Everyone has that one friend who went to one of those rapid weight loss diet clinics and went from a size 20 to a size 8 in three months. While they may look great for another three months, many of those dieters eventually wind up gaining weight again.
“The main problem is that these diets are designed to manipulate the body in a way that is a shock to the system in order to help people lose the weight, but the program isn’t designed to keep the weight off,” said Dr. Brian Arcement, medical director of
Nuviva Medical Weight Loss. “The regimen is focused on a super-strict diet and a battery of supplements that address what it takes to get weight off fast, but it doesn’t address the more important issues of nutrition, exercise and lifestyle. It’s rough on the body as well as the psyche, which leads to people eventually hitting the wall with the rigid program, and putting all that weight back on.”
Dr. Arcement said the answer is a program that incorporates a more sensible diet, natural medicines and a course that combines nutrition and exercise to ensure a generally healthier state, as opposed to a crash program that’s focused only on dropping pounds, which can be both risky and short-lived. Some medically-supported diet programs are starting to incorporate the hormonally-based medicine hCG, which Dr. Arcement believes can be effective if it’s done correctly.
Human chorionic gonadotrophin (hCG) is a glycoprotein hormone produced in the pituitary gland, which is one of the glands that can have an impact on our natural body weight, according to Dr. Arcement.
“hCG is believed to help people lose weight from their stored fat if they are also following a low calorie diet,” he added. “This has not yet been proven in medical studies and the FDA has not approved the use of hCG for medical weight loss, but it is used ‘off-label’ in some programs. An hCG diet does not yet have substantiated medical studies to prove its effectiveness, but many dieters are reporting real and sustainable results when they incorporate their use of hCG with better nutrition and exercise. While we lack the empirical data, new anecdotal data comes in every day, and now it’s being examined closely in the media as well as some new studies.”
He also said that another part of the bad rap about hCG comes from the way some people use it.
“The only way of directly controlling the proper amount of hCG to use in conjunction with a weight loss program is to use only injectable hCG administered by a medical professional,” he added. “Oral hCG tablets usually require at least double to triple the amount of injectable hCG to ensure that some hCG is absorbed. However, the amount absorbed can vary from person to person, depending on body weight and chemistry. It’s not a reliable method, and there is a substantial risk of overdose. Some dieters try using topical hCG, but the same logic applies – inaccurate dosage, questionable effect and potentially negative outcome. People want to lose weight, not get sick.
But those negative results aren’t related to people who use hCG through a properly comprehensive and integrated medical program that focuses on nutrition and exercise as well as weight loss.
“For many people, weight loss is a chronic endeavor,” Dr. Arcement said. “All too often the shedding of pounds is a temporary event followed by a steady regain of lost weight. This is because most individuals do not learn how, what and how much to eat in order to properly fuel their bodies. They are not educated about proper food choices and effective exercise. A proper weight loss program helps dieters learn to count calories and understand how their body will process food, and that’s the only way to avoid the yo-yo effect and maintain weight loss results – and a healthier lifestyle -- for the longterm.”
About Dr. Brian Arcement
A graduate of the University of South Alabama College of Medicine, Dr. Brian Arcement performed his residency in Internal Medicine. He then completed a Fellowship in Cardiology at the University of Florida Health Science Center (Jacksonville) and a second Fellowship in Interventional Cardiology at VanderbiltUniversityMedicalCenter (Nashville). A renowned cardiologist practicing for more than a decade, Dr. Arcement has seen the devastation poor lifestyle choices and the aging process can play on the human body. Many of his patient's underlying conditions were directly related to obesity and Dr. Arcement began to see weight management as a vital component in long-term health, as well as mental health.
