Patient develops refeeding syndrome after hCG diet
Case: The man ended up in ED when he started eating again after three weeks of injecting human chorionic gonadotropin and severely restricting his calorie intake
A man who tried to lose weight by self-injecting human chorionic gonadotropin and severely restricting his calorie intake developed refeeding syndrome when he started eating pizza and pasta again, Swiss doctors report.
The so-called hCG diet is based on a 1954 Lancet study that suggests patients can lose up to 600g daily on a 2092kJ (500kcal) per day diet along with 125 IU of the pregnancy hormone.
