HCG Diet for People with Diabetes

	By: Editors at DiabetesIQ	\|	Published: March 06, 2022	This DiabetesIQ content is fact-checked and expert-reviewed to ensure strict editorial guidelines. Our content is evidence-based and provides objective analysis while maintaining the highest editorial standards in accordance with our integrity policy.
Published: March 06, 2022
This DiabetesIQ content is fact-checked and expert-reviewed to ensure strict editorial guidelines. Our content is evidence-based and provides objective analysis while maintaining the highest editorial standards in accordance with our integrity policy.

Obesity and overweight is a common problem for people with diabetes. The disease slows down metabolism and as a result, diabetic patients tend to gain extra weight and experience difficulty losing it. They are usually recommended eating healthy foods and exercise regularly, but these measures do not always bring satisfactory results. In situations like this, a strict diet, such as HCG diet, can be a solution.

Advertise with DiabetesIQ

HCG diet is a 3-phase weight-loss plan that incorporates daily injections of HCG (human chorionic gonadotropin) with a highly restrictive diet allowing to consume only 500 to 800 calories a day. Human chorionic gonadotropin is a protein-based hormone produced in women during pregnancy. It affects female fertility and ovulation and boosts the production of testosterone in men. Besides, the hormone promotes weight loss in both women and men by enhancing metabolism (the process, in which your body turns food into energy), which makes it a powerful instrument for a significant weight loss in a short period of time.

Utilizing the HCG hormone for weight loss purposes was first promoted by a British doctor Dr. Albert T. Simeons in the 1950s. According to him, the HCG diet causes the body to burn fat stored mostly in stomach, thighs and hips, instead of losing muscles, plus a person on this diet will not be feeling overwhelmingly hungry because of the hormone.

HCG diet includes three phases. During the first phase that lasts for 2 days, you start injecting the hormone, but you can still consume high-calorie foods. During this phase you prepare yourself for the next one. After 2 days, the second phase starts, in which the food restrictions begin and you are only allowed to eat certain foods for the period of 3 to 6 weeks, while continuing daily injections with HCG. During the third phase, which continues for 3 weeks, you no longer inject HCG hormone and you can slowly increase the amount of calories you consume, although the restrictions on what you can eat still stay in place.

Although the HCG diet is low in calories, it allows a very broad variety of foods. You can eat proteins, including lean beef, veal, turkey, chicken breast, cottage cheese, eggs, tofu, whitefish, shrimp, scallops, crab, and lobster; Vegetables, such as salad, spinach, tomatoes, cucumbers, onions, celery, chard, broccoli, beet-greens, chicory, cabbage, bell peppers, fennel, green beans, zucchini, radishes, and asparagus; and Fruit, including apples, strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, lemons, grapefruits, and oranges.

Advertise with DiabetesIQ

According to the diet, you have to consume 200g of protein twice daily, one cup of vegetables per meal for a total of two cups a day, and two servings of fruit once a day, or one serving of fruit with each meal. You also have to drink a lot of water, but besides water you can also drink tea and coffee and even sweeten them up with Stevia if desired.

This variety of allowable foods ensures you’ll have a variety of dishes on your dinner table. Here we’d like to share with you a few recipes of the dishes suitable for HCG Diet.