HCG side effects now include a newly discovered benefit to cardiovascular health. Drug companies are probably developing drugs to do what the hCG diet plan already does. Here is what you and your doctor should know.
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HCG Side Effects Bonuses

Dr. Simeons, in the 1971 revision of his seminal book on the hCG diet plan, Pounds and Inches, provided an extensive list of positive hCG side effects, including:

Lower cholesterol levels
Lower blood pressure
Restoration of testosterone balance
Reversal of diabetes
Improvement in rheumatoid arthritis
Reversal of gout
…and more

The main effect, that of fat loss, has been well-documented. Now a stunning new study about additional changes during the hCG diet plan shows a new surprise: a boost in cells that help rejuvenate the lining of aging and damaged blood vessels.

The Research

I have posted basic information, including weight loss and fat loss results, from the latest study here: HCG Diet Plan – Real Science. This study also addressed one of the hCG side effects of greatest concern among dieters — i.e., effects on cholesterol — that I explain in this post: HCG Side Effects – Cholesterol Update.

The details from that 2011 study that I want to call to your attention now are a little more complicated, if only because they entail some scientific jargon that most people are not familiar with. If you have been reading my blog for any length of time, you know by now that, being a research scientist myself, I’m big on real research data.

Bear with me, then, while I present the data of interest. You can take a look at these results for the moment, then skip on down to my explanation of what they mean below.

HCG Side Effects - CD34-Positive Cell Number

Translating from Jargon to English

First off, these data show results of changes in a type of cell that circulates in blood, called CD34-positive cells. These are thought to be the earliest cell types that can be transformed into cells that line blood vessels (i.e., endothelial cells). CD34-positive cells, therefore, are important indicators of cardiovascular health.

The number and migratory activity of circulating CD34-positive cells are reduced in patients who are at risk for coronary artery disease. Increasing the number of CD34-positive cells during treatment is therefore thought indicate an improvement in vascular health.

The bottom line is that an increase in CD34-positive cells is a desired outcome.

What the two figures above show are the comparative levels in CD34-positive cells in nine patients, before and after doing the hCG diet plan. In Figure 5, the number is normalized to a starting level (i.e., 1) at the beginning and expressed as an increase over that level. Eight of the nine patients had an increase, from about 1.2 to about 3 times the starting level.

Figure 6 is even more interesting, because it correlates increases in CD34-positive cells with percentage changes in body fat. The straight line shows a trend in the positive correlation between increasing numbers of CD34-positive cells (expressed as a post-diet to pre-diet ratio) and a greater change in percentage body fat (i.e., more fat loss).

All of this is good news for hCG side effects on cardiovascular health.

Results are Preliminary

Every initial study on any subject has to be considered preliminary. Such studies offer the first data to be reported, and they usually entail a small number of patients. So far, so good regarding CD34-positive cells. Unfortunately, it may be a long time coming before any additional, expanded studies appear on this topic. Drug companies, research universities, and government funding agencies are simply not interested in paying for this kind of research.

That’s all we have for now.