
The hormone phase of the HCG diet keeps the amounts of dietary fats and carbs low so the hormone can direct the removal of stored body fat. This would not happen without low dietary fats and carbs. This also explains why cosmetics and skin products that contain oils can undermine fat metabolism.
HCG Diet Foods for Lifetime Weight Management
The food choices themselves are excellent for a lifetime of healthy eating in many respects. These foods can be consumed in sufficient quantities to meet the daily caloric needs of any Basal Metabolic Rate.
Foods that upset metabolic balance would still do so. Examples include sugars, starches, and processed carbohydrates from all sources, especially those from wheat and rice. They also include super sweet fruits such as grapes and bananas.
Staying Slim After HCG Not Guaranteed
Too many overhyped HCG diet clinics and online promotions claim that the HCG diet will keep your fat off for the rest of your life. This is poppycock. Such claims mislead people into thinking that they do not have to alter their lifestyles. Here is what I guarantee: If you get to your target weight using the HCG protocol, then go back to eating foods that made you fat in the first place, you will get fat again. It is that simple.
The Problem With Protein
This food group is routinely ignored in almost all weight loss diets, at least as far as worry about any effects on weight gain. Arguments instead revolve exclusively around the roles of fats and carbs. Protein, however, does play a role in maintaining body fat. This is a complicated topic that deserves articles by itself. However, here is what more than 50 years of research shows very clearly: You will live a long and healthy life if the amount of protein you eat constitutes as little as 5 percent of your total calories.
Excess protein is, indeed, a problem. We eat too much of it, especially from animal-based foods.
Good News For The HCG Vegetarian Diet
You do not need a dedicated protein source at all. The typical sources of protein for vegetarians (beans and grains) would not work during the protocol because of their high carb content.
However, you can get all the protein you need from spinach. The good news is that you can eat all the spinach you want and never disrupt your progress during the HCG protocol. And you will never be hungry if you eat as much as spinach as you can hold.
By the way, this advice also extends to adopting a vegan lifestyle for life. Studies have shown over and over that excess protein intake, primarily from animal-based foods, is bad for your health in many ways. Overweight is just one of those ways.
One of the most remarkable side effects of the HCG diet is resetting insulin sensitivity. This has wonderful consequences for folks who have developed (or are developing) diabetes.
Dr. Simeons states that those suffering from “a fairly advanced case of stable diabetes” (in other words, adult-onset Type II) may in fact be able to stop taking their anti-diabetic medications after three or four days on the HCG diet. …
Consult with your doctor of course before taking the HCG diet if you have diabetes for specific protocol that is necessary. However, the HCG diet is labeled, and proven to work for those that have diabetes …
Hey, here is some important food for thought on Splenda (pardon the pun!). I will be posting a more technical article on the evils of this artificial sweetener later. For now, take a look at a couple of videos by another HCGer on it. Very important!
Splenda makes you fat so it is just plain ridiculous to use it while on the HCG diet. Splenda is a deadly chlorocarbon that is designed to destroy your metabolism the very thing you are trying to repair while taking HCG! *************************** T…
Splenda makes you fat so it is just plain ridiculous to use it while on the HCG diet. Splenda is a deadly chlorocarbon that is designed to destroy your metabolism the very thing you are trying to repair while taking HCG! *************************** T…
The HCG diet menu is radically different between Phase 2 and Phase 3. This list of foods clears up a lot of questions about what exactly is acceptable during Phase 3. As it turns out, this is also the ideal list of foods for long term lifestyle choices.
Here are the foods to choose during Phase 3: Dairy. Almond Milk. Milk. Eggs. Plain yogurt. Snacks. Almonds. Almond Butter. Pecans. Protein. Beef. Chicken. Fish. Eggs. Hemp Protein Powder. MRM Protein Shakes. Jay Robb Protein Shakes …
This is where most people blow it. The first 3 weeks after taking HCG are crucial. Failing to follow certain guidelines will add weight back again. Here is what you must do.
HCG Diet Information After The HCG Phase
The After HCG Diet To Do list begins after the HCG phase concludes. The last day of the HCG phase is the third day in a row of not taking the hormone, also called the hormone washout period.
On the first day after the three day washout period, you are allowed to increase your calories back to your normal daily caloric requirement, with certain crucial restrictions.
The first three weeks after taking HCG, sometimes misleadingly called the maintenance phase, is the period when the fat metabolism that you established during the protocol becomes stabilized. The two most important actions that you must take during this phase are: 1) weigh yourself every day, just as you did while taking the hormone; and, 2) eat or drink anything you want except food and beverages that contain sugar or starch.
One exception is a single glass of wine each day, with a meal, during this phase.
The above guidelines are not new information. They were prescribed by Dr. Simeons in the 1950s. Here is why they are important.
The Importance Of Keeping Track
Keeping track of your weight every day ensures that you are not gaining it back. Dr. Simeons insisted that the stabilizing action of this phase would be most effective when his patients kept to less than a 2 pound gain from one day to the next. He said the same thing for a 2 pound loss. The point is to stay within a narrow weight range, starting with your weight on the final day of the hormone phase and staying at that target for the next three weeks.
The Importance of Carb Restriction
This is a simple guideline. Avoid starch and sugar, both of which are carbs. The most dangerous carbs during this phase are those that fill up your liver storage capacity to quickly (i.e., starch and sugar). If your liver takes in too much carb during this phase, it will convert the excess into triglycerides and shove them back out into the bloodstream, on the way to storage in fat cells. Elevating triglycerides and increasing fat storage are not the results that you want.
Foods and beverages to avoid during this phase include potatoes, all breads, pastas, and other starchy products, rice and other grains, grapes, bananas, all fruit juices, soft drinks, and beer. This list could be much longer. Just be sensible.
By the way, the explanation is oversimplified. As Dr. Simeons mentioned in 1954, the true danger during this period is the combination of fats and carbs in the diet. Indeed, if you eat no carbs at all, you can consume more fat without increasing weight again. Remember, you have just spent a month or more establishing a healthy fat metabolism. This is no time to revert back to old habits and mess it up.
If you insist on eating carbs with a lot of fat, then watching your weight daily is the only way for you to easily detect what change this may be causing.
The Proverbial Steak Day
The steak day strategy entails skipping breakfast and lunch, then for dinner eating only a steak and one apple. The necessity for a steak day is any day that your weight reaches 2 or more pounds above the previous day.
The key is to have a steak day that very same day. Putting it off will undermine your recovery. However, a steak day can and often does put you right back on track by the following day.
The reason that I emphasize this is that a steak day is most effective only when it is implemented on that first day of too much weight increase.
A Modern Scientific Viewpoint
Dr. Simeons created his diet based on 1950s knowledge about human physiology. The discovery of the master fat hormone, leptin, in 1994 substantiates his thinking. Leptin and HCG both work by sending signals through brain receptors in the hypothalamus. Lab research with experimental animals is just now starting to show how these two hormones interact to regulate fat metabolism.
The carb connection in this scenario involves insulin, which also has a close interaction with leptin. If either one of these hormones gets out of balance, the other one will, too. Consuming excess carbs will make you fat more quickly than will any other kind of food. These hormones work together to make it so. This is why eating carbs during the three week post HCG phase ruins your newly acquired fat metabolism.
I hope this helps you understand how important it is to do the right thing during this period.
The need for protein is overrated for the HCG diet. Besides, veggies of all kinds offer plenty of it. The idea behind the meat choices is to limit dietary fat. Research is very clear on what the best diet would be, before, during, and after the HCG diet.
Just in case you are looking for a way to survive on the meat-centered HCG diet protocol without meat, here is an idea that will work perfectly: go vegan. Specifically, go vegan without grains. Here is an extreme version of how to do so at this link:
HCG Vegan Diet Protocol
My Comment
Sandy and Steve make some good points, although some of their explanations sound like voodoo science. Here is what I have found in the scientific literature: A grain-free vegan diet, raw or not, will be better for fat loss and lifelong weight management regardless of whether you go through the HCG diet protocol. Any advice that you see, including that from Sandy and Steve, about cleansing and detox is without scientific merit, even though it may sound reasonable. It may even be correct. It just has no scientific merit.
The three biggest flaws of almost all diets are: 1) too much protein; 2) too many grain-based foods, 2) too much animal-based food. I guarantee that you would not even be considering the HCG diet if you reduced those flaws. This will be a subject that I dig into with more depth later.
Leptin is the Master Fat Hormone, and it works by signaling the hypothalamus of the brain. The questions for fat loss now under study are starting to look at how leptin and HCG interact. The idea is that they may be using the same or similar brain receptors. It is a great topic for understanding more about how HCG works.
Here are some extracts from a highly informative article on leptin, a hormone secreted by fat cells that influences energy expenditure and food intake.
Good HCG diet information is hard to come by. Most folks who are thinking about doing the protocol worry about starving on such a very low calorie diet (500 calories per day). Yes, this would be a starvation diet without the hormone. Here is why HCG makes all the difference in keeping you from starving.
HCG Diets
The specific foods in limited amounts during this protocol are designed to support the fat burning metabolism that is directed by the HCG hormone. That is a mouthful, and if you have a fear of starving on this diet those words will not help. Here is what you must consider. Let us just say that you normally have a metabolic rate that requires 1500 to 2000 or more calories per day. It would be pretty simple math to say your metabolic rate would burn through 500 calories pretty fast. So the effective question to ask is where do the remainder of your calories come from while on the protocol.
They come from your own fat. Yes, you can count on at least 2000 calories from your own fat. Specifically, this is abnormal fat. You will see the result wherever you have it … usually belly, thighs, buttocks, or upper arms. For women, this also means breasts, depending on how much abnormal fat has accumulated in them.
Now, to get really visual on how this works, note how I explain this to my clients. It goes like this. Imagine that you have a magic knife that you can use to cut off a slice of your own belly fat (without pain or other trauma … remember, this is your imagination at work here).
Slice off a good sized chunk, say about 2000 calories worth. Lay it out on your cutting board, sprinkle it with some salt, pepper, and garlic (okay, these are my favorite spices … use your own if you wish). Now put it on the grill, being careful not to let flames engulf it. It is fat, after all, and will burn really fast if you are not careful.
Whenever you feel that your new fat steak is done to your satisfaction, sit down to a nice dinner of 2000 calories and eat it. There you have it. You have eaten your own abnormal fat.
The great thing about the HCG hormone is that it directs your metabolism, through a signaling pathway in the hypothalamus of your brain, to effectively give you a fat steak from your own fat every day. So that is why the HCG diet is not a starvation diet. Is that a little clearer now?
Nothing like a good video for seeing how to mix HCG injections. Mixing HCG can sometimes seem a little complicated. All you have to do is know how much HCG you are starting with and the concentration that you want for daily dosing. Take a look to see how it is done and how you inject it.
hCG Preparaton and Injection Demonstration using Sub Q Injection
The medium chain triglyceride component from coconut oil offers health benefits, unlike other fats and oils from plants. MCT oil helps with weight loss, which makes it a beneficial component of phase III of the HCG diet and beyond. It even trumps other oils for cooking, especially the highly processed ones such as canola oil and corn oil and the high-smoke ones such as olive oil.
Here is an informative post on the topic that I found at the link below:
The MCFA (medium chain fatty acids) or MCT (medium chain triglycerides) in coconut oil are different. Because of the small size of the fatty acids that make up coconut oil, they actually yield fewer calories than other fats.
HCG diet phases can get a little mixed up unless you know what they mean. They are numbered, Phase I, Phase II, and Phase III, for each major component of the Simeons diet protocol. Phase III is especially crucial to follow closely, because it sets your metabolism after you stop taking the hormone. This is when people can gain back too much weight and ruin all their prior effort.
Phase III “Maintenance”–During this phase, you slowly add high glycemic foods while continuing to monitor your weight. If you begin to gain rather than maintain, you need to restrict these sugary or starchy foods.
Keep their great advice in mind for a successful protocol all the way to completion of your slimming goal.
It is just plain silly that the HCG diet can be remotely considered as controversial. This hormone-directed diet protocol was established more than 50 years ago. It continues to increase in popularity because of its effectiveness. The HCG hormone targets the reduction of abnormal fat, which is not possible by diet alone or by any combination of diet and exercise. Here are some new perspectives.
The original plan was created by a British medical doctor, Dr. A.T.W. Simeons, in his clinic at the Salvator Mutidi International Hospital in Rome in the 1950s. His book, Pounds and Inches, describes his discovery and experience with the protocol. He also outlines the protocol in sufficient detail for any reader to follow it without difficulty. This book is freely available on many websites.
The purpose of this article is to provide some updated information on the HCG diet and to puncture at least a few fallacies that have arisen regarding it.
Public Perception vs Scientific Research
As you can expect, media coverage of Dr. Simeons’ protocol has been mixed. This is to be expected because of yellow journalism, not necessarily because of the merits of the protocol itself. For this reason, using HCG for weight loss has been called controversial. This controversy has been made up out of thin air.
Most of the scientific research evaluating HCG for weight loss was published in the 1960s and 1970s. Some medical researchers confirmed Dr. Simeons’ original results in controlled clinical experiments. Other medical researchers failed to confirm these results, even when following the same experimental design. If anything, this would be a legitimate source of controversy. However, media coverage has never mentioned this body of research.
500 Calories Per Day Does Not Lead To Starvation
People from all walks of life, health professionals and the public alike, rightly observe that a 500 calorie per day diet alone would be too little food for normal metabolism. What they fail to note is that the HCG hormone changes metabolism to make up for the calorie restrictions of the Simeons protocol. This means that abnormal fat becomes a source of calories for daily living.
The statement above means that you can live off of your own fat when you are using the prescribed dosages of HCG and eating the prescribed foods in the right amounts. Explaining how the protocol works in this statement comes across to some people as pure gibberish, so all they can dwell on is the fear of living on only 500 calories per day. It doesn’t seem to matter that another 2000 calories can come from their own fat.
New Perspective On How HCG Works
Dr. Simeons astutely pointed out that HCG influences fat metabolism by signaling the hypothalamus of the brain. He was guessing that this protein hormone fit into hormone receptors of some kind that were already in the brain. The exciting aspect of his guesswork is that, in 1994, a new protein hormone was discovered to influence fat metabolism by signaling the hypothalamus, too. This hormone, called leptin, is now widely known as the master fat hormone.
Current research on laboratory animals is starting to show how HCG and leptin might interact by signaling the same receptor sites in the hypothalamus. Research on this interaction is too new to show how this works. However, HCG and leptin clearly influence one another. Furthermore, the influence of leptin on insulin also leads to an indirect response between insulin and HCG. One property that all of these protein hormones share is that overexposure to each one leads to resistance. Leptin resistance leads to storage of too much fat. Insulin resistance leads to abnormal blood sugar metabolism (and fat storage) and eventually to diabetes. HCG resistance simply stops this hormone from working completely.
Unusual Side Benefits
As weight loss proceeds on the HCG diet, skin seems to shrink up, too. The benefit is that, unlike all other weight loss diets and even weight loss surgeries, skin does not get loose and saggy while you lose weight.
Some people believe that a great benefit of HCG is that it works regardless of whether they exercise. The entire protocol is effective whether you sit on the couch the whole time or run 10 miles per day, and at the same level of effectiveness either way.
Perspective of the FDA
The FDA is not a government agency that is concerned with helping us be healthy. It is the enforcement arm of the pharmaceutical industry. The position of the FDA on HCG for weight loss is irrelevant to anything useful for the public. In fact, I predict that the FDA will ban the use of this hormone for losing weight as soon as it gets enough attention to threaten the drug industry.
Fake Scary Stuff About HCG
HCG was first called the pregnancy hormone because pregnant women produce high levels of it during the first trimester. One subunit of this complex protein is also produced by women during menstruation. Comments that imply some kind of feminization of men upon taking HCG are plain silly. Quite the contrary, since bodybuilders often use HCG to restore low testosterone levels after taking an anabolic steroid series.
HCG is not just a hormone that is produced only by women. Men have the genetic machinery to produce it, too. One of the subunits shows up in measurable quantities as a product of certain kinds of cancer. It is used clinically as a marker for testicular cancer. Keep this cause and effect straight. Testicular cancer causes a positive test for HCG, not the other way around. Comments on the Internet that invoke the fear of HCG causing cancer get this cause and effect backwards.
Maintaining Long Term Weight Loss – Really?
No. Weight loss on this protocol does not grant carte blanche to eat poorly without consequences. Ice cream and cookies will make you fat, regardless of whether you lose weight on this protocol or any other kind of diet. Claims about keeping off fat forever are true only when dieters adopt appropriate lifestyle changes that support healthy weight management. It is only logical. If you do things that made you fat in the first place, then those same things will make you fat again.
Constipation on HCG is more common than most people realize. If you have a tendency toward constipation, HCG will be more likely to make it happen. Constipation may even occur regardless of whether you have had this problem before. Here is what happens and what you can do about it.
In this case, constipation means not having a bowel movement for more than three days. If you are expecting to lose a pound per day, almost all of your weight loss is stuck inside you when you are constipated. You much have one or more bowel movements per day to stay on track for weight loss on HCG.
Drink More Water
Several natural (i.e., non-laxative) strategies can be very helpful. The simplest and easiest one is to increase your water intake. Eight glasses of water per day can be miraculous in many ways, including preventing constipation.
Use Psyllium
It is also simple and easy to drink a daily glass of water with a spoonful of psyllium. This is the active ingredient of Metamucil, although psyllium itself does not contain sugar or artificial sweetener or any of the other useless ingredients that are in Metamucil (filler, food coloring, flavoring). Psyllium should be available in any supplement store. It is also a whole lot cheaper than Metamucil.
Best Herbal Teas
Herbal teas are the final natural strategy before you consider the synthetic laxatives. Some herbs are, indeed, natural laxatives themselves. These include Cascara Sagrada and senna. One or both of these are often the main active herbs in dieters’ teas. These are widely available in the tea section of grocery stores and supplement stores. Licorice tea may also be helpful.
Surprising Benefits of Magnesium
One more thing that is of great benefit in many ways, including preventing constipation, is an ordinary magnesium supplement. Almost everyone is deficient in magnesium, which causes long term problems in how your body uses calcium properly. A one-time dose of 400-500 mg of magnesium (for example, as magnesium citrate) can really loosen you up. In fact, the first time I took this amount of magnesium in a single dose, I got the runs. Sorry for the visual on this. However, it makes my point, doesn’t it?
Oral HCG has become a godsend for folks who object to the hassle of injections. It does have some difficulties, though. These are overcome by the new form of HCG as pills.
Sublingual HCG is easy to use if you count the drops exactly. If you do not do so, then the dosage will not be correct and the supply will run out too soon. This has been a common problem. Feeling exactly 5 drops is not easy for everyone. Counting out the drops in the mirror is the surest way to get the right number.
Many people also travel with their HCG drops. This causes a problem with keeping the supply cold so it won’t degrade too fast.
The good news is that a new pill form, which is actually a pellet, eliminates both of these problems. Each pellet contains exactly one dose for two doses per day. The dry form of the pellet requires no refrigeration, so it is easily stored on a counter top and it can be taken on trips without a cooler.
Where to Get Oral HCG Pills
They are not widely available yet, and I won’t have them for purchase here until I know there will be sufficient demand for them. This may be sooner than later. They do cost about a third more than the sublingual form, which is the only drawback. If enough visitors here ask for them or about how to get them (comment here), I will be glad to provide them to you.
By the way, just to be clear, the sublingual and pellet forms of HCG that I refer to are measured in IU, which indicates the concentration of the hormone (e.g., 30-day supply is 12000 IU). I say this so that you will not be confused by the commonly available oral HCG products that are homeopathic.
Your skin does not have to suffer on the hcg diet in the absence of oils and lotions. Several excellent alternatives are available for hcg cosmetics. You may be pleasantly surprised to see what they are. Pay close attention to the comments in the following article about MCT.
This is the most complete and helpful article that I have found on how to get your skin through the protocol without having it dry up! Just click on the link here:
So much misinformation! Ah, this is typical from supplement companies. Is vitamin B-12 an important supplement? It depends on how old you are. Whenever I want the lowdown on any kind of supplement, I can almost always find a very, very detailed analysis at the Linus Pauling Institute at Oregon State University. Scan this essay to get all of your questions answered about this all-important vitamin for the HCG diet protocol.
One major disappointment that I had early in my career in plant natural products chemistry was finding out that this vitamin is not derived from plants. Bacteria make plenty of it, though. If your friendly intestinal bacteria are healthy, you are probably getting at least a minimum amount into your system. However, the older you are, the more you will have to get of this vitamin from outside sources. Indeed, I found that 2500 to 5000 mcg helped me with low energy during the HCG protocol. Clinics that offer injections of B-12 are even better.
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