We all want to stay healthy and fit, but many of us are finding it difficult to do so. Busy schedules, sugary temptations, large portions and sometimes a lack of understanding about the inner workings of our body and metabolism can all become setbacks for achieving our goals. With obesity, diabetes, high blood pressure and heart disease on the rise, many people are searching for the weight loss magic bullet.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved a number of medications and surgeries to help people achieve weight loss. Just this year, obesity has been deemed a disease by the American Medical Association. This means that more medications to target this “new” disease will likely be added to the pharmacy shelves in the coming months and years. Unfortunately, many of these approved medications have caused serious harm to those who have taken them. Could there be another answer out there that may make sense?

The HCG Weight Loss Program is being used by medical spas, naturopathic doctors and medical doctors throughout the country to help people rapidly lose weight and keep it off. This program is a controversial use of human chorionic gonadotropin (HCG), a hormone naturally made in the body during pregnancy. HCG helps to maintain pregnancy while the fetus grows. It is FDA approved to increase fertility in women and testosterone in men, but not specifically for weight loss. In the 1950s, British endocrinologist Albert T.W. Simeons postulated that HCG used at a very low dose in both men and women for short periods of time, when combined with a low calorie diet consisting of specific foods, could bring about rapid and sustainable weight loss. He operated a clinic in Rome, Italy, where people would come to lose weight. Based on the clinical results, he suggested that patients lost weight by burning only abnormal fat deposits while maintaining lean muscle mass and normal fat deposits. This program has become popular again recently.

Though the FDA has not approved the use of HCG specifically for weight loss, many who try it in a medically supervised setting are finding that they are able to lose up to a pound a day while on the program. That is of interest, but the real matter of importance is keeping the weight off. According to Simeon, the use of low dose HCG allows the body to reset its metabolism and to maintain lean muscle mass while losing fat mass. If this were to occur, the body would essentially change its set point and increase its ability to burn calories, helping to maintain weight loss.

The truth of the matter is that obesity is a major contributing factor to many of the chronic diseases affecting our country, and 1 in 3 people are currently obese. There is no one magic bullet for weight loss, just as there is no one fountain of youth. We all know that to lose weight, and thus improve health, we must burn more calories than we take in. We are also well aware that a proper diet and exercise program will help us to achieve this. So why is it that many of us are unable to take action and get the results we desire? 

Many factors play into the inability to lose weight. Some obstacles include hormonal imbalance, emotional triggers or a lack of knowledge of how to truly achieve a lifestyle that fosters a healthy weight. No crash diet of deprivation that inevitably sets us up to “fall of the wagon” in a world full of temptation will ever allow us to maintain a long-term result. As always, it is about addressing the root cause of a problem and not just the symptom. It’s also about understanding proper nutrition and putting together a healthy lifestyle that will allow for a long-term result and carefully selecting the right tools to help achieve the desired goals.

Mia Darling is a naturopathic doctor licensed in the state of Arizona. Before moving to the Lehigh Valley, she had a private practice in Scottsdale AZ where she successfully offered the HCG Weight Loss Program. To register for a free informational seminar in November or to schedule a free 10 minute consultation call 610-682-2104. For more information on the HCG plan visit MiaDarlingND.com.