The HCG diet uses a regimen that combines a hormone extracted from the urine of pregnant women and an extreme reduction of calories to stimulate weight loss. HCG is an invasive weight loss method, which can cause many side effects, including a yo-yo effect on your sex drive.
HCG Diet
The HCG diet is controversial regimen that combines doses of the natural HCG hormone with low caloric intake. HCG -- or human chorionic gonadropin -- is a hormone produced by women during pregnancy. The HCG diet uses either oral supplements or injections of HCG with cutting your calories to between 500 and 800 per day. This is designed to help you lose weight by burning and redistributing fat. The diet can have a number of side effects, including changing your libido.
Sex Drive
According to the Anabolic Steroids Guide, HCG increases testosterone production in men for a short time when injected or taken orally. Testosterone controls the male sex drive, so HCG can temporarily increase men’s libido. However, after your body gets used to HCG or you decrease or cease your dosage, the glands that produce testosterone are no longer stimulated, so your testosterone production decreases. This in turn can decrease your sex drive temporarily, until your body readjusts.
Other Side Effects
Among the most serious of other HCG diet side effects is malnutrition. According to the Mayo Clinic, the 500 to 800 calories recommended on the HCG regimen is between a quarter to one-half of the typical caloric intake recommendations, which can cause malnutrition. In addition, HCG can lead to pregnancy complications in women by stimulating the production of eggs in the ovaries. The HCG diet can also cause fatigue, headaches, irritability and male breast growth.
Conclusion
The HCG diet can cause your sex drive to swing between highs and lows, which can have a negative impact on your sexual health. In addition, the HCG diet is usually only effective at causing weight loss when you are actively on the regimen. Once you resume your normal lifestyle, weight gain is typical. A more healthy approach to losing weight is eating a balanced diet and building good exercise habits. When you lose weight in more natural ways, you will feel healthier and your libido can be naturally increased.
References
Writer Bio
Joseph McAllister has worked as a writer since 2003. He has more than seven years of experience in training and coaching martial arts. McAllister writes for various websites on a variety of topics including martial arts, competition and fitness. He graduated from Liberty University on a full ride National Merit Scholarship with a Bachelor of Science in print journalism.