HCG Diet With Vegetables

It may be one of the more controversial weight-loss programs, but the HCG diet is popular again. And people who follow this diet, which requires participants to cut their daily calorie intake to 500, need to eat their vegetables. Diet followers are also required to take a daily dose of human chorionic gonadtropin, a hormone better known as HCG. Be warned, though: Health officials say that eating so few calories a day, even if you're eating vegetables, isn't healthy. The Los Angeles Times reported that 11 of 12 studies determined that it did not help people lose weight.

Vegetables a Key Component of HCG Diet

• Followers of the HCG diet are required to eat 100 g of a lean meat, which can include chicken breast, white fish or beef, for both lunch and dinner. They are also required to eat one vegetable with each meal. Some of the vegetables recommended include beets, celery, spinach, tomatoes and cucumbers. Dieters can add a piece of melba toast or a breadstick along with small servings of fruits such as strawberries, an apple or half of a grapefruit with lunch or dinner. They are not supposed to eat anything for breakfast aside from tea or coffee without sugar. This may not seem like a lot of food to eat on a daily basis. But proponents of the diet say that the HCG injections act as an appetite suppressant, which makes it easier for dieters to maintain their 500-calorie-a-day level.

Staying Satisfied on 500 Calories a Day

• The USDA recommends that adult men and women consume from 1,600 to 3,200 calories a day depending on their age and whether they live a sedentary or active lifestyle. The HCG diet, then, is advising its followers to take in an extremely low amount of daily calories. Because of this, it's not surprising that the diet calls for regular servings of vegetables. Most vegetables contain only a small amount of calories. An average serving size of spinach only contains 7 calories, for instance, while a 4-inch long strip of celery contains about 1 calorie. But vegetables do fill people up, even though they don't add a lot of calories to a diet.