Hoodia

Hoodia is a plant, which has resemblance to cactus plant and is also called prickly pear cactus. This Hoodia plant is specifically called Hoodia Gordonii. This plant is commonly grown in semi-desert area of Angola, Botswana, Namibia, and South Africa. It takes about five years for the plant to mature and then only P57 can be extracted. Thus Hoodia is in great demand but in short supply as it is very hard to grow also. It has been very well advertised and has become popular in recent days. Hoodia contains a chemical called P57. This P57 chemical targets hypothalamus, which is part of brain. This part tells you when you are hungry. It is reported that Hoodia is ten thousand times more effective that glucose and tells brain quickly that you are full. Because of high demand many fake products of Hoodia P57 have come up in the market. It will be hard to find out, if the product contains actual ingredient or fake one. Consequently many will be wasting their hard earned money of fake pills of Hoodia. Researchers have been actively researching on a large number of diet pills and their effectiveness for weight loss. Some of the products were found as ineffective and even somewhat dangerous. Through the same research it was found out that some products are effective with no side effects and this was with Hoodia Gordonii P57.

Hoodia plant belongs to plant family “Apocynaceae” under the subfamily Asclepiadoideae. It is described as ‘cactiform’ because it has close resemblance to cactus family. The plant can grow up to a height of one meter and have large flowers with flesh color and strong smell. Local people of the plant growing areas call by ”Bushman’s Hat” and “Queen of the Namib”. Out of a total of thirteen species, Hoodia Gordonii is being propagated as appetite suppressant. South African people had been using this plant for treatment of indigestion and small infections. In 1996 Hoodia ingredient P57, was patented as appetite suppressant, and marketed through Pfizer. However, Pfizer found that there were indications of unwanted side effects on the liver by some other components in P57. Thus indicated that it would take a long way before it can get approval from Food and Drug Administration (FDA) of Unite States. Therefore, dieters using this product are advised to use caution before using it. In 2002, Hoodia rights were recognized for San tribe of Africa. Thus Hoodia gordonii plant is protected and can only be harvested by individuals and companies having licence. Now the tribe takes a percentage of profits from the marketing of Hoodia. It is illegal to export it from Africa without a certificate of export being issued by proper authorities. Now Hoodia gordonii products are being marketed as capsules, tablets, liquid tinctures, syrups, protein shakes, offee and tea products, and even diet fruit bars.

Majority of research has been skeptical of Hoodia’s effect on weight loss or appetite supression. But Richard M. Goldfarb MD working at Bucks County Clinical Research, Morrisville, PA, USA conducted study on seven overweight and obese people and concluded that these patients lost 3.3 percent of their body weights. Doctor said that he was trying to recruit more people for this experiment. Many Hoodia gordonii supplements claims that this product lowers blood pressure, and thus reduces the appetite.

Some other doctors and researchers including Adrienne Youdim, MD director at weight loss program do not recomment the use of Hoodia as anti-appetite suppressant product. Hoodia gordonii can be tested in following ways:
a. HPTLC
b. HPLC
c. Microscopy /DPI
d. P57

In 2003 BBC started the media coverage of Hoodis gordonii in its program called 60 minutes and advertised it as effective natural appetite suppressant. This coverage made this product very popular in the populations around the world. This marketing created heavy demand for Hoodia plants. It was found out that many products claiming to contain hoodia were not containing it. Hoodia products have not been approved by “Health Canada”. Moreover, State of New Jersey has sued Geon Technologies for misleading consumers about effectiveness of Hoodia. Its Trimspa brand is also under lawsuit in California about its claims on Hoodia. In United States, Federal Trade Commission has also lodged a number of complaints associateed with Hoodia.

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