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Wednesday, January 23, 2013

Comparison between the HCG Diet and the Atkins Diet

By John D Greene


Although, there are various diet plans however the primary rule to lose weight is to take fewer calories than the amount of calories burnt by the body. In fact, it is complicated to select a proper diet protocol that blends with one's lifestyle, metabolism, and food preferences. However, you can take a physician's opinion to succeed in losing weight as he or she will assist you in selecting a proper diet protocol. Most importantly, you should familiarize about the type of weight loss approach before figuring out its action.

Recently, the most widely followed diet plans all over the world are the HCG diet and Atkins diet plans even though you are advised to follow any diet plan on medical supervision. The HCG diet involves restricted intake of calories in combination with a daily dose HCG hormone injection. In comparison, the Atkins diet restricts the intake of certain carbohydrates including healthy ones. One can achieve a desired weight by carefully knowing the main concept behind these diets. Here is a detailed comparison between Dr. Simeons HCG diet and Dr. Atkins diet protocols.

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.

Although, one is not allowed to take some carbs while on HCG diet, however you can consider taking foods that contain less carbs like Melba toast or Grissini breadsticks. Dr. A.T.W. Simeons conducted a study to detect the per day ratio of the amount of carbs taken by the dieters to avoid carbohydrate imbalance. The HCG diet plan is the best tool to successfully control one's weight in future as it works by re-programming the hypothalamus gland thus the person feels filled despite intake of small portions of food. Depending on weight, the low calorie phase of the HCG Diet typically lasts for about 21 to 45 days. The best benefit of HCG diet plan when compared to Atkins diet is that you can avoid ketosis by regularly taking certain carbs.

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 disadvantage of Atkins Diet is it eliminates necessary carbs and forces the body to develop ketosis, which involves increased serum ketone body level. Ketosis generally occurs in diabetes mellitus, and abnormal fat metabolism. Prolonged ketosis eventually leads to liver damage. Hence, the Atkins Diet was not advised by healthcare experts and researchers as it requires no portion size restriction. As a result, the revised protocol focused on intake of healthy food, essential fats, and portion control.

The major difference between these two types of diet is that the hcg diet restricts the total calorie intake, while the Atkins diet restricts intake of only carbohydrates. However, the HCG diet protocol is unique in fact that it utilizes daily dose of HCG hormone injections while the Atkins diet requires regular tracking of carbohydrate intake.

It is allowed to take some carbs like Melba toast or breadsticks to avoid ketosis while on an HCG diet. In contrary, all essential carbs are restricted in Atkins diet thus resulting in ketosis accompanied with lack of energy, and fatigue thus contributing to weight relapse. The HCG diet is least likely to cause relapse as it reprograms the hypothalamus gland to consume small meals.

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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