Why is Hoodia such a sought after weight loss supplement?

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. For more information about Hoodia go to http://hoodiagordonii.totalink.com

Hoodia Gordonii The Truth vs. Hype

First things first, hoodia gordonii is known in different names such as xhooba, Ghaap, khoba and hoodia cactus.

Basically, hoodia godonii is a kind of cactus that is able to control and suppress one’s appetite and therefore promote immediate weight loss.

Believe it or not, television programs such as ABC, 60 Minutes and BBC have focused on hoodia in their news stories.

The hoodia gordonii is usually sold as capsules, tea or in liquid form in those food health stores as well as thru the internet.

The hoodia gordonii plant is found in the deserts of Botswana, South Africa, Namibia as well as Angola.

Contrary to popular belief, hoodia is not a cactus but a kind of succulent.

Hoodia is composed of a flower that is colored purple and could be harvested after five years. Although the hoodia plant consists of twenty types, the variety of hoodia gordonii is the one that possess the ability to suppress appetite.

The history of hoodia as a weight loss product

Hoodia was just discovered only recently as an effective product to aid in one’s weight loss.
However, the Kalahari bushmen have been eating it for centuries as a way to avoid hunger as well as thirst to enable them to go on prolonged hunting adventures.

Hoodia was also used by them to alleviate any pain caused by tuberculosis, cramps, indigestion, hemorrhoids, diabetes and hypertension.

It was in the year 1937 when an anthropologist in Denmark studied the bushmen and noted the effectiveness of hoodia.

However, it was only in the year 1963 when the scientists at CSIR or the Council for Industrial and Scientific Research actually began to study hoodia. The initial results were promising as animals were shown to have lost significant weight just after ingesting hoodia.

It was only in the mid nineties when the scientists at South Africa worked with a company in Britain called Phytopharm and was able to isolate the ingredient active in the hoodia plant called steroidal glycoside.

This ingredient was renamed p57 and in the year 1995, it was officially licensed to the Phytopharm Company. So far, Phytopharm has been able to spend twenty million on research.

Another pharmaceutical company, specifically Pfizer, became interested in hoodia and decided to develop it as a drug.

It was in the year 1998 that Phytopharm licensed Pfizer the developing rights on the p57 ingredient for a whooping twenty one million dollars.

Currently however, the rights have long been returned to Phytopharm and are now collaborating with Unilever.

Basically, hoodia gordonii is effective and has been proven to clinically reduce one’s intake of calories as well as fat.

Hoodia’s inner workings

Based on a research done at Rhode Island in Brown University, it was discovered that the glycosides steroidal found in hoodia is able to affect the brain’s nerve cells, specifically the hypothalamus, the area that is able to monitor one’s blood glucose.

What hoodia does is that it is able to trick the brain to think that the body has energy enough to not have to eat, eventually shutting down the mechanism of hunger in the body.

This effect was proven by a correspondent of 60 Minutes wherein she traveled all the way to the country of Africa in order to try to ingest hoodia.

When the correspondent ate hoodia, she found the taste similar to cucumber and lost the craving to drink and eat the whole day. She also felt no side effects like palpitations or indigestion.

In studies conducted on animals, hoodia was able to actually reduce one’s intake of calories anywhere between thirty to fifty percent.

Hoodia info online

Unfortunately, there is much hype when is comes to reading about hoodia online. False claims, inferior products and over priced knock offs are rampant.

When you visit a hoodia site look for one whose product is 100% pure hoodia gordonii, has certification on its purity well documented and posted, and always contains a money back guarantee. This way you know that what you purchase is actually exactly what you will get.

All in all, hoodia is difficult to plant and grow as it takes almost five years for the plant to actually mature in required temperatures of 122F.
This makes the plant supply scarce and since there is high demand, the hoodia cost is also high. Don’t purchase your hoodia by just comparing prices, you must compare ingredients.

If the site that you are looking at shows proof of purity and authenticity, discloses it’s full ingredient listing and offers a full money back guarantee you can be more confidant in your purchase and that the information on the site is factual.

Hoodia Weight Loss – the Truth About the Hoodia Weight Loss Diet Frenzy

Hoodia weight loss products are being frantically bought by desperate dieters worldwide. However, is weight loss with Hoodia really possible or is it a scam? This article will discuss the truth about the Hoodia weight loss diet frenzy

Before I go into my review of Hoodia weight loss products and diets it’s important to have some understanding about how Hoodia weight loss products came onto the market in the first place.

The incredible popularity of this product is a direct response of broadcasts on such highly regarded programs as Today Show, 60 Minutes and the BBC (not to mention Oprah). The powerful weight loss properties of the Hoodia Gordonii plant have been well-known and widely utilized by the bushmen of the Kalahari desert for centuries. They had the Hoodia weight loss secret all to themselves until in the mid 1990s when the Council For Scientific And Industrial Research undertook a detailed research study on the many native plants and bush foods eaten regularly by the “Sans Bushmen”.

What the CSIR soon found out was that the Hoodia Gordonii cactus plant is not only not poisonous but it also contains some incredibly powerful weight loss and appetite suppressing properties This detailed research was found as a result of watching how animals reacted when eating the Hoodia cactus plant. Incredibly enough, when rats took Hoodia Gordonii they lost all desire to eat and started to lose weight with Hoodia!

Following on from the substantial claims of fast weight loss numerous Hoodia Gordonii diet products have ascended the marketplace to become one of the fastest selling and fasting growing weight loss products in an marketplace where billions of dollars are spent annually on weight loss products. The truth is that people all over the world are bigger than ever. This is because we are less active in our lives and as a result of the food choices that we make.

Before deciding on a Hoodia product to aid with your weight loss it is critical to understand about more the Hoodia weight loss cactus plant. Once the CSIR had managed to isolate the potent in the Hoodia cactus plant that was responsible for appetite suppressing and increasing the body’s ability to burn fat they called it p57. The CSIR then onsold the licence to P57 to a British pharmaceutical organisation known as Phytopharm. Read my shocking Hoodia weight loss diet now at the website below before you buy any Hoodia weight loss product!

It is somewhat alarming that there are such a number of Hoodia weight loss and diet products available for consumers when Phytopharm holds the exclusive rights to the P57 molecule found in the Hoodia Gordonii plant. While Phytopharm actually is the patent holder P57 there are a number of patent laws that come into play.

The truth is that while only Phytopharm can legally extract the potent P57 molecule found in the Hoodia Gordonii plant the whole Hoodia Gordonni plant is never able to be patented itself. As a result of this other companies have the legal right to produce their own Hoodia weight loss supplements and products legally without holding the licence to P57, however, my understanding is that they are unable to put on their labels that their Hoodia product assists with weight loss in any way.

With such a number of products and Hoodia weight loss diet pills now available from the Hoodia cactus plant it is absolutely vital that consumers don’t fall for cheap, ineffective Hoodia weight loss imitations and that they ensure that they only use PURE South African cactus Hoodia Gordonii products for maximum weight loss results. Click on the link below now to learn the best Hoodia weight loss products for fast, safe weight loss.

Adding Hoodia to Your Diet

Hoodia gordonii is an African succulent that has been an important part of the San tribe’s diet for centuries. The San people, commonly known as
“bushmen,” have been chewing the stems of Hoodia gordonii to control hunger while on long trips.

There are many different kinds of Hoodia, but only Hoodia gordonii has been shown to have appetite suppressant qualities. For this reason it is vital to check that any product claiming to be Hoodia actually contains pure Hoodia and in particular Hoodia Gordonii rather than any other type.

Hoodia gordonii came to attention in 1996, when the diet of the San tribe was studied by the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research, or CSIR. While the CSIR were studying the different plants eaten by the San tribe, they stumbled across the hunger suppressing qualities of Hoodia gordonii.

Put simply, when Hoodia gordonii was added to the diet of animals, the animals lost weight. Testing continued and in 1997 CSIR was able to figure out precisely what it was that caused Hoodia gordonii to suppress the appetite. They obtained a patent for this molecule and licensed it to Phytopharm, who designated the molecule
P57.

The bushmen were not happy about the millions being made by Phytopharm, because they were not receiving a cent of compensation. After a lawsuit filed by Roger Chennells, the San people’s representation, CSIR and
Phytopharm were required to compensate the bushmen for the Hoodia gordonii that never would have been discovered had it not been for them.

When purchasing any Hoodia diet supplement, be sure that the Hoodia is grown in Africa and that a portion of the proceeds goes to the San tribe. Hoodia grown anywhere else is not authentic Hoodia!

Although you can purchase supplements containing Hoodia gordonii, it is not available in its natural form just yet. By 2008, Phytopharm hopes to release a series of food products such as energy bars that contain pure
Hoodia gordonii in it’s most basic form.

BBC News correspondent Tom Mangold ate raw Hoodia in the wilds of Africa in 2003. He reported that after experiencing an immediate sense of well-being,
he lost all desire to eat for an extended period of time. Such is the power of this new natural supplement.

There are lots of products on the market that contain Hoodia gordonii. Simply adding Hoodia to a sensible diet and exercise plan can greatly increase your chances of shedding unhealthy extra pounds.

Hoodia Gordonii