A study linked from the Dr. Oz website shows that users of hcg shots had greater fat loss and more muscle retention while on the hcg diet than non hcg users.

In the quest to find effective and rapid weight loss options more and more dieters and looking to human chorionic gonadotropin to solve their fat loss needs.

Because the hormone is yet to be approved by the FDA for fat loss purposes the majority of searchers are reading old, out-dated or even misleading information about the product. Some of the findings include no significant difference in weight lost between control groups, regaining of the lost weight after the program is discontinued and an inability to stave off hunger while on the program.

Proponents of the weight loss plan state that hcg not only helps with the promotion of fat loss through easier metabolism of stored fat but via the same process it helps with feelings of hunger, allowing dieters to successfully complete the program.

Until recently however there have been no studies that accurately measured results between a two separate groups that analyzed the data effectively. Most studies date back to the 70’s and 80’s and all conclude that the WEIGHT lost between users of hcg and non-users of hcg are almost identical. The problem is all that was measure was weight; no other considerations were taken into account in those studies.

In this study (on the Dr Oz website) there appeared to be more control and more data gathered and the findings were as follows:

• The group that used hcg injections lost an average of 13 pounds over the course of a month using the 500 calorie Simeon’s hcg diet protocol
• The group that did not use hcg at all lost an average of 15 pounds over the course of a month using the 500 calorie Simeon’s hcg diet protocol

This is where most studies done in the 70’s started and ended but in this case body fat percentages were measured in order to track muscle loss during the diet.

• The group that used hcg lost just 2 pounds of muscle mass while on the diet
• The group that did not use hcg lost 5 pounds of muscle mass while on the diet

These figures are very revealing for a number of reasons.

1^st The research revealed a 3 lb. difference in muscle retention between groups or 250% more muscle retained.

2^nd we know that muscle weighs more than fat so the actual weight loss figures are somewhat misleading because if you take out the muscle loss from each group it shows that the group on hcg lost 11 pounds of fat and the group not on lost 10 pounds of fat.

While this is just one study, it shows some very promising results which clears up some of the controversy regarding the hormone and the diet plan. The fact this it helps retain muscle mass can also suggest that weight loss after cessation of the program can help keep the weight loss since we all are aware that the more muscle a person has the more calories they burn daily.