What is hoodia?

Answer 1

Hoodia (IPA: 'hʊdiːə) is a genus of 13 species in the flowering plant family Apocynaceae, under the subfamily Asclepiadoideae.[1] They are stem succulents, described as "cactiform" because of their remarkable similarity to the unrelated cactus family. They can reach up to 1m high and have large flowers, often with flesh colour and strong smell.

The BBC started the media hype when they reported on the Hoodia gordonii plant in 2003. The following year, 60 Minutes aired a report on the effectiveness of the Hoodia gordonii plant as a natural appetite suppressant.[11]

The media coverage and heavy marketing by nutritional supplement companies that followed those reports have created such a demand for Hoodia plants that a protected status was imposed in several countries like Namibia. Many products claiming to contain Hoodia do not actually contain the active ingredient alleged to suppress appetite. Only the South African product has the claimed properties. An ongoing review of Hoodia pills by Alkemists Pharmaceuticals found that at least half of the products advertised as containing Hoodia contained none.[12]

Answer 2

Hoodia Gordonii is a cactus like plant from the Kalahari Desert. It’s been used for thousand of years by the Bushment of South Africa to suppress their hunger during their long hunting trips in this desolate environment. For them it was a fact of live – to survive a long journey you chew Hoodia Gordonii.

In the desert, they don’t do clinical studies on plants and substances – they test them in the real world. There are thousands of years of evidence that Hoodia Gordonii works to help you avoid hunger.

Of course, for the Western people, clinical studies are a must, and millions of dollars have been spent studying it – but what proof is there that it can work?

In November 2004 Leslie Stahl reported on CBS’s 60 minutes and said,

“So how did it work? Stahl says she had no after effects – no funny taste in her mouth, no queasy stomach, and no racing heart. She also wasn’t hungry all day, even when she would normally have had a pang around mealtime. She also reported no desire to eat or drink for the entire day.”

Now for a news anchor to report something as a success – a good omen for Hoodia.

Even the BBC tested Hoodia. Tom Mangold visited the Kalahari Desert in 2003 and ate a half a banana sized piece of Hoodia Gordonii. He said

“The plant is said to have a feel-good almost aphrodisiac quality, and I have to say, we felt good. But more significantly, we did not even think about food. Our brains really were telling us we were full. It was a magnificent deception.

Dinner time came and went. We reached our hotel at about midnight and went to bed without food. And the next day, neither of us wanted nor ate breakfast. “

Tom Mangold reported that it was almost twenty four hours before his full appetite returned. It’s very rare, as you know, for the media to be so positive, particularly about a food supplement. It’s usual for them to search for the faults and the scandal.

Phytopharm, the company that own the patent on Hoodia Gordonii completed a full double blind placebo controlled study on overweight volunteers. The results of this study proved that those who took the P57 Hoodia extract had a significant reduction in both body fat and calorie intake with no side affects! The Bushment have eaten Hoodia Gordonii for thousands of years with no ill effects

It is thought that Hoodia fools the brain into thinking it is full when you are not through imitating the effect glucose has on the nerve cells in the brain.

Dr. Richard Dixey from Phytopharm explains that the P57 Hoodia extract works by making the nerve cells within the hypothalamus that sense glucose sugar fire as if you were full.

Hoodia products come in all shapes and sizes. Some are cut with other herbals like green tea or caffeine (this increases water loss and gives you a false sens of weight loss.)

Between pills, capsules and liquids, the liquids work the fastest and are more effective.

If you want to learn more about hoodia there are a dozen or so articles at the link below. Everything from the history of hoodia to it's safety and everything in between.

Answer 3

It's a plant extract. The plant is found in Namibia and those parts of southern Africa where the bushmen (otherwise known as San, or Khoi) live ... they're able to go days without food and without feeling hungry, and a few years ago some scientists observed that they habitually chewed the leaves of this plant to stave off their hunger.

There have been some rather nasty tricks played to do them out of the land and the money that they ought to be paid in relation to this discovery; but a couple of pharmaceutical firms have been trying to synthesise it and offer it as an anti-obesity drug in the West.

Answer 4

A diet pill that doesn't work. If you are trying to lose weight, one pill option is dexadrine (rx) but hard to get because of abuse potential. Excersize would be better than meds though.

Answer 5

It's a new weight loss vitamin on the market,it curbs your appetite.