Products to control weight are numerous and every week there seems to be yet another 'quick fix' solution although the plant could be the exception; all the signs that this is the ‘real thing' are good. Now, many natural dietary products claim to use Hoodia as the weight loss constituent; increasing numbers of people who want to shed pounds are using products containing extracts of this plant. You may in fact be surprised to learn all the benefits this natural resource has to offer people who are desperate to shed unwanted pounds.
Well it is actually a cactus-like plant with 13 species. One species in particular, Hoodia Gordonii, is being investigated for use as an appetite suppressant. It grows in the Namib and Kalahari deserts in South Africa, having the unique attribute of reducing or even eliminating appetite. This wonder plant has caused a stir and is greatly sought after. No other natural product has ever been discovered that is as effective at blocking hunger pangs.
The cactus was in fact studied for quite some time by scientists around the world before it was allowed to be used. One particular experiment included a team of people from the BBC who were only given a single Hoodia leaf to eat. The entire team wanted nothing else to eat or drink for the rest of the day.
Hoodia weight loss products are all the more effective given the fact that they are completely free from side-effects. There are no unpleasant digestive problems or heart rhythm disturbances that often happen with other appetite inhibitors. Users also have the additional benefit of knowing that they will not feel tired whilst they are using it as it supplies the correct amount of energy and reduces the desire to eat.
Nevertheless, whilst it is being taken, the user should still drink plenty of fluids and eat a healthy diet. People using Hoodia weight loss pills on a regular basis, will not feel the desire to eat as much; however, just because a person doesn't feel hungry, they still need to eat, otherwise their health will suffer. Hoodia is an ideal method of controlling the appetite of people who cannot control their own.
It is important to mention that products containing the true ingredient are quite expensive as this plant is quite rare. This explains the high production costs. In many areas where a product is expensive, unauthentic Hoodia weight loss pills and other supplements allegedly containing the plant are readily available on the internet. Be warned if you see them at very low prices, it is unlikely to be the genuine product. For something as good as Hoodia, it is worth paying extra as it is the best natural form of suppressing the appetite known to man and should not be confused with cheap imitations.
Reuters - Merck & Co said on Monday that
patients on its experimental obesity drug lost more than twice
as much weight as those on a placebo in a late-stage clinical
study.
Tabloids and TV entertainment 'news' shows delight in following female celebrity weight gains. They find the most unflattering photos of the poor woman and 'expose' her 'shocking' poundage. Victims of this tactic have been Tyra Banks, Sarah Michelle Gellar, and most recently, Carnie Wilson.
"It is very hard being in the public eye, being scrutinized for every pound," Carnie tells Us Magazine, slamming the National Enquirer for reporting that she needs another surgery. "They're saying I'm going to have liposuction, another gastric bypass to have a baby," she went on. "It's laughable."
In the past, Carnie Wilson has publicly shared her personal story about her struggles in her book Gut Feelings: From Fear and Despair to Health and Hope. She writes about her lifelong struggle with weight and her eventual decision to undergo a gastric bypass.
Nine years ago, after the surgery, Carnie lost roughly 150 pounds in 16 months. With the , Carnie was the toast of the town, and the press loved interviewing her about her .
Now that she's gained weight after a PREGNANCY - for goodness sake - she is now a target for tabloid derision.
Who's to Blame?
Tabloids, magazines, and newspaper say that the public is to blame for these stories, because we buy the trash they print. To some extent that is true, but the media doesn't simply reflect society's unrealistic and unhealthy attitude towards weight loss and weight gain - it perpetuates it.
This kind of media attention - flattering or unflattering - is exploitive of the celebrity and only serves to reinforce the public's obsession about weight. The underlying message in all this? Your self-worth is dependent on how much weight you can lose and keep off. And guess what, ladies, you'll be unforgiven for gaining all that pregnancy weight, so you'd better lose it quick!
Gastric Bypass Pitfalls
Overlooked in all this weight loss/weight gain hype is a common misconception about gastric bypass surgery. It's not a guarantee for .
"A gastric bypass patient needs follow rules," Wilson said. "I fell off the bandwagon when I was pregnant... my eating habits changed. For me, it was about snacking," she added. "Somebody can consume a certain amount of calories, and if they don't burn the calories, that equals weight gain."
In 2005, Carnie gave birth to a baby girl named Lola, and the singer/author hopes to have another child in the near future. She is now in the process of losing the baby weight with and exercise.
"I am committed to this, to my health, whether I am 300 or 200 or 150 [pounds]...I am committed to my daughter. I want to be a light of hope for her," she added. "[I'm not saying] you need to be a size 6 ... you need to be healthy. That is the message I want to give to her."
Unfortunately, that's not the kind of message that sells tabloids.
Many people are under the false assumption that losing weight quickly is the best way and will use weight loss pills as the primary part of their diet without any thought to their health. This method is now seen for what it is and slow weight loss methods are being promoted as a more natural approach and much less harmful for the body. In fact what was common only a short time ago, i.e. weight loss tablets, appetite suppressants and force physical exercise are now viewed as the opposite of .
Enthusiasm can help with any weight loss program and this is achieved by giving yourself some goals to achieve which make the whole weight loss program more fun. This way by making small adjustments in your program they will become more of a habit and be accepted by the body as you gradually lose weight.
Certain natural appetite suppressants however can be sued to help you during your program including the wonderful products with Hoodia extract, guarana for energy, ginseng and green tea to detoxify your system. However, these natural products are not a replacement for a healthy diet but taking them will ensure that the lethargy many people feel will not happen nor will hunger cravings, nor will they be susceptible to other illnesses.
Any major health conditions like heart disease, diabetes or cholesterol problems should be discussed with your doctor before embarking on any weight loss program where supplements whether natural or not are used as the basis of requires a person stays healthy. Provided you do not have a specific health condition then exercises include certain activities that are designed to burn calories. However, for people that suffer from cardiac problems, too much movement can be harmful and under such circumstances it is a good idea to go for short walks in the park.
This is not meant to be a form of exercise where exertion is necessary and it is quite ok to sit and rest when you feel the need and to help with this it is suggested that regular massage sessions will help with your program. If walking does not excite you then perhaps you should try swimming which is also considered safe even for those with heart complaints but always check with your doctor first. Do not take it for granted that all natural weight loss tablets will be suitable for a diet in particular those that contain bitter orange and ephedra.
There isn't normally a problem if bitter orange is used in small amounts in these products but products like this that are ordered over the Internet, the reliability is often in question. For instance, Hoodia is an excellent natural appetite suppressant which provides the energy required to continue normal daily tasks but it is rare and expensive so many internet suppliers use the word Hoodia even when the product doesn't contain any of the product.
*Consult a physician before trying this or any dietary supplement.
Almost one year ago, I gave birth to twins. This was my second pregnancy. Since that time, I've been determined to get my pre-pregnancy body back. I got a gym membership and I got on a diet. Initially, my weight loss was very slow, about 1 pound a month. I started hitting a plateau (not losing, but not gaining), so I decided to look up dietary supplements/weight loss aids. I was always very skeptical about them.
I googled hoodia, which has been all the rage for the past year. There were so many hoodia pills out there, I didn't know which one was the right one.
I finally came accross Power Pops, hoodia in the form of a lollipop. I saw a youtube video clip of an "Extra" segment which reported the pops as Hollywood's latest weight loss secret. I decided to look past the hype and do some research.
What intrigued me about Power Pops was the concept. After doing research, I learned that the concept was based on absorption. In South Africa, they suck the hoodia straight from the plant. It's been proven that through absorption, one consumes 96% of the nutrients whereas in pills you only consume 10%.
With all other hoodia supplements there was at least one negative review. I always read the negative reviews before reading the positives.
I was surprised to not find a single negative review on Power Pops. That's when I was finally convinced to purchase one bag, just to give them a try.The next morning after receiving my bag in the mail, I tried one pop 30 minutes before my meal with a glass of water, as was instructed.
About 2 minutes after putting the pop in my mouth, I didn't feel hungry. I was surprised to see that these pops work immediately. It takes about 30 minutes to suck on one pop. They truly do taste great. If I hadn't known any better, I could've sworn they were real lollipops. I went on to eat my breakfast, and I was satisfied with a smaller portion.I was afraid I'd feel weird side effects. I was surprised when I felt completely normal. Any energy I felt was natural, that's because Power Pops are free of stimulants like caffeine and ephedra.
The energy in Power Pops comes from Vitamin B-6, Vitamin B-12, and Guarana.It took me 2 weeks to go through the entire bag. I weighed myself after that and I had lost 4 pounds!
I decided to become a retail associate, to continue purchasing Power Pops at the wholesale price. Their company, Fun Unlimited not only sells Power Pops, but also provides a global business opportunity so one can make money while losing weight.
I once again started hitting a plateau, so I decided to modify my diet and my exercise routine. Once I did that, the weight loss continued, and now, over 3 weeks later, I lost 10 lbs and I'm still losing. On average, I'm losing about half a pound a day.In conclusion, Power Pops do work. Results vary, and it's very important to take them in addition to a balanced diet in order to keep the weight off.As soon as I reach my goal weight, I intend to post before and after pics.
Hoodia Gordonii is a plant. In order to make the plant marketable and readily available to the general public, manufacturers either grind the whole plant into a powder or use alcohol to concentrate the active ingredients. The finished product is then sold in capsules, tablets or liquid form and most recently in the form of the ‘Hoodia patch’.
Hoodia Gordonii in its natural form has an appetite suppressing effect, which can be used as an aid to lose weight. Hoodia Gordonii is a succulent that resembles a ‘cactus’ and grows wild in the deserts of Africa. Hoodia patches are just one of the many Hoodia Gordonii products available.
The ‘Hoodia patch’ technique called ‘transdermal process’ is used through the skin. ‘Hoodia nicotine patch’ is another aid for those people who are trying to quit smoking. ‘Hoodia patches’ are aids for those who are trying to lose weight.
Many people prefer a transdermal patch because they can put it on in the morning and forget about it. The ‘Hoodia patch’, like other transdermal patches, uses a time-released mechanism so that a small amount of the active ingredient is released into the blood circulation system throughout the day. If the patch comes off, it must be replaced with another one. Ideally a person should be able to use one ‘Hoodia patch’ per day, replacing it every 24 hours.
Busy people may not remember when their next meal will be. ‘Hoodia patches’ may offer a solution for these people. Hoodia suppresses thirst as well as appetite. In order to avoid dehydration, it is important to remember to drink plenty of water, even if one is not thirsty. There are no known side effects associated with Hoodia. The Hoodia patch does not contain drugs, so disposal or skin-to-skin contact should not be a problem like it is with nicotine and hormonal patches.
Before jumping on to a weight loss program consult your doctor. It is advisable to reduce calories gradually.
The Hoodia Gordonii diet pill is the newest catch phrase in the weight-loss industry today. Everyone seems to be sticky with this secret, but still quite a few are susceptible about this miraculous plant. How can it help you lose weight? How does it work? And why it was not been heard before? Well, some of it appears to be true, but you will appreciate that everything needs some time to establish its truth. Gordonii product has also taken its own time impress on the weight-loss process.
Hoodia Gordonii diet pill has originally been in South Africa for quite some time, but was only recently exposed to be an appetite suppressant. Many reports, including some from well-known media, revealed that Hoodia could make you feel full faster and stay full longer because of its obvious ability to suspend your hunger. The 'Bushmen', one of the oldest tribes of the Kalahari deserts have been eating Hoodia Stems from their ancestral time and have been familiar with its 'thirst and hunger' quenching capabilities. That is why, when using Hoodia Gordoni it is important to have sufficient ?hydration' on top of a healthy diet. Even though Hoodia Extract is natural and able to work on its own to help safely restrain your hunger, it is essential that you incorporate it into a healthy lifestyle.
As with any weight loss product, your doctor should know what you are taking and how you plan to use Hoodia Gordoni in your life. Even though Gordonii Supplement is being depicted as the latest weight-loss wonder, do not let the propaganda get to you. Be realistic! And test the product to verify it's creditworthy.
If you have a sweet tooth, or you find difficult to cut short diet, you should consider an appetite suppressant like Hoodia Gordonii at least for the first few months to lose weight. Depending on how much you are overweight now, most doctors' advice losing no more than four pounds a month. You should be able to do that easily.
Imagine this: an organic pill that kills the appetite and attacks obesity. It has no known side-effects, and contains a molecule that fools your brain into believing you are full.
Deep inside the African Kalahari desert, grows an ugly cactus called the Hoodia. It thrives in extremely high temperatures, and takes years to mature.
The San Bushmen of the Kalahari, one of the world's oldest and most primitive tribes, had been eating the for thousands of years, to stave off hunger during long hunting trips.
When South African scientists were routinely testing it, they discovered the plant contained a previously unknown molecule, which has since been christened P 57.
The license was sold to a Cambridgeshire bio-pharmaceutical company, Phytopharm, who in turn sold the development and marketing rights to the giant Pfizer Corporation.
Fortune cactusA molecule in the cactus makes you feel full
When I traveled to the Kalahari, I met families of the San bushmen.
It is a sad, impoverished and displaced tribe, still unaware they are sitting on top of a goldmine.
But if the Hoodia works, the 100,000 San strung along the edge of the Kalahari will become overnight millionaires on royalties negotiated by their South African lawyer Roger Chennells.
And they will need all the help they can to secure the money.
Currently, many bushmen smoke large quantities of marijuana, suffer from alcoholism, and have neither possessions nor any sense of the value of money.
The truth is no-one has fully grasped what the magic molecule means for their counterparts in the developed world.
Blood sugarAccording to the British Heart Foundation 17% of men and 21% of women are obese, while 46% of men and 32% of women are overweight.
So the drug's marketing potential speaks for itself.
Phytopharm's Dr Richard Dixey explained how P.57 actually works:
"There is a part of your brain, the hypothalamus. Within that mid-brain there are nerve cells that sense glucose sugar.
"When you eat, blood sugar goes up because of the food, these cells start firing and now you are full.
What the Hoodia seems to contain is a molecule that is about 10,000 times as active as glucose.
"It goes to the mid-brain and actually makes those nerve cells fire as if you were full. But you have not eaten. Nor do you want to."
Clinical trialsDixey organized the first animal trials for Hoodia. Rats, a species that will eat literally anything, stopped eating completely.
When the first human clinical trial was conducted, a morbidly obese group of people were placed in a "phase 1 unit", a place as close to prison as it gets.
All the volunteers could do all day was read papers, watch television, and eat.
Half were given Hoodia, half placebo. Fifteen days later, the Hoodia group had reduced their calorie intake by 1000 a day.
It was a stunning success.
The cactus testIn order to see for ourselves, we drove into the desert, four hours north of Capetown in search of the cactus.
Once there, we found an unattractive plant which sprouts about 10 tentacles, and is the size of a long cucumber.
Each tentacle is covered in spikes which need to be carefully peeled.
The San will finally throw off thousands of years of oppression, poverty, social isolation and discrimination
Roger Chennells, lawyer
Inside is a slightly unpleasant-tasting, fleshy plant.
At about 1800hrs I ate about half a banana size - and later so did my cameraman.
Soon after, we began the four hour drive back to Capetown.
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.
I ate lunch but without appetite and very little pleasure. Partial then full appetite returned slowly after 24 hours.
The futureMr Chennells is ecstatic:
"The San will finally throw off thousands of years of oppression, poverty, social isolation and discrimination.
"We will create trust funds with their Hoodia royalties and the children will join South Africa's middle classes in our lifetime.
"I envisage Hoodia cafes in London and New York, salads will be served and the Hoodia cut like cucumber on to the salad.
"It will need flavoring to counter its unpleasant taste, but if it has no side effects and no cumulative side-effects."
The South African Cactus is known by many names. It is called xshoba or xhooba by the San Bushmen who have used it to treat indigestion, minor skin infections and as an appetite and thirst suppressant during long hunts. The scientific name is Hoodia Gordonii. It is actually a succulent so the names Hoodia cactus and South African desert cactus are actually misnomers, but they are commonly used. The plant resembles a cactus when seen growing wild in the Kalahari Desert.
There are problems associated with growing the South African Hoodia cactus for commercial purposes. First, logically, is temperature. In order to thrive the Hoodia cactus requires desert like temperatures. Second is time. It takes four or five years for the African Hoodia Gordonii cactus to reach full maturity. Quantities of the wild plant are extremely limited and are protected by the governments of South Africa from harvesting. Phytopharm, the first company to research the properties of the African hoodia cactus, has established plantations in South Africa, but will not begin to sell their patented product for at least a couple of years.
It is important to note that there are more than twenty different varieties of hoodia, but only Gordonii is believed to contain the natural appetite suppressant. Some companies may be selling products that are purported to contain the African hoodia cactus, but if it is not Hoodia Gordonii, then it may not work. As with all health supplements, it is best to buy hoodia products from a reputable company that sells a complete line of products. In addition, dieters are advised to remember to drink plenty of water since hoodia suppresses thirst, as well as appetite.
By any name, the African hoodia cactus is a beautiful plant. Flowers are pale purple and appear after the plant reaches maturity. Even though dieters would love to have a large immediate supply, it is important to protect the wild African hoodia cactus from over-harvesting, so that it can be enjoyed by future generations.
(CBS) Each year, people spend more than $40 billion on products designed to help them slim down. None of them seem to be working very well.
Now along comes hoodia. Never heard of it? Soon it'll be tripping off your tongue, because hoodia is a natural substance that literally takes your appetite away.
It's very different from diet stimulants like Ephedra and Phenfen that are now banned because of dangerous side effects. Hoodia doesn't stimulate at all. Scientists say it fools the brain by making you think you're full, even if you've eaten just a morsel. Correspondent Lesley Stahl reports.
"Hoodia, a plant that tricks the brain by making the stomach feel full, has been in the diet of South Africa's Bushmen for thousands of years."
Because the only place in the world where hoodia grows wild is in the Kalahari Desert of South Africa.
Nigel Crawhall, a linguist and interpreter, hired an experienced tracker named Toppies Kruiper, a local aboriginal Bushman, to help find it. The Bushmen were featured in the movie "The Gods Must Be Crazy."
Kruiper led 60 Minutes crews out into the desert. Stahl asked him if he ate hoodia. "I really like to eat them when the new rains have come," says Kruiper, speaking through the interpreter. "Then they're really quite delicious."
When we located the plant, Kruiper cut off a stalk that looked like a small spiky pickle, and removed the sharp spines. In the interest of science, Stahl ate it. She described the taste as "a little cucumbery in texture, but not bad."
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 a pang around mealtime. And, she also had no desire to eat or drink the entire day. "I'd have to say it did work," says Stahl.
Although the West is just discovering hoodia, the Bushmen of the Kalahari have been eating it for a very long time. After all, they have been living off the land in southern Africa for more than 100,000 years.
Some of the Bushmen, like Anna Swartz, still live in old traditional huts, and cook so-called Bush food gathered from the desert the old-fashioned way.
The first scientific investigation of the plant was conducted at South Africa's national laboratory. Because Bushmen were known to eat hoodia, it was included in a study of indigenous foods.
"What they found was when they fed it to animals, the animals ate it and lost weight," says Dr. Richard Dixey, who heads an English pharmaceutical company called Phytopharm that is trying to develop weight-loss products based on hoodia.
Was hoodia's potential application as an appetite suppressant immediately obvious?
"No, it took them a long time. In fact, the original research was done in the mid 1960s," says Dixey.
It took the South African national laboratory 30 years to isolate and identify the specific appetite-suppressing ingredient in hoodia. When they found it, they applied for a patent and licensed it to Phytopharm.
Phytopharm has spent more than $20 million so far on research, including clinical trials with obese volunteers that have yielded promising results. Subjects given hoodia ended up eating about 1,000 calories a day less than those in the control group. To put that in perspective, the average American man consumes about 2,600 calories a day; a woman about 1,900.
"If you take this compound every day, your wish to eat goes down. And we've seen that very, very dramatically," says Dixey.
But why do you need a patent for a plant? "The patent is on the application of the plant as a weight-loss material. And, of course, the active compounds within the plant. It's not on the plant itself," says Dixey.
So no one else can use hoodia for weight loss? "As a weight-management product without infringing the patent, that's correct," says Dixey.
But what does that say about all these weight-loss products that claim to have hoodia in it? Trimspa says its X32 pills contain 75 mg of hoodia. The company is pushing its product with an ad campaign featuring Anna Nicole Smith, even though the FDA has notified Trimspa that it hasn't demonstrated that the product is safe.
Some companies have even used the results of Phytopharm's clinical tests to market their products.
"This is just straightforward theft. That's what it is. People are stealing data, which they haven't done, they've got no proper understanding of, and sticking on the bottle," says Dixey. "When we have assayed these materials, they contain between 0.1 and 0.01 percent of the active ingredient claimed. But they use the term hoodia on the bottle, of course, so they -- does nothing at all."
But Dixey isn't the only one who's felt ripped off. The Bushmen first heard the news about the patent when Phytopharm put out a press release. Roger Chennells, a lawyer in South Africa who represents the Bushmen, who are also called "the San," was appalled.
"The San did not even know about it," says Chennells. "They had given the information that led directly toward the patent."
The taking of traditional knowledge without compensation is called "bio-piracy."
"You have said, and I'm going to quote you, 'that the San felt as if someone had stolen the family silver,'" says Stahl to Chennells. "So what did you do?"
"I wouldn't want to go into some of the details as to what kind of letters were written or what kind of threats were made," says Chennells. "We engaged them. They had done something wrong, and we wanted them to acknowledge it."
Chennells was determined to help the Bushmen who, he says, have been exploited for centuries. First they were pushed aside by black tribes. Then, when white colonists arrived, they were nearly annihilated.
"About the turn of the century, there were still hunting parties in Namibia and in South Africa that allowed farmers to go and kill Bushmen," says Chennells. "It's well documented."
The Bushmen are still stigmatized in South Africa, and plagued with high unemployment, little education, and lots of alcoholism. And now, it seemed they were about to be cut out of a potential windfall from hoodia. So Chennells threatened to sue the national lab on their behalf.
"We knew that if it was successful, many, many millions of dollars would be coming towards the San," says Chennells. "Many, many millions. They've talked about the market being hundreds and hundreds of millions in America."
In the end, a settlement was reached. The Bushmen will get a percentage of the profits -- if there are profits. But that's a big if.
The future of hoodia is not yet a sure thing. The project hit a major snag last year. Pharmaceutical giant Pfizer, which had teamed up with Phytopharm, and funded much of the research, dropped out when making a pill out of the active ingredient seemed beyond reach.
Dixey says it can be made synthetically: "We've made milligrams of it. But it's very expensive. It's not possible to make it synthetically in what's called a scaleable process. So we couldn't make a metric ton of it or something that is the sort of quantity you'd need to actually start doing something about obesity in thousands of people."
Phytopharm decided to market hoodia in its natural form, in diet shakes and bars. That meant it needed the hoodia plant itself.
But given the obesity epidemic in the United States, it became obvious that what was needed was a lot of hoodia - much more than was growing in the wild in the Kalahari. And so they came here.
60 Minutes visited one of Phytopharm's hoodia plantations in South Africa. They'll need a lot of these plantations to meet the expected demand.
Agronomist Simon MacWilliam has a tall order: grow a billion portions a year of hoodia, within just a couple of years. He admitted that starting up the plantation has been quite a challenge.
"The problem is we're dealing with a novel crop. It's a plant we've taken out of the wild and we're starting to grow it,' says MacWilliam. "So we have no experience. So it's different? diseases and pests which we have to deal with."
How confident are they that they will be able to grow enough? "We're very confident of that," he says. "We've got an expansion program which is going to be 100s of acres. And we'll be able - ready to meet the demand.
This could be huge, given the obesity epidemic. Phytopharm says it's about to announce marketing plans that will have meal-replacement hoodia products on supermarket shelves by 2008.
MacWilliam says these products are a slightly different species from the hoodia Stahl tasted in the Kalahari Desert. "It's actually a lot more bitter than the plant that you tasted," says MacWilliam.
The advantage is this species of hoodia will grow a lot faster. But more bitter? How bad could it be? Stahl decided to find out. "Not good," she says.
Phytopharm says that when its product gets to market, it will be certified safe and effective. They also promise that it'll taste good.
