Introducing the Riordan Clinic HCG Weight Loss Intervention

By Penny Lasater

It’s the beginning of a new year and resolutions are on every ones’ mind. A 2002 report, published in the Journal of Clinical Psychology, stated that 40-45% of Americans make New Year’s resolutions; the most prominent of which is to lose weight. We’re increasingly bombarded with the fact that obesity in America is on the rise. According to a 2010 Centers for Disease Control (CDC) report, 26.7% of U.S. residents are obese. The number is alarming and growing.

For the past 35 years, the Riordan Clinic has seen the impact of obesity-related chronic illnesses in our patients. An obese person is at risk for developing a number of potentially serious health problems, including: blood lipid (fat) abnormalities, gallbladder disease, gynecological problems, such as infertility and irregular periods, heart disease, high blood pressure, metabolic syndrome, nonalcoholic fatty liver disease, osteoarthritis, skin problems, impaired wound healing, sleep apnea, stroke, depression, and type 2 diabetes. Even knowing the potential risks, losing weight – and keeping it off – is hard to do!

As an institution with a mission of, “…stimulating an epidemic of health,” we have long searched for a weight loss program that could benefit our patients. After careful research and contemplation by our clinical staff, we have finally discovered a program that can help get you on the right track – the Riordan Clinic HCG Weight Loss Intervention.

Our primary criteria in selecting a program were its ability to make a notable, positive impact on key health measures (such as blood pressure, cholesterol, etc.) and that it support a long-term lifestyle change. The HCG Weight Loss Intervention does this and more. Originally created in Europe in the 1950’s by Dr. A.T.W. Simeons, the core precepts of the program are a combination of a Very Low Calorie Diet (VLCD) and Human Chorionic Gonadotropin (HCG). Over the years, thousands of people have successfully lost weight and kept it off using a program centered on these principles.

To better understand how the program helps create weight loss success for participants, it’s important to understand the key components.

What is HCG? HCG is a hormone that occurs naturally in both men and women; it is best known for being produced in high levels during pregnancy. It is also commonly used in infertility treatments. HCG signals the hypothalamus, an area of the brain that affects metabolism, to mobilize stored fat (abnormal/visceral fat). This stored fat provides the body with fuel.

What is a VLCD? A VLCD is defined as a diet of less than 800 calories per day. In the case of the Riordan Clinic HCG Weight Loss Intervention, the program calls for 500 calories a day of lean protein and specific vegetables and fruit.

Alone, neither element creates the success found in the combined therapy. Dr. A.T.W. Simeons’ findings [1-3] using HCG with VLCD indicate that you will lose weight more quickly than on a standard “diet”; you will not feel weak, you will not be hungry, and you will lose stubborn abnormal/visceral fat from the areas it remains longest during normal dieting (i.e. stomach, hips, thighs, upper arms). Losing abnormal/visceral fat, not lean muscle mass, as happens with most diet programs, is a critical health advantage. With the additional long term benefit of resetting your hypothalamus, which controls hunger and satiation, success can be achieved.

This type of weight-loss method is gaining in popularity due to the very real benefits it offers. You can now find many homeopathic versions of HCG on the market. We recommend that you proceed with extreme caution if you choose the homeopathic HCG route as it is unregulated; thus the source origin of individual ingredients is not defined. Additionally, a VLCD should always be physician-supervised due to the caloric restriction.

If you’re ready to take a step towards weight loss and health improvement, the physician-supervised Riordan Clinic HCG Weight Loss Intervention is for you. The comprehensive program includes:

• HCG Weight Loss Cure Guide designed as a reference manual for you to use throughout the program
• My HCG Tracker book that assists you in tracking your daily progress
• Pre-program blood testing to assess your current health status
• Prescription HCG nasal spray (Our pharmaceutical grade HCG nasal spray is compounded specifically for us by a pharmacy in Texas that has filled thousands of HCG prescriptions.)
• Sublingual B12 for energy
• Daily vitamin packets, specifically designed for the HCG program
• Group doctor meeting
• Weekly visits with our HCG nurse educator who will monitor your progress and address your specialized needs
• Weekly Bioelectrical Impedance Analysis (BIA) used to track your body composition
• Access to a weekly doctor conference call to discuss HCG questions
• Access to an on-line “members only” forum allowing you to connect with other HCG Weight Loss Intervention participants