Proper Facts About Hoodia Gordonii And Weight Loss
Hoodia Gordonii is often mistakenly referred as a cactus. This is one indication of a scam site that hasn’t done its research. It certainly looks like a cactus and is even prickly but it is in fact a succulent growing ONLY in the arid desert of the Kalahari. Not Mexico and China as some would have us believe.
The properties of Hoodia Gordoni have been known by the San of the Kalahari for thousands of years. Obviously not as a weight loss product but as a natural appetite suppressant for their long forays whilst hunting in the food starved stretches of the Kalahari and beyond.
A molecule in Hoodia Gordonii named P57 was found to have remarkable properties in suppressing appetite. In our body as we eat our glucose level increases. Once this reaches a certain level of blood sugar the brain fires back at the body saying “Whoa, enough of that I’m full”. P57 mimicks this response by fooling the brain into thinking our glucose levels are high.
The huge significance of Hoodia Gordonii as a weight loss product was realized and a company called Phytopharm who patented the P57 molecule shook hands on a multi million dollar deal with the pharmaceutical goliath Pfizer to manufacture and synthesize the active ingredients in Hoodia Gordonii to be used as a weight loss product.
In 2002 Pfizer stopped all research due to the difficulty of isolating certain chemicals from P57 which are harmful to the human liver. It was going to be cost prohibitive to develop a drug that would meet with the US FDA approval.
Here’s the thing, Hoodia Gordonii has never been scientifically proven to be beneficial to weight loss. There have been some clinical trials but it would appear that as soon as the cost analysis on the final product was done these all stopped.
Lack of scientific evidence has not prevented enterprising weight loss and dietary supplements companies from marketing their products as containing Hoodia Gordonii. There have been and still are lawsuits against firms where there products have contained no Hoodia Gordonii whatsoever. Another problem you have is that a weight loss pill may well contain Hoodia but if it’s the outer leaves and skin it is useless. Only the internal fibres of the plant are used by the San to stave off hunger.
The biggest loser in the Hoodia hype has been the smallest players – the San people of the Kalahari. When PhytoPharm sold the P57 patent to Pfizer, the San tribe were completely unaware of the multi-million dollar deal.
Hoodia Gordonii is now a protected plant, that may only be harvested from its natural habitat in the Kalahari Desert by the individuals who live there and a small handful of companies who have been issued a harvesting license.
Perhaps the Hoodia story is just another example of exploitation of an indigenous tribe, whilst others believe that the victory exacted by the San people over the giant pharmaceuticals is justice.
There is documented video freely available showing Hoodia Gordonii being independently tested by world class reporters, for example Lesley Stahl from 60 Minutes and Tom Mangold of the BBC who both journeyed to the Kalahari to ascertain the facts of the new “weight loss wonder drug”. Each independently reported that after chewing Hoodia Gordonii they felt no hunger. As we all know the media giants would jump all over what they found to be false information.
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Tom Mangold’s Hoodia Gordonii Story can be read here. Squidoo Information on Hoodia Gordonii Weight Loss is here.A Hoodia Blog Is Here
