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An unusual weight loss program promises to help you lose weight through a secret ingredient that melts fat. The HCG diet involves a small daily injection of a hormone found in pregnant women and a very low calorie diet. Gary Foster, who leads Temple's Center for Obesity Research and Education, is concerned about this diet because it uses a hormone normally secreted during pregnancy. "The effects of injecting this hormone into people who aren't pregnant aren’t known so it raises questions about safety.' Most likely, patients are losing weight because they're consuming very few calories, he explained.