Quackery in Medicine: Hormone Diets

Hormones play a huge role in our health. Their imbalance can result in any number of disorders, from diabetes to hypothyroidism, and even some cancers. It can result in infertility and aggression. They are the cause of the classic 'fight or flight' response we experience when we get excited or scared, and regulate our sleep cycles. Hormones are pretty important.

So when someone suggested that hormones be used to go on a diet, I was skeptical, especially since the hormone they said was used in this diet was hCG, known as the human Choriogonadotropin hormone, which is released during pregnancy to provide a nurturing environment for the fetus. A lack of hCG after conception will result in miscarriage, and in the absence of conception, it results in menstruation.

But before we get into why this particular die plan is unsafe, let's discuss the hormones that are involved with diet, and thus weight loss, in a normal individual.

1. Insulin - Most people don't think of this when they think about hormones, but it is very important in diet, for obvious reasons. Insulin signals the cells to take in glucose from the blood, helping to maintain stable blood sugar levels. Too high or too low levels can result in any number of diseases, from fainting spells to comas. Either a lack of insulin or a lack of response to insulin is usually what causes diabetes.

2. Glucagon - This hormone acts in opposition to insulin. Insulin is excreted when blood glucose levels are high, whereas glucagon is excreted when blood glucose levels are low, in order to signal the liver to dump some of its reserves.

3. Estrogen - among its may functions, it can result in the body burning more fat.

4. Cortisol - helps the body respond to stress by increasing blood glucose levels.

There are, of course, dozens of other hormones that play a role in metabolism, and the imbalance of any of them can lead to weight gain or weight loss. For instance, hypothyroidism can result in weight gain, in additional to irregular menstrual cycles and other symptoms. Type II diabetes is caused because the cells in the body are no longer able to respond to insulin, usually as a result of weight gain. Menopause in women can bring about a slew of health problems, including osteoporosis and weight gain.

So, why should you not to to hormones in order to lose that weight? Well, the problem could be an imbalance of hormones in the first place. Adding more hormones to the mix can really throw your body out of whack. Estrogen, for instance, has a risk of blood clots because one of its jobs in the body is to help coagulation. It can also cause breast cancer, because its purpose in puberty is to increase secondary sex characteristics... breasts in women.

The hCG diet is a shot of hCG, combined with a low-calorie diet and exercise. The people on it experience weight loss... because they're on a low calorie diet and exercise. The risk factors of hCG include blood clots, depression, and headaches, and some of the side effects of it can be deadly (and people wonder why I keep saying that pregnancy is a very risky condition).

Other hormone diets I've looked at in doing research for this blog include the Dr. TED diet program, which similarly has patients follow a very strict, 500-calorie a day diet, and apply a topical steroid cream designed to suppress appetite. It also subscribes to weekly B-complex vitamin injections to increase energy, which does work, it just uses your own body tissues for fuel. As I've mentioned in other blogs, a 500 calorie-a-day diet is not a healthy one; your body needs more than that to sit around and do nothing all day. Yes, calorie restriction is one method for weight loss, but you should never eat less than 1200-1500 calories a day.

I did run into The Hormone Diet, which, despite its name, seems like a good regime. I'm still skeptical of the book and Dr. Turner (she is an ND, not an MD or DO, which automatically makes me suspicious), but at least she's not promoting using hormones, but rather foods you encounter every day to balance out your hormones and get the weight loss you want.