Very bad fad diet

The New York Times published an article this week about a new fad diet. It’s appalling. Apparently, a cosmetic surgeon and an orthodontist are prescribing human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) -- a pregnancy hormone that is given to help aid women in becoming pregnant -- to women who want to lose weight. The claim is that hCG along with a 500 calorie per day diet will result in a pound per day weight loss. First, giving hCG as a weight-loss aid is an off-label prescription, meaning that there is no scientific data indicating that it is safe or effective as a weight loss aid. The limited data that does exist shows that it is no more effective than sugar pills. Second, a 500 calorie diet is unsustainable. Those who follow a calorie restricted diet (including some monks and others) consume at least 1000 to 1200 calories per day. Anyone who restricts themselves to 500 calories a day of course is going to lose weight, but that is incredible unhealthy (because you are not eating) and will cause irreparable damage if continued long term, if you don’t die first. It is inconceivable that these physicians are advocating this diet and the NYT is promoting it. How can any self-respecting physician tell their patients who trust them to not eat and to inject an substance with unknown side effects into them to lost weight? There is no magic bullet or key diet that will result in weight loss. There are proven ways to lose weight. Many scientific studies have shown, repeatedly, that the key to weight loss is to exercise and to eat a healthy, well balanced diet, one that doesn’t restrict you to eating a pea and cracker per day