HCG Diet Food List – Overview
HCG, an acronym for human chorionic gonadotropin, is renowned as the pregnancy hormone because the placenta produces it in the course of a pregnancy. But on the other hand, the HCG diet has very little to do with pregnancy.
Instead, it’s a divisive weight loss plan that merges banned HCG supplements or hormone injections with a very low-calorie diet.
The HCG diet is advertised as leading to fast and extreme weight loss, which may fascinate persons looking to shed weight quickly.
An early version of the HCG diet started in the 1950s when a British endocrinologist, Dr. Albert T.W. Simeons, developed an interest in using the HCG (human chorionic gonadotropin) pregnancy hormone as a weight loss.
After noticing malnourished pregnant women in India deliver healthy infants, Dr. Simeons conceived that the HCG hormone transformed the women’s stored fat into energy for their babies. So, he proposed that the hormone be used to promote weight loss.
Simeon’s initial HCG diet plan was based on two beliefs.
First, it proposed an intake of 500 calories per day spread between lunch and supper with an unlimited intake of tea, coffee, and water at any time. Secondly, the plan included a daily injection of 125 IUs of the HCG hormone.
The current HCG diet combines manufactured HCG hormone injections or supplements with an extreme calorie reduction.
Split into three phases, the diet is a short-haul eating plan designed to help people shed dramatic amounts of weight in three to six weeks. Numerous HCG proponents claim the diet can lead to a weight loss of up to two pounds a day.
While you may shed weight fast on the HCG diet, it’s not deemed safe by health pros. There is no evidence that this diet is effective, as per the FDA.
Most experts say weight loss achieved on the HCG diet is due to calorie restriction as opposed to the HCG hormone.
What Can You Consume On The HCG Diet?
Some supplement-based diets claim to enhance metabolism, but the HCD diet is based on the notion of changing the body’s hormones to transform fat into fuel.
A typical HCG diet is split into three phases, namely:
Loading Stage
This stage claims to train the body for the caloric restriction it will enter during the weight-loss stage.
During this short two-day ‘primer,’ people preparing to start the HCG diet consume extremely high calorie and fatty foods, up to 250 grams of fat per day.
They are encouraged to consume as many calories and fat as possible, 2250 calories a day just from fat.
It’s in this phase that they also start their daily HCG injections or supplements. Hypothetically, though, this stage ‘keeps’ the usual fat cells you want to retain and prepares the body to burn ‘unusual’ fat.
Weight Loss Stage
This is the second phase, and users continue to take their HCG injections or supplements while taking either 500 or 800 calories per day spread over lunch and dinner.
The weight-loss stage may last from three to six weeks, depending on a person’s weight loss goals.
Maintenance Stage
Once you’re on the HCG diet and shed your desired weight amount, you can gradually discontinue intake of the HCG hormone while steadily increasing calorie intake. Although this diet doesn’t specify the number of calories you should reach to maintain weight loss, some experts state that 1,200 to 1,500 is an appropriate target.
HCG Diet Food List
This diet suggests consuming either 500 or 800 calories spread over two meals. The timing of the meals isn’t that vital, but overall, calories should be split equally between lunch and dinner. Let’s look at some of the foods you can and can’t eat during the HCG diet.
Beverages
HCG Diet Food List – Beverages
Adherents of the HCG diet can take as much coffee, tea, and water as they please. Coffee and tea should only be sweetened with saccharin or stevia. However, this diet allows you to add one tablespoon of milk per day to enrich hot drinks.
Fruits
Fruits
Similar to vegetables, there is only a limited number of approved fruits for the HCG diet. These fruits include apples, berries, and citrus fruits, which can be taken once at lunch and dinner.
Herbs and Spices
Herbs and Spices
Since herbs and spices are, for the most part, low- or no-calorie, they are primary sources of seasoning food on the HCG diet. HCG-compliant recipes usually use garlic, lemon juice, pepper, rosemary, salt, or thyme to season meats and vegetables.
Lean Proteins
Lean Proteins
The two daily meals on the HCD are built around a 3.5-ounce serving of lean protein, including beef (extra lean), bison, chicken, crab, egg whites, lobster, scallops, and whitefish.
Vegetables
HCG Diet Food List – Vegetables
Only specific vegetables are allowed on the HCG diet. To accompany lean protein for lunch or supper, one serving of asparagus, beet, broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, celery, chard, greens, lettuce, onions, radishes, shallots, spinach, and tomatoes is allowed.
Foods You Can’t Take on the HCG Diet
Alcohol and Sugary Beverages
HCG Diet Food List – Alcohol and Sugary Beverages
The HCG diet stays away from the empty calories in beverages such as beer, soda, and wine. The only acceptable drinks in the HCG diet are coffee, tea, and water.
Dairy
HCG Diet Food List – Dairy
Apart from the single tablespoon of milk per day, the HCG diet’s weight-loss stage doesn’t allow dairy products such as butter, cheese, ice cream, yogurt, or any additional milk.
Desserts and Sweets
HCG Diet Food List – Desserts and Sweets
Desserts and sweets are not allowed in the HCG diet. High-calorie foods such as cakes, candies, and cookies have as many calories as one HCG meal serving, so they are banned entirely.
Fats and Oils
Fats and oils don’t feature in the HCG diet. Due to the diet’s dramatic restriction of caloric intake, there’s no room for nine calories per gram contained in fats.
High-Carb Foods
Not only does this diet limit calories, but it also limits carbs. So, while a single breadstick or a piece of Melba toast may be acceptable during dinner, bread, grains, muffins, pasta, and other high-carb foods are otherwise banned depending on the calorie intake level.
Final Thought
To sum it all up, the HCG diet can seem daunting at first with all of its rules, daily injections, and limited calorie intake. But with determination and planning, the HCG diet can be successfully followed by just about anyone who sets their mind to it.
| Foods to Eat On The HCG Diet | Foods to limit on the HCG Diet |
|---|---|
| Beverages: Coffee, tea, and water | Alcohol and Sugary Beverages: Beer, soda, and wine |
| Fruits: Apples, berries, and citrus fruits | Dairy: Butter, cheese, ice cream, yogurt, or any additional milk |
| Herbs and Spices: Garlic, lemon juice, pepper, rosemary, salt, or thyme | Desserts and Sweets: Cakes, candies, and cookies |
| Lean Proteins: Beef (extra lean), bison, chicken, crab, egg whites, lobster, scallops, and whitefish | Fats and Oils: Animal fat, vegetable oil etc. |
| Vegetables: Asparagus, beet, broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, celery, chard, greens, lettuce, onions, radishes, shallots, spinach, and tomatoes | High-Carb Foods: Bread, grains, muffins, pasta, and other high-carb foods |
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