Latest Diet Fad Comes With Warnings

DENVER (CBS4) - It's a strict and some would say extreme diet called "The hCG Protocol." Developed in the 1950s the plan calls for little or no exercise, a 500 calorie diet of mostly proteins and vegetables and daily injections of the hCG hormone or Human Chorionic Gonadotropin.

The injections are used during the first six weeks of the 12-week program.

"hCG is a hormone that is produced by pregnant women," said Dr. Julie Gelman, who supervises patients on the plan.

The hormone that normally stimulates reproduction in women zeros in on fat stored in the body without zapping away lean muscle, according to Gelman. He says a person can lose about a pound a day on the diet.

"What hCG does is it burns fat calories so although you're eating 500 calories, you are getting close to 2,000 calories in a day and those extra calories, you're just not putting them in your mouth, you're just metabolizing the fat stores that you already have," Gelman said.

One of Gelman's patients, David Stouter, says he picked the plan because it had a healthy base that encourages eating raw and unprocessed foods. He says the first week was the toughest part.

And the injections?

"The injections were probably the easiest thing," said Stouter, who has lost more than 20 pounds on the diet.

Despite the dramatic results some health experts warn that the diet is hardly enough to sustain the body and the hormones might have no real effect on fat stores.

Dr. Kim Gorman is the Director of the Weight Management Program at the University of Colorado Denver Center for Human Nutrition.

"You can't possibly get what you're body needs in terms of vitamins and minerals, proteins carbs and fat when you're talking about 5-hundred calories, you can't do it, it's impossible," Gorman said.

The Food and Drug Adminstration says there's no scientific proof that the hCG hormone is an effective tool for treating obesity and strongly discourages people from trying to buy the hormone over the Internet.

"The biggest danger is lots of people are getting hCG over-the-counter and it may not have hCG in it at all or it may be a small portion," Gelman said.

The FDA says any products found online claiming to be "homeopathic hCG" in the form of tablets, drops and sprays are unapproved new drugs that are most likely fraudulent and illegal.

Internet scams aside some say the diet really works, while others say it's just too hard to maintain the weight loss.

- Written by Valerie Castro