FDA Cracks Down on Companies Hawking Pregnancy-Hormone Diet Pills

When you’re right, you’re right.

Last month, we included a diet called the HCG diet in a list we dubbed, “10 Terrifying Diets“. In fact, we put it at the top of that list. Why? Because the diet directs adherents to consume a protein called human chorionic gonadotropin (HCG), which is found in human placenta and extracted from the urine of pregnant women. Creators of the diet, who brand it as “homeopathic,” claim that the protein will cause your body to burn off its own fat reserves. Reported side effects include morning-sickness-like symptoms (vomiting, nausea), which, I’m thinking, probably have more to do with the diet’s purported “success rates” than the actual pill does.

Anyway. The Associated Press is reporting today that the Food and Drug Administration is cracking down on companies who sell HCG pills, sprays, and pellets as a weight loss method, saying its effectiveness is unproven and that the pills can be dangerous when taken as directed. The FDA sent letters to seven companies, ordering them to stop selling HCG immediately.