The Rich History Of Hoodia Gordonii

In the last few years, the weight-loss industry has been abuzz with promise, as a new and tested appetite-suppressing supplement made its way through the market's shelves, and showed great promise in effectively fighting obesity and overeating.

The wonder product, known as Hoodia Gordonii, has been heavily marketed and praised by critics and experts for potent weight loss properties, and thus has become immensely popular today. And though there has always been a high demand for diet and weight loss pills, especially after the FDA’s ban on the drug ephedra, the alternative herbal supplement market was particularly ripe for the entry of the next new diet product.

From The Desert Regions Of Southern Africa To Western Markets

A large segment of the supplement's ever-increasing popularity stems from many claims, which have been proven, that native San Bushmen in the Kalahari desert of southern Africa have relied on Hoodia for centuries, to ward off hunger and thirst during long hunting trips. They were said to have cut off the stem and eat the bitter-tasting plant. This cactus-like plant often grows in clumps of green upright stems.

The supplement derived from the cactus-like plant is now sold in Western markets in either capsule, powder, liquid, or tea form in many health shops and on a lot of many Internet health supplement shops. The plant's components are also found in the popular diet pill Trimspa. Despite the supplement’s popularity, there are no published or controlled clinical or lab trials done in humans to indicate that the drug is safe or effective in pill form.

What Major Studies Have Analyzed The Supplement

In one major study that was published in the September 2004 issue of Brain Research Magazine, it was revealed that that injections of p57 into the appetite-controlling part of rat brains resulted in altered levels of ATP, an energy molecule that may affect hunger.

The animals receiving the P57 injections also ate less than rats that received placebo injections. However, this was an animal study and injections in the brain are different from oral consumption, so it cannot be used to show that the product in oral form can suppress appetite in humans.

The supplement's initial maker, Phytopharm has cited a clinical trial involving 18 human volunteers that noted a reduction in food intake by about 1000 calories per day for the group fed with Hoodia, as compared to a placebo group. Though this may sound intriguing at those times, the study wasn't published or subjected to a peer-review process, therefore the study's quality and full essence cannot yet be evaluated.

History Of Hoodia's Development

In 1937, a Dutch anthropologist went on a journey to South Africa , where he began a study on the San Bushmen and how they used the plant hoodia to effectively suppress appetites and ward of hunger during famine. Then in 1963, researchers at South Africa's Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), began analyzing the plant's samples.

They also revealed that laboratory animals lost weight after they were given components of the plant, particularly the flowers. The South African team, teaming up with a British company named Phytopharm, began to isolate what they believed to be an active ingredient in the plant, which is a steroidal glycoside named p57. After obtaining a patent in early 1995, p57 was licensed to Phytopharm, and eventually the pharmaceutical firm.spent more than $20 million on additional research.

After further testing and research , established drug maker Pfizer began to learn more about the plant's potentials, and began to express interest in co-developing a supplement. So, in 1998, the British firm sub-licensed the rights to develop p57 to Pfizer for an estimated $21 million. Eventually, Pfizer lost interest in developing it alone, and gave back the Hoodia rights to Phytopharm, who is now working with another major pharmaceutical firm, Unilever.


Vanessa Arellano Doctor
http://hoodiastore.org