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Hoodia – Not Actually A Cactus !!!

Published October 31st, 2008 in Hoodia Gordonii | No Comments »

Hoodia is a genus containing thirteen species, in the flowering plant family Apocynaceae, under the subfamily Asclepiadoideae. They are described as “cactiform” because of their remarkable similarity to the unrelated cactus family. They can reach up to 3 feet high and have large flowers, often with a flesh like colour and strong odour.

Many Hoodia species are protected plants, typical of the Namib Desert, ranging from Central Namibia to Southern Angola, especially in rock strewn areas and plains.

Several species are grown as garden plants, and one species, Hoodia gordonii is being investigated for use as an appetite suppressant.

Medicinal uses

Hoodia has been used by the indigenous populations of Southern Africa, for centuries, who frequently use these plants for treating indigestion, small infections and as an appetite suppressant when out on long animal hunts…

In 2002, the CSIR (the South African Council for Scientific and Industrial Research) officially recognized the San tribespeople’s rights to Hoodia, ruling they were entitled to a percentage of the profits and any spin-offs resulting from the marketing of Hoodia. Hoodia gordonii is a protected plant which can only be harvested in the wild by individuals and a few legitimate companies, who’ve been granted a license.

Marketing

In December 2004, Unilever entered into an agreement with Phytopharm to start marketing Hoodia gordonii, commercially, in the form of shakes and diet snack bars.

It has been reported (1 July 2006) on the entertainment news show “Extra” that a company is now marketing Hoodia-enhanced lollipops.

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 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