ISSA Specialist in Clinical Exercise Therapy and certified personal trainer Pedro Forte is asking doctors to stop luring overweight patients to their doors with the promise of short-lived fat loss which may later pose long term health risks.
“I have an enormous respect for physicians but those who are offering ‘hormonal’ and ‘non-hormonal’ HCH diets are merely offering very low calorie diets, a product to reduce food cravings and leaving their patients starved of major nutrients and this is dangerous. This is highly dangerous and should be stopped. HCG is produced by pregnant women and is not for injection into others. Men have also reported growing “breasts”. A number of very serious issues with malnutrition have been reported to me at least, said Forte.
The Specialist said that the Medical Councils around the region need to examine this new fad stating that it was up to Medical Councils to determine if this was something they ought to address. He said that clients he saw post these diets invariable rebounded, gained more weight and lost muscle mass and are even more depressed along with nutritional deficiencies”.
“This simply is not the way. All literature suggests that 2 lbs a week maximum accounts for safe weight loss. This “HCG Diet” diet is essentially a very harsh crash diet and when it was first discovered, it was done as a clinical trial and not to be used as a quick-fix diet. These doctors are appealing to people who desperately want to lose weight at the expense of their health and this to me is irresponsible “, he said sternly.
“I do not intend to sound anti-physician. I work with many of them and our synergistic relationship works at losing weight at a rate of 1 -2 lbs a week. What’s happening is that many are appealing to men and women who want to fit in and lose weight and this is the seduction. Instead doctors should be managing weight loss with a view to a balance of body composition, health and performance. Somebody whose meal is limited to a cup of cucumber and a 100g of tilapia and basically 500 calories a day, a boiled egg and tea for breakfast, repeat tilapia or other 100g of protein for lunch and maybe two oranges a day is doing a major disservice to a client”, he said.
According to the specialist, obese and overweight people need to lose weight with a view to balancing health with performance while losing weight and he insisted that this could not be done in 30 days.
“I have seen the diet first hand and am shocked. Losing 30 lbs in 30 days is absolute madness. Much of this will be water weight to begin with and the individual is put in starvation mode when the body recognizes that it is not getting enough calories on which to survive. Further, nutrition is key to life, anyone who is obese needs to make a lifestyle change to ensure that they are getting nutrient dense foods that are not high calorie but are adequate in nutritional value to feed the body and sustain energy levels so that when they exercise, they have enough energy”, he said.
Forte said that many women and a few men had complained that they had regained twice as much weight while shelling out thousands of dollars and eating next to nothing and feeling hungry and disoriented most days. He further suggested that just telling a patient to eat a balanced meal is not enough.
“If we are to address this whole issue of preventing non-communicable chronic diseases, we can’t just say eat a “balanced meal”. I believe that each individual is different; some of us also have food allergies. A balanced diet will include fruit, whole grains, red, orange and yellow vegetables but dependent upon the client’s condition, weight, BMI and goals, the diet and exercise must become a lifestyle and not a 30-day crash diet. It’s just too dangerous from gallstones to hair loss to dehydration and I could go on. The diet must be customized, varied and nutritious to avoid boredom as the lifestyle changes”, he said.
Forte recommended that any potential client see a certified or registered dietician and certified personal trainer to reach his or her nutrition and exercise goals. He also highly recommended that the elderly seek nutritional advice to make sure that they were not deficient in vitamins and minerals and that they too participate in light exercise to avoid a sedentary life.
“It has been proven that exercise can keep some cancer, dementia, Alzheimer’s and many other conditions at bay including diabetes and hypertension”, he added.
Forte also expressed concern that some doctors were stating that they could perform bariatric and other invasive and dangerous surgeries as well as perform botox and other therapies and he was concerned as to whether these practitioners were actually professional and trained dermatologists and registered bariatric surgeons with years of experience.
“We need to be very careful and first do no harm”, he concluded.
