The Story Behind Dr. Simeons HCG Diet

It was well over six decades ago that the endocrinology pioneer Dr. A.T.W. Simeons came upon one of the most powerful weight loss secrets ever found. Dr. Simeons' HCG diet has literally revolutionized the science of weight loss, allowing people to experience success where they had previously known only failure.

Dr. Simeons' Medical Career

Born in London, U.K., A.T.W. Simeons received his medical training at the University of Heidelberg Medical School in Germany, which is still one of the world's foremost medical training facilities. After earning his MD degree, he went on to specialize in endocrinology, and eventually developed a fascination with tropical diseases such as malaria and leprosy.

His interest in such disorders led him initially to equatorial Africa, where he practiced for two years. In 1931, he moved to Bombay, India, where he would conduct research and treat patients for the next two decades.

Among his patients were pregnant women suffering from malnourishment as well as subjects suffering from pituitary dysfunction that caused them to become obese. Dr. Simeon's research caused him to rethink the subject of obesity and its causes, which he attributed to the practice of eating periodic large meals – a characteristic of agrarian societies – rather than nibble throughout the day as is typical of hunter-gathering societies, where obesity is rare.

In a research paper published in 1954, Dr. Simeons stated that new patterns of eating brought on by agriculture had caused "certain regulatory mechanisms" in the body to go haywire with some individuals. He went on to say that "Persons suffering from this particular disorder will get fat regardless of whether they eat excessively, normally or less than normal."

Curing The Disease

Obesity, Dr. Simeons concluded, was not a disease, but rather the symptom of an underlying disorder. Unfortunately, people with this disorder cannot lose weight simply by restricting calories, because their bodies perceive this as famine and will begin to hold fast to its reserve supplies of energy-rich fat – what Dr. Simeons identified as "abnormal fat."

In his studies, he discovered that a hormone, which medical science identifies as Human Chorionic Gonadotropin (HCG), acted to prevent the mother's body from robbing nutrients from the fetus. He began to experiment with his obese patients by giving them low doses of HCG while restricting their calories. The results were significant; the HCG forced their bodies to utilize "abnormal" fat.

This is the basis of Dr. Simeons' HCG diet.

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