We received this comment in response to on one of our older HCG posts. I wanted to address this because it’s related to a question I’ve gotten recently from coaching clients. I’ve removed a link because I won’t allow links to this rubbish to be promoted on our site.
My brother is doing the hcg homeopathic drops
so far he is down to the 160s (soo close to 150s) but he read somewhere (online someplace) that the homeopathic drops are safe to take ALL the way through till you lose all the weight you need (no breaks needed) because unlike our INJECTIONS that go into our blood and stay there, the drops are only temporary and so your body never quite builds an immunity. Any comments on this??? thanks!
This seems to be a well-crafted bit of SPAM, but if this is a legitimate question the author will get plenty of answers.
First, as we’ve mentioned many times before here, here, here, and here, hCG is a well-marketed, high-priced placebo. Even in clinical trials, where high-quality hCG is used, it had no effect on weight loss when compared to placebo time and again. Compound this with the fact that people are buying hCG on eBay for wicked-cheap prices, and now you’re definitely taking a placebo!
Homeopathic hCG… Homeopathic Anything
Rather than explaining why homeopathic hCG isn’t worth any more than water, I’ll just explain a little bit about homeopathy in general.
In well-designed, well-controlled trials, homeopathy has been repeatedly shown to be no more effective than placebo. It doesn’t work. Period. You’d have just as good a chance of praying to the hCG fairy, as long as you believe it works. See the references below for reviews on homeopathy.
hCG and Immunity
Our commenter suggested there is some sort of immunity to injected forms of hCG. This could be due to one of two things:
1. A misuse of the word immunity. The commenter could mean that since hCG is similar to luteinizing hormone and so effects testosterone production in men through stimulation of the leydig cell, a negative feedback loop may render hCG’s effects on testosterone production inconsequential. This isn’t anywhere close to immunity, but I could understand the confusion, since hCG’s effects on a rise in testosterone would seem to disappear shortly after beginning use.
2. An absolutely unabashed promotion of a bullshit product with outright lies.
You be the judge.
References:
Ernst E. Homeopathy: what does the “best” evidence tell us? Med J Aust. 2010 Apr 19;192(8):458-60
Perry R, Terry R, Ernst E. A Systematic Review of Homeopathy for the Treatment of Fibromyalgia. Clin Rheumatol. 2010 May;29(5):457-64