Compare the HCG Diet to the Atkins Diet

By John D Greene


In the recent years, people have been following various diet plans however the basic principle for losing weight is by the consumption of fewer calories than your body exerts. It is often a hard task to choose the right diet regime that fits your lifestyle, metabolism, and food preferences. However, one can successfully lose weight with physician's advice that can help you from choosing the right plan. Moreover, it is important to understand the concept of any diet plan to reap the benefits.

At present, the most widely approved diet protocols are the HCG diet and Atkins diet plans however one should obtain medical opinion before starting with any diet protocol. The HCG diet emphasizes on the use of HCG hormone injections daily and restricted calorie intake, whereas the Atkins diet does not permit the intake of certain carbohydrates. You can attain your weight loss goal by properly understanding the approach of these diets. Let's briefly compare about Dr. Simeons HCG diet protocol and Dr. Atkins diet protocol.

The HCG Diet has been practiced since 1950s and it became public during 1970s when introduced by Dr. A. T. W. Simeons to treat overweight. It includes a daily dose of HCG (human Chorionic Gonadotropin) hormone injection that is isolated from the urine of a pregnant female. While following this diet, one should take a very low-calorie diet of less than 500 calories per day to burn excess fat out of the system. Dr. Simeons advices intake of 2 small meals daily that contain sources of lean protein, fresh fruits and non-starchy vegetables.

During HCG diet, one should not take some carbohydrates but can include bread sticks (Grissini) or toast (Melba). Dr. A.T.W. Simeons researched by obtaining the ratio of daily carb intake to ensure that dieters did not experience carbohydrate imbalance. The HCG diet program re-programs the hypothalamus gland and hence the person normally tends to eat small portions of food which helps to successfully manage weight. The low calorie phase of the HCG Diet, depending on one's weight, usually lasts for the duration of 3 to 6.5 weeks. The best advantage of HCG diet protocol compared to Atkins diet is that one can still take certain carbs thus avoiding ketosis.

The Atkins diet was introduced in the 1970s by Dr. Robert C. Atkins to promote easy and rapid weight loss. The Atkins diet mainly emphasizes on reduced intake of carbohydrates followed by the consumption of healthy carbohydrates back to sustain lost weight. It includes several phases in order to achieve the desired weight loss. The first phase of the Atkins diet restricts the intake of carbohydrates to less than 20 grams per day. Based on individual carbohydrate tolerance, one can take around 50 to 100 grams of carbohydrates per day during the subsequent phases.

The major drawback of Atkins Diet is it fully cuts-off healthy carbs thus forcing the system to encounter ketosis (condition that involves abnormally raised levels of serum ketone bodies. In general, Ketosis is a complication of abnormal fat metabolism and diabetes mellitus and long term ketosis causes liver damage. Hence, the Atkins Diet was strongly contended by diet experts. In response, it was revised by allowing essential fats, healthy food, and portion control.

The main difference between the HCG diet and the Atkins diet is that the former involves total calorie restriction, whereas the latter emphasizes on carbohydrate restriction. However, the administration of HCG hormone injections is unique to the HCG diet protocol while the Atkins diet involves introduction of fruits, sugar, grains, and some dairy products by carefully monitoring the daily intake of carbohydrates.

During HCG diet, one can take certain carbs like bread sticks or Melba toast to make sure about sufficient intake of carbs to avoid ketosis. In contrast, one should avoid essential carbs while on Atkins diet thus developing ketosis characterized by energy loss, weakness, and fatigue with higher rate of weight relapse. One can sustain lost weight from HCG diet as it reprograms the hypothalamus gland to feed on small amounts of healthy food.

In conclusion, the HCG diet protocol is the best as it provides enough energy to stick to diet without quitting and it causes no nasty side effects like flatulence and bad breath as seen in Atkins diet. The side effects of HCG diet include blood clots, restlessness, depression and headache.




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