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Why is Hoodia such a sought after weight loss supplement?

Published January 25th, 2008 in Hoodia Gordonii | No Comments »

Hoodia Gordonii is an unambitious little South African desert cactus type plant that has a big future ahead of it. A gift from the native San people who live in the Kalahari Desert in South Africa, this tiny plant the natives’ call “Xhoba” has already began impacting the world of weight loss with its extraordinary hunger stopping traits. What the Aboriginal San Bushmen have known for a long time and the rest of us are merely beginning to realize is that Hoodia has appetite suppressant qualities distinguished by plant scientists and named P57. This P57 active element has been examined, tested and identified to have the power to reduce calorie intake by up to 1,000 calories a day.

So will any South African cactus do when it comes to helping you to stay away from snacks? Indeed not, don’t go to the local florist and buy yourself a desert cactus to eat. Of the succulent and asclepiad genus there are 2,000 species of ascleoiadaceae, divided into 300 genera, half from the succulent category. Hoodia Pseudolithos and Trichocaulon are members of the Trichocaulon sub-section from the Kalahari Desert region of S. Africa that touches Angola, Botswana and Namibia. Hoodia Gordonii is the name of the cactus you will want to get but don’t plan on taking a outing to the South Africa and getting some Hoodia cacti for yourself; the Hoodia desert cactus are under strict control by the S. African government. It is considered an endangered plant and only Hoodia cactus farmers with certification may produce and sell the Hoodia.

Can Hoodia affect the world’s obesity problem and help the planet be a slimmer place? Business organizations including, Council for Scientific & Industrial Research (CSIR), Phytopharm, Pfizer and most recently Slim Fast all believe so. All of these companies have banked on Hoodia’s success and together have invested millions of dollars, wanting to corner the marketplace on weight loss. Looking at Hoodia’s journey from Xhoba, plant of The San Bushmen to being today’s miracle plant for weight loss we need to first look at where Hoodia’s been over the past thirty plus years. The greatest amount of time, CSIR analyzed Hoodia to isolate the molecule p57, once they eventually obtained it; they then sold the rights of p57 to Phytopharm. In 1998 The Phytopharm Company leased marketing rights to Pfizer, who invested thirty-two million only to subsequently drop out of the scene because p57 was too expensive to synthesize as a pill. Pfizer’s situation has now been taken over by The Unilever Corporation, the parent company of Slim Fast. Slim Fast at present plans on< delivering a Hoodia weight loss supplement to nutritional stores in a couple years.

Almost a year ago, on November of 2004, the Hoodia plant contracted big media coverage when CBS’s Sixty Minutes did a show on Hoodia’s appetite suppressant qualities. With the 60 minute TV exposure, Hoodia was now wanted plant by dieters all-round the globe. People having a hard time staying on their diets desired Hoodia now, not in a couple of years, the secret was out and Hoodia was becoming an indispensable plant. I’m sure after that 60 minutes program was aired, numbers of dieters looked into moving to the Kalahari Desert and making themselves a tiny Hoodia garden of their very own. Luckily, as it is today there isn’t a reason to go to that extent, where there is a consumer need; there are many businesses happy to fill that request. There were a few businesses that were informed of Hoodia before the news coverage broke and were in the right place at the right time. It didn’t take long though for numerous other organizations to create associations with South African Hoodia Gordonii growers and get Hoodia supplements into stores.

Nowadays there are numerous brands marketing both Hoodia powder form and extracts; how long will the Hoodia plant supply last is the question on dieter’s minds right now. The Hoodia Gordonii succulent is a very hard plant to grow; the plants need very much care and management with irrigating, temperature and sunshine. Where it stands today there are only a couple of Hoodia harvesting centers in the South Africa and the Hoodia plant takes two to three years before it’s ready to be exported. Taking this into account, the multi-million dollar question is, for how many months can the Hoodia succulent plant export continue? Because of this situation buyers should be aware if the Hoodia they are getting has been independently tested and certified to be pure Hoodia Gordonii from South Africa. There are companies out there taking advantage of the great demand and interest in Hoodia and supplying a low quality product.

About the Author

Andrew Aitaken is a writer for the Totalink Directory More information about the purity of hoodia gordonii and weight loss effectiveness of hoodia gordonii can be found in the Hoodia Directory.

Written By: Andrew Aitaken

Hoodia Gordonii Review: Does It Work?

Published November 15th, 2007 in Hoodia Gordonii | No Comments »

Hoodia Gordonii for Weight Loss? Have you heard about Hoodia Gordonii? It’s marketed as an “amazing” new weight loss ingredient that will help you lose weight without feeling hungry. The many advertisements hyping the product claim that Hoodia contains a “miracle molecule called P57 that tricks the brain into thinking you’ve eaten, and makes you feel full.” The claims do not stop there; in addition to losing weight, the ads claim you will feel better while taking this super weight loss ingredient, because Hoodia has “a feel-good, aphrodisiac quality.” What exactly is Hoodia and does it really work? Let us take a closer look at this “miracle appetite suppressant.”

What is Hoodia Gordonii? Hoodia is a succulent that looks like a cactus. It has been described as a somewhat bitter-tasting cucumber that thrives in extremely hot, dry weather and takes 5-7 years to reach maturity. Hoodia grows in the Kalahari Desert region of South Africa, as well as the countries of Botswana, Namibia and Angola. It is said that for generations the San Bushmen, tribesmen native to the regions Hoodia grows, have removed the skin and spines of Hoodia prior to consumption as a way to curb their hunger and thirst during nomadic hunting trips.

In 1995 scientists isolated that one molecule in the plant that is responsible for the Hoodia appetite reducing effect. The molecule was named P57. The process to isolate the P57 compound was patented and the rights were sold to a British company called Phytopharm. In 1998 Phytopharm signed a licensing agreement with the U.S. pharmaceutical giant Pfizer. Together, these two companies set the goal to isolate P57 in order to market and sell it for commercial weight loss purposes in the form of diet pills and capsules. In 2003, after many years of research, and no marketable P57 diet product, Pfizer elected to end its Hoodia contract with Phytopharm. Why? The process of isolating the P57 compound was way too costly to produce as a commercial weight loss product.

Research

Phytopharm conducted one proprietary clinical study in 2001. The results of this study were never submitted to a peer-reviewed journal; however, nearly every Hoodia marketer promotes the study in announcing the legitimacy of their product as a “magical” weight loss ingredient. The small study included only (18) eighteen subjects and they were all obese. The subjects took either the P57 compound or a placebo twice a day for 15 days. What Phytopharm concluded from their study was that the obese people who took P57 reduced their daily calorie intake by 1,000 and< suffered no adverse effects. Phytopharm was so encouraged by their own study that they invested millions of dollars to determine how effectively farm and cultivate Hoodia.

In December of 2004 Phytopharm and Unilever (which owns commercially popular SlimFast amongst other business holdings) announced a deal which they claim will put Hoodia on the market within 3 years. Unilever paid $21 million to help fund additional clinical trials and expansion of the Hoodia cultivation program in South Africa and Namibia. Their goal is to include P57 in food products such as meal replacement shakes and other diet related products.

What Does The Future Hold For Hoodia?

To date there has, not been any controlled Hoodia clinical study that shows statistically significant results for weight loss. However, this does not mean that Hoodia will not offer potential as an appetite suppressant in the future. If additional research indicates that Hoodia works as well as Phytopharm suggests it does, then it may in fact turn out to be a useful way to control weight. Until then, Phytopharm needs to conduct more clinical research with Hoodia so that broader conclusions may be reached. In the meantime, consumers should be aware of the unscrupulous Hoodia product peddlers attempting to dupe the public by offering for sale dried, powdered versions of Hoodia that are not regulated or inspected, and the exact contents of which are unknown. In addition, it should be stated that the appetite suppressing ability of Hoodia has only been shown effective in large fresh pieces of the plant, about 2 or 3 inches long. The dried powder that many peddlers are hawking these days contains such a small amount of P57 that it cannot produce any true, desired effect. This clearly demonstrates that many of these Hoodia peddlers are attempting to make a quick buck off the unsuspecting consumer. If the manufacturing process was as easy as drying and grinding the Hoodia plant don’t you think Pfizer and Phytopharm would have been selling P57 as a weight loss product back in 1998?

Someday we may learn that Hoodia does promote weight loss by effectively suppressing appetite, but until we do, we should all be careful how we spend our money on weight loss products claiming to contain Hoodia or its active ingredient P57.
About the Author

Peter Bracato is an avid health and fitness enthusiast and published author. Many of his insightful supplement articles can be found at the premier online health news magazine http://www.consumerhealthdigest.com

Written By: Peter Bracato

Hoodia Diet Supplements – Miracle Pills?

Published August 17th, 2007 in Hoodia Gordonii | No Comments »

In the 21st century, an ever growing number of men and women (and an astonishing number of children) have found themselves confronting weight problems. There are more obese people in many countries around the world at this point in time than at any other point in history. As a result, a significant number of people find themselves on the hunt for a miracle program through which they can lose weight with little effort. In other words, these people are seeking hoodia supplements that perform like miracle pills.

Before a specific discussion is had regarding the prospect of hoodia supplements in the form of miracle weight loss pills, it is important to remember a couple of factors. First, if you are interested in initiating any sort of diet program, you need to consult with your doctor before beginning any weight loss regimen. Your doctor can assist you in determining what sort of diet plan will best serve your needs and will best promote your own good health.

Second, if you are interested in crafting an effective weight loss and dieting program, you need to understand that in order to lose weight in a healthy manner and keep the weight off into the future, you must eat a balanced diet. In addition to a balanced diet, an effective weight loss or dieting regimen requires that a person engage in regular exercise that includes aerobic, stretching and strength building elements.

Hoodia supplements, when incorporated into a balanced diet regimen and a responsible workout program, can be very beneficial. However, when all is said and done, there is no such product as a miracle pill. Indeed, when it comes to seeking and effective and beneficial diet supplement, you must be very circumspect of products that make outlandish claims. Of course, there are some diet supplements that can aid in helping a person lose weight fast. However, fast weight loss is not always the best course. In< fact, more often than not, fast weight loss is detrimental, not only to a person’s health but to his or her overall dieting program.

While a person might be pleased with fast weight loss, studies demonstrate and prove that in most cases when a person undertakes a fast weight loss, the lost weight normally does not stay off for the long term. Rather, people in such circumstances end up putting the weight back on in the not too distant future — and, in many, many cases, these people end up weighing more than when the initially started their dieting regimen.

Several years ago, there was some thought that the closest “thing” to a miracle weight loss pill had been found. Scientists at Pfizer (the world’s leading pharmaceutical company) began work on a diet pill that included hoodia and an hoodia extract known as P57. Hoodia is a plant that is indigenous to the desert region of Southern Africa. For thousands of years, Bushmen in the region chewed hoodia as an appetite suppressant and source of energy when they were on the hunt.

In recent years, researchers have concluded that a person using the hoodia extract P57 could lower their caloric intake by 1,000 calories a day with no adverse effects. Pfizer worked to incorporate the hoodia extract P57 into pill form by attempting to create a synthetic version of P57. The experimentation ended up not being fruitful. Thus, if you want hoodia your going to have to pay a pretty heafty price for it. The only way to get it at the moment is by grinding up the actual cactus and putting into a pill. These supplements are available from several reputable places online, but be ready with your wallet because this method of production isn’t cheap.

About the author:

To learn more facts about hoodia supplements visit my site at http://www.hoodia-facts.com

Written By: Joseph Spalding

Hoodia Gordonii – The Scientific Intervention

Published July 27th, 2007 in Hoodia Gordonii | No Comments »

The first scientific study of hoodia was really sparked by chance, as is often the case in scientific “discoveries”. What started it all was not, in fact, an exclusive study into the hoodia gordonii, a succulent that looks like a cactus. South Africa’s national laboratory was conducting a much broader study. It was only because the San tribesman were known to eat hoodia gordonii that it was included in a study of indigenous foods. It is not surprising that the interest of the national laboratory was aroused, and they started to focus seriously on the hoodia gordonii’s properties. It was tested on animals by including it in their food. The animals ate it, and then lost weight. It was then a question of isolating the ingredient that was behind this phenomenon. Or were these animals going to secret weight watchers meetings every week, without the knowledge of the laboratory? That may seem very fanciful, but then so did the idea of losing weight through munching a spiky succulent. This was, indeed, becoming extremely interesting.

This was no instant discovery with an instant explanation. The originally research went back to the 1960’s, when it was not obvious that hoodia gordonii had great potential as an appetite suppressant. It was about 30 years later that the South African national laboratory succeeded in isolating and identifying the ingredient in hoodia gordonii that had the effect of suppressing appetite. The ingredient was later to become known as P57.

When the laboratory found that ingredient, they applied for a patent, and licensed it to Phytopharm, an English bio-technology company. Phytopharm has spent more than $20 million already on research associated with hoodia gordonii. This research, which included< clinical trials with obese volunteers, has yielded some promising results. Subjects given hoodia gordonii ended up eating about 1,000 calories a day less than those in the control group, who were fed a placebo. That is an impressively high figure, when you consider that the average American man consumes about 2,600 calories a day, and a woman about 1,900 calories.

According to Phytopharm, if you take this hoodia compound every day, your desire to eat goes down. That was illustrated dramatically in the research. So, all was looking very promising for the millions of obese men and women around the world.

Large pharmaceutical company Pfizer partnered Phytopharm in expanding the research, and a synthetic form of the critical ingredient was possible. However, the costs involved and the possible volumes were too low, to make it worthwhile, so Pfizer abandoned their plans. Phytopharm decided the only way to produce enough of the product was to grow the plants in massive volumes. So, that is what they set out to do, establishing hoodia plantations in South Africa.

The hoodia being used in the plantations is not precisely the same plant as that in the Kalahari, but is easier to cultivate. It is an enormous task, but one that Phytofarm are confident will bring success in meeting potential demand for genuine hoodia products. However, Phytopharm says it hopes to have meal-replacement hoodia products on supermarket shelves in a few years.

About the Author

This hoodia gordonii appetite suppressant article was written by Roy Thomsitt, owner and part author of the Routes To Self Improvement website: http://www.routes-to-self-improvement.com

Written By: Roy Thomsitt