HCG and the Simeons Protocol

By Vohn Watts

The object of this paper is to evaluate the effectiveness of human chorionic gonadotrophin in the treatment of obesity. It is to study the protocol written and developed by Dr. Simeons. This papper will also explore and study the trials that have been conducted in regards to this weight loss system. It will examine the opinions of doctors and patients who are currently prescribing and doing the Simeons protocol.

The first question about this diet is the fact that it uses a female pregnancy hormone. Why the female pregnancy hormone? When reading Dr. Simeons’ book, there is a clear understanding of his theory of using HCG to lose weight. When observing pregnant women, Dr. Simeons said they can "reduce their diet without hunger" [5]. Pregnant women also can lose weight during their pregnancy without harming the baby [5]. While a woman is pregnant, HCG is found in her body in very large quantities, and "pregnancy seems to be the only normal human condition in which the diencephalic fat banking capacity is unlimited" [5]. It is only while a women is pregnant that her "fixed fat deposits can be transferred back into the normal current account and freely be drawn upon to make up for any nutritional deficit" [5]. What this means is that in order for this to happen to a normal person, they would have to go on a very low calorie diet, whereas it happens naturally for a pregnant women regardless the calorie intake [5].

The first step is to understand what human chorionic gonadotrophin or (HCG) is. HCG is a hormone that is only found naturally in pregnant women [1]. The hormone is secreted from the urine of pregnant women and used to treat a variety of medical ailments [1].

In 1954, Dr. Simeons developed a weight loss regime in Rome Italy that combined the usage of HCG injections along with a strict 500-calorie diet per day to help obese people lose weight [1-5]. Simeons claim was that the usage of HCG not only aided in the loss of weight, but served as an appetite suppressant, mood elevator, as well as removing fat from parts of the body such as the hips, stomach, and thighs [1-5]. The final and maybe most important claim is that by using HCG, the diencephalon or hypothalamus will in essence reset and begin to work properly again in the regulation of fat burning and will help prevent the weight from being regained once the diet is complete [5].

"The diencephalon is the part of the brain from which the central nervous system controls all the automatic animal functions of the body" and it is Dr. Simeons’ idea that the diencephalon is what regulates the burning of fat in the body [5]. The theory is that that the body knows its natural weight. This is why a person who may be overweight and weighs three hundred pounds for example; stay around that three hundred pound weight for years. Why do they not keep gaining weight? How is it that a pregnant woman can gain forty pounds, give birth to a six-pound baby, and then within a few months after giving birth be right back to her natural weight? This concept is a large part of the theory of Dr. Simeons in which he theorizes that the hypothalamus recognizes a natural weight [5]. This is why a person can go on a diet and lose thirty pounds, and then put the weight right back on. The body recognizes that its natural weight is thirty pounds heavier, and hence this is why Dr. Simeons uses the HCG. Like it was stated above, HCG helps to "reset" the hypothalamus, and lets the body know that the natural weight is now the new weight after the loss [5].

Dr. Simeons believed that obesity is not just a matter of over eating, but rather that the reason obese people "accumulate abnormal fat is a very definite metabolic disorder, much as is, for instance, diabetes" [5]. His theory is that it is a matter of fixing a physiological problem and that it is simply finding what function controls normal fat burn and getting it to start functioning properly again. This paper will evaluate the claims made by Dr. Simeons who developed the system, and the third party double blind trials, which tested the system.

This weight loss system became big during the late nineteen sixties and seventies [1]. It is well accepted in many countries in Europe. In the Netherlands, the protocol "is recommended regularly in the popular press" [1]. It was equally as big in the United States during this same time period until double blind trials were done, in which case the diet seemed to lose its momentum because of the lack of evidence the trials revealed [1-4].

There were a number of trials that were done during the nineteen seventies, and through the research it appears as though the last study was done in 1989 [2]. A later analysis was done in 1995, which explored all the major studies that have been done on this protocol and broke it down to the effectiveness of the study [1].

The most recent study was in 1989, and a research team at the University of Stellenbosch ran a "double blind placebo-controlled" study in which they randomly selected forty obese women and arbitrarily placed them in two groups. Half of the women would receive the HCG injections, and the other half would receive saline injections [2]. The women would follow the same diet and calorie intake [2]. Each participant would then be evaluated throughout the trial to test the claims of Dr. Simeons [2]. They would be evaluated on their hunger level and mood, as well as having their measurements taken on their hips, thighs, buttocks, and stomach area [2].

During this trial "all body circumferences decreased significantly over the trial period in both groups" [2]. Throughout the trial, there were no major body differences reported between the HCG patients and the placebo patients [2]. When evaluating the hunger levels, each group was given a "scale of 1 (always) to 10 (never)" to use when assessing their hunger [2]. There were no major differences found between the two groups, and in fact it appeared from the trial that the results in hunger level were virtually the same.

This trial done at the University of Stellenbosch concluded very similar results to those trials done in the nineteen seventies, in which case all but two trials came out with evidence that saline injections along with 500-calorie diet yielded the same results as the HCG injections [1-4]. The trials showed that there was no evidence sufficient to support the theory that the HCG injections had any benefit as Simeons claimed [1-4]. In fact the trials claimed that the 500-calorie diet on its own would cause the results of the weight loss. So in essence by not revealing a difference between the HCG and the saline, it in fact revealed the lack of evidence to support the claim that HCG helped in the loss of weight or control of hunger [1-4].

The one claim that none of the studies followed up with was perhaps the most important claim of all when discussing the topic of weight loss; did both the HCG patients and the placebo patients put the weight back on like in most diet programs? Unfortunately this data was never collected in any of the trials. Why is this important? Well in Simeons’s book, one of his claims is that the diencephalon will function properly in the burning of fat after the protocol is complete because of the HCG [5]. None of the trials monitored the diencephalon, which is the most important aspect of this entire protocol. There are many diets and programs that help people lose weight. The true test of a diet or protocol is whether or not a person can maintain that weight loss, and get their body functioning properly again.

It might seem pointless to explore a system that seems to have been proven wrong in every major trial but two. But regardless of the trials, there still seems to be a division among doctors as to the effectiveness of this system [1]. There are those doctors who feel that "as long as there is no proof that HCG has a beneficial effect," they will not prescribe it [1]. Other doctors feel that there are so few systems that are actually successful and that it should be used because, "whatever its real effect may be – patients do lose weight with it" [1]. Both thoughts are a little unsettling because their basis for prescribing or not prescribing HCG is based on the lack of knowledge.

The topic of weight loss is a very touchy subject, and the fact that this is yet to be a scientifically proven remedy for this disease, leaves one to question, which doctor is right? The doctors that will not prescribe the protocol are completely justified, because there is a lack of evidence as to whether or not the HCG injections have any real positive outcome. On the other hand the doctors that do prescribe it can rationalize it because the weight loss results are real, and because the trials themselves showed no real adverse side affects.

Why even explore this protocol developed by Dr. Simeons. It would seem as though all the research has been done and over with on this system. Well the diet became a big hit again in 2007 because of the famous infomercialist Kevin Trudeau and his book "Weight loss cures they don’t want you to know about". Obviously this guy is no expert and could be peddling a book for monetary gain, but nonetheless the controversy as to whether or not this protocol actually works because of the HCG injection still remains but now with a new found momentum.

Before starting this diet, one should consult with their health care provider. The only way as of now to find out whether or not this diet works, you might just have to try for yourself. Like anything out there, certain things work for certain people. Good luck!

1.) Lijesen GK, Theeuwen I, Assendelft WJ, Van Der Wal G. The effect of human chorionic gonadotropin (HCG) in the treatment of obesity by means of the Simeons therapy: a criteria-based meta-analysis. Br J Clin Pharmacol. 1995 Sep;40(3):237-43.

2.) Bosch B, Venter , Stewart RI, Bertram SR.Human chorionic gonadotropin and weight loss. A double-blind, placebo-controlled trial.S Afr Med J. 1990 Feb 17;77(4):185-9

3.) Frank L. Greenway, MD, George A. Bray, MD, Human Chorionic Gonadotropin (HCG) in the treatment of Obesity

A critical assessment of the Simeons Method. West J Med. 1977 Dec;127(6):461-3.

4.) Stein MR, Julis RE, Peck CC, Hinshaw W, Sawicki JE, Deller JJ Jr.Ineffectiveness of human chorionic gonadotropin in weight reduction: a double-blind study.

Am J ClinNutr. 1976 Sep;29(9):940-8.

5.) Simeons A MD. Pounds and inches a new approach to obesity. Rome: Gianicolensi; 1977