1. Pounds and Inches: A New Approach to Obesity

The Author: By Dr. A.T.W. Simeons

The Plug: This is the original HCG diet protocol, the bible of HCG weight loss. Nobody should start the HCG diet without reading this first.

Praise: Simeons created the HCG + diet plan. He was a genius who spent 20 years of his life fine-tuning a weight loss plan that is simple, consistent, and fast. Moreover, it works long-term, allowing people to keep weight off indefinitely if they follow the program. He proved the results through thousands of real-life patients. Pounds and Inches distills all of his knowledge and experience into one book that remains the final authority on the HCG diet.

Criticism: How could we possibly criticize Dr. Simeons himself? Well, the answer is that he was human and functioning on limited resources just like everyone else. He wrote Pounds and Inches in between his many other duties and research interests, and he intended it primarily for use by other physicians who wanted to implement the HCG + diet program in their own clinics. As such, the book can be difficult to wade through for regular folks like you and me, and it's a bit sparse on some of the details and explanations. In addition, our world has changed in the 50 years since the book was written. Stevia, a commonly recommended sweetener for the HCG diet, was not available back then, and there was no homeopathic HCG product. Most people would benefit from one of the rewrites available on the web, since they are more readable for us non-physician types. The best one we know of is found on www.healthyhcg.com. It is concise, easy to read and understand, and more logically organized—yet it has all the essentials of Dr. Simeons' original manuscript.

Why It's Number One: Because it's Simeons. Enough said.

2. HCG Weight Loss Cure Guide

The Author: Linda Prinster

The Plug: After Pounds and Inches, this is the next most comprehensive book on the HCG diet, and best of all, it supports homeopathic HCG.

Praise: Linda Prinster isn't a doctor, but it's clear that she has significant experience with the HCG diet protocol and has done her research. She has a PMP (Project Management Professional) certification and has consulted hundreds of individuals on the program from start to finish. It's credible that Prinster covers all forms of HCG, and she especially advocates homeopathic HCG drops as the newest, effective way to follow the HCG diet. Prinster's writing is easy to follow and understand. This is the HCG book for the rest of us. It's the most practical and useful book about the HCG diet out there.

Criticism: Prinster's instructions on HCG dosage aren't 100% clear, as shown by some prominent websites who misinterpret them, and this most important aspect of the HCG plan needs to be made more clear. There is only one other negative comment to make about her book, and that regards its design and presentation. It's obviously a self-publishing endeavor, and it shows. The content is actually logical, but the design and presentation make it feel more disorganized than it is. It contains a six-page table of contents, which is overly long, and no index at all, which would be much more helpful.

Why It's Number Two: The only reason Linda Prinster's book isn't number one on this list is because she isn't Dr. Simeons. Despite a few flaws in presentation, the HCG Weight Loss Cure Guide is the most comprehensive and useful publication for those doing the HCG diet today.

3. Effect of Human Chorionic Gonadotrophin on Weight Loss, Hunger, and Feeling of Well-Being

The Authors: Dr. W.L. Asher and Dr. Harold W. Harper

The Plug: This scientific study, published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition in February 1973, demonstrated scientifically that HCG enables more weight loss and helps suppress hunger while on a calorie-restricted diet.

Praise: Well, this is a scientific study, and that's all the praise it should need. But unfortunately not all scientific studies are equal. This one was the first of its kind to use solid scientific research principles and adhere fairly closely to Simeons' original protocol.

Criticism: Being a scientific study, it can be a bit hard to read for us everyday citizens. Aside from that, its main problem is that the study designers did not adhere exactly to Dr. Simeons' protocol. In fact, no single study ever has—but this one comes closest.

Why It's Number Three: It's important to know that the HCG diet does have scientific evidence to support it—but not as important as having the actual resources to complete the diet. This publication doesn't help anyone be successful on the diet, but it's important to do your research.

4. HCG Weight Loss Guide

The Author: Nicole Barnard

The Plug: A treasure trove of resources for the HCG diet, Nicole Barnard's book is available for free from Lulu.com. It doesn't get much better than that.

Praise: Nicole Barnard is a generous individual who has compiled an impressive array of information about the HCG weight loss plan, all on her own time, and she's giving it away for free. If you have a question, chances are there's something about it in this book, or at least a reference to further information. It also contains some recipes for each stage of the diet, a definite plus. Barnard has gathered her information directly from people actually doing the HCG diet, so there's nothing in here that hasn't been tested by HCG'ers themselves.

Criticism: Barnard has made a sincere and honest effort, and it's likely that most everything in her book is factual and correct—but you shouldn't necessarily take it as HCG gospel. As mentioned, much of her information comes from HCG dieters themselves, which can be a good thing, but still should be taken with a grain of salt. In addition, this is a self-publishing effort, like Prinster's book, and it shows. The design and organization could stand to see a lot of improvement.

Why It's Number Four: We do recommend this book for anyone starting or thinking about the HCG diet. There's a lot of great stuff in here, and for a free book you can't go wrong. However, it doesn't quite approach Prinster's book for overall quality, and you shouldn't rely on it as your only source of information.

5. The Weight Loss Cure They Don't Want You to Know About

The Author: Kevin Trudeau

The Plug: Despite some flaws, Kevin Trudeau's book is still one of the most popular books on the HCG diet and contains a lot of helpful information.

Praise: The Weight Loss Cure They Don't Want You to Know About is part of what has catapulted this amazing diet plan into the public consciousness. Trudeau puts it in everyday language that's engaging and easy to follow, and he doesn't commit any significant violations of Simeons original protocol.

Criticism: Trudeau takes things a little too far and muddies the waters of what should be a very simple, straightforward weight loss program. His entirely self-created Phase 1 would be time-consuming and costly if you implemented all of his recommendations, and ultimately it's unnecessary. It's not in Simeons, and you don't need it to succeed. There's more to say, but we'll leave this one criticism as a representative example of the other things we could say. There's good information in this book, but it's been diluted and confused more than it ought to be.

Why It's Number Five: If you're talking to people about the HCG diet, chances are they've read or at least heard of Kevin Trudeau; it's good to be educated and know what you're talking about. There's a lot of good information in this book. Some of it goes over the top, but much of it is still very useful.