Christianity and the hCG Diet
Friday, April 12, 2013
Something has been really nagging me about this diet.
I think it started when I was on the Omnitrition support page on Facebook. I didn't post much there. People seemed a bit bipolar. They were happy and gushing over a two-lbs weight loss one minute and then complaining about all the haters in their lives that were warning them against this diet. Not really a crowd I really wanted to knw.
Still, I was losing weight so I'd read the posts looking for tips, good recipes, etc...
As many know, the Omnitrition version of the diet is about 500 calories or so day. As I saw one person online comment (on a site warning others about this diet), that's about one six-inch Subway sandwich (also was pointed out that Jared lost significant weight eating three of those a day!). Anyhow, you get the point, you're barely eating on this diet.
One day, somebody posted on the Omni page who was worried about taking communion at church. Seriously! She was worried about the calories from the little tiny wafer. She was worried this would sabotage her efforts. I'm not making this stuff up. Others posted that God knew her struggle and would forgive her if she didn't take communion. Now, I'm a Christian and see a problem with this and I'm guessing many non-Christians could see a problem with this as well.
When I started the diet, I didn't know the hCG drops were illegal.
www.fda.gov/forconsumers
/consumerupdates/ucm281333
.htm
Of course, once I started having all the side effects, seeing doctors, hearing stories and reading online, I realized this diet was a total scam plus, of course, illegal. Well, the gal I bought from says she's a Chritian. I only know her online but never had a reason to doubt that. The gal I started the diet with says she's a Christian. Our kids have some of the same activities so that is how I know her. Honestly, I don't even know what church she attends. After about a week of losing on this diet, we were both pushed to become distributors. I eventually said no. She jumped on the chance and began pushing it as well. Once I started having side effects though, her support dwindled. She stopped contacting me. I kept up our communications and she'd respond but no longer was I getting an IM first thing in the morning or late at night to talk about how it was going. She pushed me to get with my distributor to see if there were other products I could buy to help with the problems. Keep in mind, this affected my heart and changed my cycle so that I was bleeding so heavily I came close to passing out a number of times. Never once did she recommend seeing a doctor and, in fact, once I had to go in, that was it. She sent me a message saying we were no longer friends and she didn't want me scaring anybody we knew by sharing my story. Not kidding. I've run into her a couple times since and she's very good at completely ignoring me.
My distributor was never very much involved. Once I started the diet, the only times she initiated contact was to try and talk me into becoming a distributor. I finally told her that this diet had affected my heart and caused a lot of problems. She was shocked because this was such a safe diet. That pretty much ended that.
So, this all just has me wondering. Does this diet change Christians. I mean after all, as one friend pointed out, these women are hungry and hungry women are grumpy. Could it bee that it is a more shallow-form of Christianity where there is no guilt whatsoever for pushing an illegal product and then saying, "See ya" once that person doesn't have the best hCG story to tell? You know, I just don't know but when women are worried about what communion will do to their waistline, I think there is a very serious problem.
I don't know. I know many wonderful Christians and, thankfully, have received a lot of support through all of this from them. Coincidentally, none of them are on the hCG diet.
(for more of my story: www.squidoo.com/unsafe_h
cg_diet )
Edit Blog Entry | Delete Blog Entry
I think it started when I was on the Omnitrition support page on Facebook. I didn't post much there. People seemed a bit bipolar. They were happy and gushing over a two-lbs weight loss one minute and then complaining about all the haters in their lives that were warning them against this diet. Not really a crowd I really wanted to knw.
Still, I was losing weight so I'd read the posts looking for tips, good recipes, etc...
As many know, the Omnitrition version of the diet is about 500 calories or so day. As I saw one person online comment (on a site warning others about this diet), that's about one six-inch Subway sandwich (also was pointed out that Jared lost significant weight eating three of those a day!). Anyhow, you get the point, you're barely eating on this diet.
One day, somebody posted on the Omni page who was worried about taking communion at church. Seriously! She was worried about the calories from the little tiny wafer. She was worried this would sabotage her efforts. I'm not making this stuff up. Others posted that God knew her struggle and would forgive her if she didn't take communion. Now, I'm a Christian and see a problem with this and I'm guessing many non-Christians could see a problem with this as well.
When I started the diet, I didn't know the hCG drops were illegal.
www.fda.gov/forconsumers
/consumerupdates/ucm281333
.htm
Of course, once I started having all the side effects, seeing doctors, hearing stories and reading online, I realized this diet was a total scam plus, of course, illegal. Well, the gal I bought from says she's a Chritian. I only know her online but never had a reason to doubt that. The gal I started the diet with says she's a Christian. Our kids have some of the same activities so that is how I know her. Honestly, I don't even know what church she attends. After about a week of losing on this diet, we were both pushed to become distributors. I eventually said no. She jumped on the chance and began pushing it as well. Once I started having side effects though, her support dwindled. She stopped contacting me. I kept up our communications and she'd respond but no longer was I getting an IM first thing in the morning or late at night to talk about how it was going. She pushed me to get with my distributor to see if there were other products I could buy to help with the problems. Keep in mind, this affected my heart and changed my cycle so that I was bleeding so heavily I came close to passing out a number of times. Never once did she recommend seeing a doctor and, in fact, once I had to go in, that was it. She sent me a message saying we were no longer friends and she didn't want me scaring anybody we knew by sharing my story. Not kidding. I've run into her a couple times since and she's very good at completely ignoring me.
My distributor was never very much involved. Once I started the diet, the only times she initiated contact was to try and talk me into becoming a distributor. I finally told her that this diet had affected my heart and caused a lot of problems. She was shocked because this was such a safe diet. That pretty much ended that.
So, this all just has me wondering. Does this diet change Christians. I mean after all, as one friend pointed out, these women are hungry and hungry women are grumpy. Could it bee that it is a more shallow-form of Christianity where there is no guilt whatsoever for pushing an illegal product and then saying, "See ya" once that person doesn't have the best hCG story to tell? You know, I just don't know but when women are worried about what communion will do to their waistline, I think there is a very serious problem.
I don't know. I know many wonderful Christians and, thankfully, have received a lot of support through all of this from them. Coincidentally, none of them are on the hCG diet.
(for more of my story: www.squidoo.com/unsafe_h
cg_diet )
Edit Blog Entry | Delete Blog Entry
Member Comments About This Blog Post:
CARIKAY7/16/2013 4:22PM | Sioux2, thank you for your comment. It really does bother me how many people gain weight and seriously mess up their metabolisms doing this diet. Of course, the Omnitrition folks keep saying it is because we didn't follow protocol and went back to our old eating habits but that just is not true. When I started losing weight with this product, I wasn't gaining weight. In fact I had just lost five lbs from where I had plateaued for quite a while. I was eating healthy and I was still eating healthy when I stopped. In fact, I was eating less calories and gaining! I am hearing from so many women who have had bad side effects from their products including the niacin side effects and hair loss. The worst, of course, are those of us who developed heart problems. I really do thank you for your comment. A number of women are sharing privately with me but it is important that women really know what this diet could do them. Delete Comment Edit Comment Report Inappropriate Comment |
| SIOUX27/16/2013 2:02AM | I have tried both the omni diet and the hcg injections from my naturopath. When I did the injections my naturopath took blood work and did a variety of tests to ensure I had no existing health issues. There was a "clean diet" that went along with the program. She monitored my weight and body fat weekly. One week my muscle mass had decreased some so she increased my protein amount. I had good, long lasting results and it changed my eating habits. The Dr cautioned me about the over the counter products, and even mentioned that they were illegal. She also told me to do a pregnancy test on the drops if I ever had the chance, because only 5mg of hcg was required for a positive result (she was correct, the results were negative, so no or very little hcg). About a year later I had surgery and was off work. I chose Omni instead of the injections because of cost, and because a coworker had lost on them and was a distributor, I was starving the whole time. I almost immediately began to gain the weight back once I stopped taking the drops, even though I followed protocol. Needless to say I now weigh 20lbs more than when I started. My Dr said that diet messed up my metabolism, now I have to work three times as hard to get the weight off and fix my metabolism. I know a couple others who have the same issues. One gal even lost chunks of hair, and had a severe reaction to the niacin overload in the nite lite product! Delete Comment Report Inappropriate Comment |
| SIOUX27/16/2013 2:01AM | I have tried both the omni diet and the hcg injections from my naturopath. When I did the injections my naturopath took blood work and did a variety of tests to ensure I had no existing health issues. There was a "clean diet" that went along with the program. She monitored my weight and body fat weekly. One week my muscle mass had decreased some so she increased my protein amount. I had good, long lasting results and it changed my eating habits. The Dr cautioned me about the over the counter products, and even mentioned that they were illegal. She also told me to do a pregnancy test on the drops if I ever had the chance, because only 5mg of hcg was required for a positive result (she was correct, the results were negative, so no or very little hcg). About a year later I had surgery and was off work. I chose Omni instead of the injections because of cost, and because a coworker had lost on them and was a distributor, I was starving the whole time. I almost immediately began to gain the weight back once I stopped taking the drops, even though I followed protocol. Needless to say I now weigh 20lbs more than when I started. My Dr said that diet messed up my metabolism, now I have to work three times as hard to get the weight off and fix my metabolism. I know a couple others who have the same issues. One gal even lost chunks of hair, and had a severe reaction to the niacin overload in the nite lite product! Delete Comment Report Inappropriate Comment |
| CARIKAY4/13/2013 3:40PM | Yes, I fully admit, I don't know much about the injections. I do know studies show that when given a placebo (for the injections), people lose just as much and with the same amount of hunger. However, I think the key to losing this way is just being monitored by your doctor! If you were to have serious side effects, he could likely catch them before they became a problem. I did those lousy buy-through-the internet drops. I wasn't being closely monitored and with a 500-calorie diet that was just unwise. Ridiculous though how the people I was doing the diet with wanted me to go to my 'distributor' rather than my doctor. Saw that a lot. I think you are right about the MLM thing too. After I was treated so poorly by people on the Omnitrition diet (after I started having to see doctors), people were telling me it was more like a cult. I think they were right! I'm told my one 'friend' is now mastering the art of MLM deception....so sad :( Delete Comment Edit Comment Report Inappropriate Comment |
| KATHYSOASIS4/12/2013 9:24PM |  | I went on the HCG diet UNDER DOCTOR'S CARE and kept the weight off for over a year. They were injections and not drops. Then I lost my job and had some family problems and started eating poorly. I gained most of the weight back. I am back on it now. It is a short term thing. I would NEVER, NEVER do anything that would prevent me from taking the Lord's Supper. I don't count it when I am counting calories and I would not consider it on another basis of a diet. I think the problem with your friend may be related to what I have seen with some people who get involved in multilevel marketing. Everything is valuated as it relates to their business. Their friendships revolve around trying to get people to try their product and join their team. If someone won't they are not valued. This is reinforced with pep rallys, cheesy slogans and heavy handed "training". It is almost like a cult as far as it's effect on some people. These businesses are OK for some and bad for others (like the diet). They need to get a balance. Your friend may have just gone over the edge. She may get out of it at some point. It could have happened with AMWAY just as easily as this. Delete Comment Report Inappropriate Comment |
| CARIKAY4/12/2013 8:48AM | "It's unclear how much HCG is contained in the homeopathic products -- some suggest only trace amounts -- or whether the products truly contain HCG at all, even if labeled as such, said Elizabeth Miller, acting director of the Division of Non Prescription Products and Health Fraud at the FDA. "Whether they contain it or not, they are illegal and unapproved drugs," Miller said." Delete Comment Edit Comment Report Inappropriate Comment |
| MISSLISA19734/12/2013 7:37AM |  | Sounds like a very unhealthy diet. Stick to your SparkPlan and you shouldn't need any questionable supplements, doctor visits for negative side effects, or to worry about "negative effects" of communion on your body. Lisa Delete Comment Report Inappropriate Comment |
| USMAWIFE4/12/2013 7:03AM |  | HCG can be purchased in drug stores which makes it legal/ My insruance plan has paid for it and they would not if it was not a legal drug and pharmacies would be shut down for selling it if it was not legal Where you got yours from is a differnt story as it could be a scame from the person and also not true hcg which has been known to happen a lot Delete Comment Report Inappropriate Comment |
