: This point is already covered in the article by the statement such diets prescribe calorie intake of between 500 and 1,000 calories.  Furthermore as already stated in the article, the hcg diet is neither safe nor more effective than calorie restriction without hcg. A variant of a diet that is less unsafe, equally ineffective, and still illegal is an advance?  Finally how can medically licensed clinics be supevising illegal diets?  Unless of course they are not including hcg in the diet.