SCARE TACTIC: HAIR LOSS ON THE HCG PROTOCOL

I've observed over one thousand hCG protocols and personally assisted over 500 people through multiple rounds. From what I've observed with patients, daily administering 125 iu of hCG with Dr. Simeons' very low calorie protocol, only 4 people have brought to my attention their hair loss. The first was a trans-gendered woman (male to female). The second was a woman who lost hair during pregnancy and wasn't worried as she knew her hair would grow back. The third patient had a sensitivity to dry climate (after adding back conditioner her hair stopped falling out). And the fourth, started her second round of the protocol while experiencing debilitating stress and depression, she eliminated both proteins from her diet, and she cheated consistently each week with sugar. Needless to say, if we had known the mental state of this fourth patient, we would not have prescribed her a second round of the hCG protocol.

The question I'd like to ask is why are there so many people on the Internet discussing fear of hair loss during the very low calorie protocol? I'm not saying that it doesn't happen, especially when people don't have the appropriate dosage of hCG, when they don't take adequate breaks between rounds, if they don't use nutritional supplementation, if they cheat with sugar type foods, or if they reduce or restrict protein intake to what is less than prescribed. There are great risks for hair loss with such drastic reductions in food intake. However, it is NOT caused by the caloric value of food, but rather abrupt hormonal shifts that may occur, especially when they eat the very low calorie diet without adequate hCG, or if the patient cheats.

There are a couple of issues I will assume happens when someone cheats during the protocol, specifically with a sugar based foods. First, the abrupt rise and fall in leptin would cause a similar reaction to the thyroid and thyroid hormones. This will not help a hair loss matter. Second, the rapid rise in insulin with leptin, creating an increase in testosterone. This might cause androgenic alopecia. Over time, and repeated bouts of cheating during the hCG protocol, the polar shifts in leptin and resulting hormonal dysregulation and inflammation could increase the risk of hair loss for both reasons. On the other side, if hunger is tolerated and persists, sustained drops in leptin causes a rise in cortisol, which would increase the risk for the most aggressive form of hair loss: telogen effluvium.

Because 98% of my observations have been with prescription hCG protocols, I haven't been able to compare the prevalence of hair loss to homeopathic hCG protocols. But one thing I know for sure, because most skeptics of the hCG protocol have no idea how hCG prevents starvation, they assume the typical symptoms of starvation are the risks. However, if hCG stimulates adequate leptin to reduce the risk of starvation, and the very low calorie protocol reduces the risk of problems caused from excess leptin, we could safely assume (when combined with a good multi-vitamin) hair loss associated to hormonal extremes of binging and starving would be minimized.

I've come to believe that in my opinion, people are sensationalizing the risk of hair loss to scare people out of doing the hCG protocol, or they want to manipulate the consumer to do the protocol differently than Simeons suggested. But, I'd like to know what others have observed.  Dr. Simeons discussed the small risk he observed in Pounds & Inches, but I agree with his point of view. The hormonal ramifications of keeping fat are far worse then the risk of keeping hair.

Until we have proper laboratory research we are all speculating, including myself. However, what I do have to use as a reference point are the 4 people who have lost hair, compared to the thousands who haven't.

WHAT HAVE YOU OBSERVED? IF YOU HAVE LOST HAIR, DID YOU CHEAT? DID YOU EXPERIENCE SEVERE HUNGER? DID YOU LOAD PROPERLY? DID YOU ELIMINATE PROTEIN INTAKE? DID YOU TAKE A MULTI-VITAMIN?

Please comment if you've experienced hair loss and what was your experience.

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Posted by: Tukiyooo SCARE TACTIC: HAIR LOSS ON THE HCG PROTOCOL Updated at : 10:44 AM

Saturday, January 21, 2012