HCG Diet Direct has tried to capitalise on Christmas diet anxiety by offering a holiday promotion - prompting nutritionists and health professionals to warn dieters away.
The HCG Diet uses human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG), a hormone which women produce during pregnancy. By taking it, dieters trick their bodies into trying to provide food for a non-existent baby.
The HCG diet has been criticised both for the use of hormone injections, and for the very low calorie limit, just 500 calories per day (a quarter of what an average woman needs).
Normally, using HCG has involved injections, but HCG Diet Direct are promoting a homeopathic (very diluted) version of HCG that dieters take in the form of drops. Despite being highly diluted (and thus to conventional scientific thinking, highly ineffective), the HCG drops are expensive, costing $79.95 for a 15 day supply.
Dieticians and nutritionists have spoken out against the diet, with Jan Milne, Dietitians New Zealand's executive director, saying:
Very low calorie diets without strict medical and dietary supervision can be dangerous. They are only reserved for severely obese people, and even then must be closely monitored by a qualified medical professional.
And since 1975, the FDA has the full-strength HCG, used by clinics, labelled and advertised with this disclaimer:
HCG has not been demonstrated to be effective adjunctive therapy in the treatment of obesity. There is no substantial evidence that it increases weight loss beyond that resulting from caloric restriction, that it causes a more attractive or "normal" distribution of fat, or that it decreases the hunger and discomfort associated with calorie-restricted diets.
Our verdict? Stick to sensible, healthy eating and exercising instead. That means eating at least 1,000 calories per day (most dieters will need considerably more), and aim to meet the recommended minimum exercise guidelines.
Don't waste your money on drugs which are at best useless, and - if they do work - potentially hazardous to your health.
And don't keep looking for a quick fix, either. A safe, sustainable rate of weight loss is 1 to 2lbs per week. Any diet promising significantly more than this is probably a dangerous scam.
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