In 1988, 29 year-old classically trained pianist and trombonist William Jonathan Drayton, Jr., cemented his place in musical mythology by recording with his uniquely American group, Public Enemy, the immortal words Don’t Believe The Hype. Drayton who took the stage name Flavor Flav has since become known as hip-hop’s greatest hype man, so he ought to know.
The hype goes on. We’ve written about it here and here and here. The LA times has come out against the hype here.
People just want to believe, though. Something keeps them buying disproven diet solutions.Dallas’ WFAA aired this piece that briefly acknowledge controversy but was also very HCG positive. Boston’s WCVB was happy to report on HCG successes while warning of some risks and doctor skepticism. And, of course, Hot Indie News essentially advertises for a vendor hawking homeopathic HCG drops over injections. Between press releases and ill considered local coverage Google News is awash in stories on HCG for weight loss.
None of this press matters. HCG doesn’t work for weight loss. Period. The 500 calorie per day diet that is required while on an HCG diet plan will work for weight loss for a while, but HCG simply doesn’t. See the previous posts on this sites for more. Like this in depth explanation.
There is only one formula for weight loss and that is:
input – output = weight change
How does this work? Input is the total number of calories put in. Output is the total calories burned from base metabolic needs and exercise. The result is change in weight. That difference added over days will result in weight change.
Eat too much and exercise too little? When the difference adds up to 3500 calories, a pound is gained. Eat less, exercise more? When the difference is a 3500 calorie deficit, a pound is lost. It’s pretty simple.
The discipline is hard. Exercise and diet as part of overall healthy lifestyle is the only road to sustained weight loss. The only road. Real people do this every single day. Some make a bigger deal of it than others like our sponsor Fit Like Us.
It’s time to stop throwing money away on quick fix plans that never really pan out and embark on the weight loss journey that it’s going to take to truly age against the machine.
Her Take: I am almost amused by the assertion in today’s “news” stories that HCG “works” by making the body think it is pregnant and pulling fat to feed the non-existent baby. If this were true, then nobody would recommend it for men at all — they don’t get pregnant — and birth control pills would cause women’s fat to just melt away! Another amusing claim was that homeopathic HCG drops work just as well as daily injections. Since neither works, that’s perfectly true.
Seriously, however, HCG has a valid use as a fertility drug. As such, it effects the female reproductive system. Since it’s used by women who desperately want babies, no research has ever been done on what drug interactions may occur between HCG and birth control pills.
