Dr. Spurlock (MD) Regarding: HCG for Weight Loss

HCG* is an excellent diet choice for many reasons. But, of course, it is not for everybody. I have been doing many diets for my patients for many years (Medifast, Sugar Busters, Atkins, Fat Flush Plan, Weight Watchers, you name it), and I can say without any doubts that the HCG diet designed by Dr. Simeon is the most effective diet I have ever used with myself and with my patients.

First, let's talk about the mode of delivery. The injections are great but many patients are needle phobic and cannot handle giving themselves an injection everyday. However, for the people who need to be truly dedicated, the injections sometimes forces them to be serious about the diet. ("If I have to inject myself every day, then I am damn sure I am not going to cheat on this diet so that I can get off it as quickly as possible!")

The second acceptable route is a special skin cream that contains the HCG. This method allows the patient to dose themselves with one pump of the cream once daily. It does achieve the same results. But, I only use one particular pharmacy who has perfected this cream for absorption. Many pharmacies say they can do it, but the results are not great, if at all, in my experience. 

Second, the homeopathic/OTC* products do not work. They really are not HCG, but secretagogues of HCG, and may never convert to HCG.

Third, if you only eat 500 calories a day, you are going to lose weight, no matter what. However, if you do this without the HCG you will be losing muscle not fat, and you will be ravenous and feel terrible. With the HCG, you will lose fat, you will feel "normally" hungry, and you should feel terrific.

Fourth, why does it work well? HCG tricks the body into thinking you are pregnant (both women and men). You cannot go into the starvation mode when you are pregnant. That baby must be fed at all costs. This is why the fat stores are used first and why there are no fats in the diet. But this time the baby being fed is you! You will get about 500 calories from the diet and 1500 calories from your fat stores.

There should be no harmful consequences from taking HCG, male or female, it may even help with the production of your sex hormones. I have also seen it reset the hypothalamus into a more homeostatic functioning.

My cooking classes are for several purposes. It is amazing that most people are not creative enough to come up with good dishes. While I am cooking, I am discussing how to eat properly not only for the diet but for the rest of your life. How to make good choices, which foods to eat (and not eat), how to educate their families and how to make healthy food FUN! I also talk about harmful chemicals, bad additives, horrible sugar substitutes, etc. This method helps keep long term results and healthier lifestyles. I do pass out recipes before the class so they can follow along and see how easy it is. (You really should try my Strawberry Granita recipe!)

Can you gain the weight back? Well, of course, you can! If you don't change the eating habits that got you overweight in the first place! HCG is not magical! But it has been a very successful plan for a good portion of my patients. I also do extensive lab work to look for problems like low thyroid and low testosterone, as these problems will need to be addressed if the patient wants the weight to stay off. My business women love this diet, because, they tell me, they know exactly what to do to keep the weight from coming back.

In summary, HCG is a safe way to lose weight effectively when properly monitored by an experienced health care professional and underlying issues of weight gain are also addressed. I could go on for hours on how it has changed my patients' underlying disorders and how much better they feel.

One of the best things of the diet is that the weight loss happens quickly enough that the patients stay very motivated. There is no perfect diet for everyone, but I haven't found one yet that works this well or easily. My mother lost 60 pounds on it, and she said that she has never had as good an experience as with HCG. She loves it!

*HCG = Human Chorionic Gonadotropin
*OTC = Over The Counter

Here's to better health!

Wm. Marcus Spurlock, MD

I have heard that ER doctors, who then talk to other doctors naturally, were having to adjust to not knowing if someone is pregnant or taking HCG.  When I work with clients related to their overall health/navigation of their functioning in life, with a focus on health care, I try to always cover if they have their ducks in a row for if there is an emergency, and I'd honestly not thought about having people who are on HCG put something in their wallets/with their IDs.  Have you gotten that kind of feedback before?  

There were a variety of reasons people in my part of the world were finding HCG controversial, and to be honest, I thought that it appeared to me to be a 'shortcut' for most people and it was really not in congruence with 'functional medicine' principles unless you FIRST dug through all the reasons of body/mind/spirit a person might be overweight and addressed them and if it really was the hypothalamus needing to be 'inspired' to normalize, or someone just was not losing weight with proper diet and exercise and underlying hormone imbalances supplemented if need be.   

I saw people who were not well off financially being so desperate to lose weight, for vanity not for 'wellness' concerns, and they were shortcutting, I felt, in desiring a fast solution.  Or someone who only has to lose 10# thinking that was the way. I think we all agree that overall, the United States' people have been taught to take a pill for everything and we've lost the ability to 'do the work' as a society.  I actually think that tide is changing back the other way, but in the mean time, there are massive numbers of people who are not yet on that bandwagon.

That is why I was hoping to 'tease out' some information by conversing with you about HCG, Dr Spurlock, so people will have a sense of the vendor in their area or a product they find online is 'right' for them.  And I really appreciate your response.  

If you're up for sharing your recipe, I'll make it! It sounds delicious!  And I'm one that you'd be surprised by, I'm not a creative cook by comparison and I'm probably better than most when it comes to cooking in healthful ways compared to the 'average American diet' ways, as my family of origin and I had to start modifying our eating when I was a teen and my father and I both had hypoglycemia.  Then my sister went vegetarian.  My mother developed hemachromatosis.  My husband wouldn't eat anything with tomato.  It was real interesting finding a way to have holiday meals.  

THEN I discovered in 1995 when I got so sick, that it was thankfully not MS, but was food allergies to wheat, dairy and eggs.  And I'd gained about 30# but as soon as I took those out of my diet I lost it rapidly.  

In my mind, there is a correlation between food allergies and weight gain and I guess I really want people to put their money, time, energy resources into finding the underlying causes for SURE and not skipping steps in the clinical reasoning process.  But again, I mostly have my personal experience and what I've observed from my vantage point and your years of this type of specialty is really invaluable.  Would you normally screen for food allergies?  (I heard that Quest Diagnositics now has a test that does some basics and is being paid for since it is in the realm of what is considered 'conventional' provider services.) 

So thank you again! ~~ Mardy

It would be a very rare occurrence that a female patient would present to the ER on the HCG diet and create a positive pregnancy test. If she did, ....so it's a false positive! That's really not a problem. Maybe the ERs needs to have that as a question when a woman comes in with a missed period. But there is no health problem with this situation at all. 

We can always make a case about people making the wrong choice about a diet plan. And the problem with society today is still wanting quick, easy answers for tough problems. But if you are a doctor and you have trouble getting the weight off of your patients, you have no idea how empowering it is to both the patient and the physician to achieve healthy weight loss in your patients. Some patients come to me simply for the weight loss, but in return, I snag them as a permanent patient that I work on for all of their other underlying problems. This is really is a "no-brainer" and they end up with so much benefit from it. 

I love the story I am about to tell. A lady came to see me just for the weight loss. I did my traditional spiel on the factors of weight gain that also need to be dealt with in the course of the weight loss program. She did not want to do the blood work that day, so she left with her prescription and the lab slip. I didn't see her again for about 4-5 months. (Normally, they come back in a month to discuss the lab reports).

When she arrived, she told me she had done the diet and had lost the weight, but she hadn't done the labwork. After a short period of time off of the diet, she quickly gained the weight back. She scheduled the repeat visit with me, but decided to go ahead and do the lab work I had previously ordered.

As we were going over the results, she began cussing a blue streak. I looked up and asked her what was wrong! (You are going to love this answer!) She said, "Dr. Spurlock, I am so stupid! I didn't want to waste my time with that lab work. I just wanted to lose weight. You told me I had underlying problems. Now you are telling me that I have a low thyroid condition that requires treatment. I could have avoided this weight gain if I had only listened and followed up with you. I am so stupid!"

I smiled and said, "It's okay. We will fix you up now!" 

Yes, food allergies definitely can be a part of weight gain, especially with the inflammation and lack of drainage it may cause (Please reference to your article on Lumigrate about Food Inflammation). I do allergy testing. I am not sure that the Quest test is accurate. We will see. I use another laboratory I am absolutely sure of, but of course, there is a cost involved with this non-covered testing.

I will soon incorporate a detox program along with the diet. I frequently use the Cranberry Flush (promoted by Ann Louise Gittleman in her Fat Flush Plan) to help clean out the lymph vessels to aid in drainage....this can be really helpful!

Nothing in medicine is simple. There are no absolute answers. We each must find our own personal path and pay attention to the observations along the way.

When we refuse to learn the lessons, we are forced to repeat the same mistakes. Life is an adventure,........have fun along the way..... as you learn..... and learn..... and learn.

Wm. Marcus Spurlock, MD

Strawberry Granita

1 lb. strawberries - stemmed and cut into chunks
1 cup hot water
3/4 cup Xylitol
2 Tbsps. Lemon Juice (fresh preferred)

Puree strawberries in food processor. Add Xylitol to hot water and dissolve, then add the lemon juice. Add water mixture to the pureed strawberries and mix until well mixed. Pour into a glass/Pyrex dish so that the liquid is about 3/4-1" in height. 

Place dish in freezer for 25-30 minutes. After this time, pull dish out and stir from the outside-in with a fork. Repeat the procedure 2-3 more times until you have a sorbet-like consistency. Serve and eat.

It is so beautiful and delicious! What a wonderful low calorie treat for the upcoming summer. And it keeps for several days.

Be creative if you're not on the diet. I recently made a Guava/Apple/Lemon Granita. It was a hit! 

The Italians are famous for their Lemon Granita! Who knew it was this easy?!