Hoodia Gordonii is a cactus, which grows in South Africa. For centuries it was used as food – one of the oldest and most primitive tribes has used the stems of hoodia to remove the hunger. Raw hoodia was essential for people of this tribe as it helped them to perform long trips without suffering from hunger or thirst. The local tribes the people of which just like their ancestors continue to use hoodia say, that they’ve found no gordonii side effects. Notice, that it was used as food but not as a medical agent in South Africa. Hoodia appetite suppressant tricks your brain making you feel full even when you haven’t eaten enough food. So this could be the only side effect, as if you need to be really active, you may lack energy because despite feeling food you haven’t taken enough food. This is a source of great concern, as far as people suffering from eating disorders may use it improperly to reach a fast slimming. If not to take food, the body won’t get the essential nutrients. So here comes a warning, the following of which would make it safe to use hoodia. Children, pregnant or breastfeeding women shouldn’t use products with hoodia gordonii. Also it’s restricted among people with eating disorders and also among those with normal or lower than normal weight.

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Hoodia gordonii pills are well-known means of loosing weight today. It seems that everybody knows some basic information about it, still some questions may arise. For example, how did it happen that until recently nothing was heard about this weight loss product? Also you may have some doubts about its effectiveness, not knowing how it works. You would agree that every new product needs some time to confirm that it actually works. The same is true about Hoodia Gordonii appetite suppressant; it needs some time to make people believe in its effectiveness.

The main component of such pills is gordonii plant of South-African origin, which wonderful effects were discovered not so long ago. One of the oldest tribes of the Kalahari Desert called the Bushmen for centuries were eating the stems of this plant because of their ability to put aside hunger and thirst. Some giants of mass media have confirmed that hoodia reduces hunger and thirst making you feel full for a long time. Still it’s important to drink large amounts of water when using hoodia gordonii pills, as they remove thirst as well.

To achieve a better result of using this weight loss product, it’s a good idea to combine it with a healthy lifestyle. You need to inform your doctor that you are going to use hoodia gordonii appetite suppressant. Don’t be tricked by the abundance of hoodia advertising and before spending large sums of money on products containing extract of gordonii plant make sure it works for you. It’ll suit you in the best way if you can’t help but eat sweets and adhere to a healthy diet, helping to lose weight. But remember that during one month it’s safe to lose no more than four pounds, although it depends on how much you weigh at the time you start growing thinner. If all of these suggestions are observed, you’ll find it easy to lose weight.

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The active molecule of hoodia was discovered in the South-African national laboratory during some routine studies and was called P57. The patent on using this molecule in the product line was sold to Phytopharm – a Cambridgeshire bio-pharmaceutical company, and then Phytopharm sold the patent to the pharmaceutical giant Pfizer Corporation. The active P57 hoodia molecule of this cactus makes your brain to believe that you’ve eaten enough and feel hunger no more. Dr. Richard Dixey of Phytopharm has explained the work of P57 hoodia: inside a part of a brain called hypothalamus there are nerve cells sensible to glucose sugar, and P57 is about 10,000 times more active that glucose. So when this molecule gets to your body, these hypothalamus cells feel this substance, which is more active then glucose, and signal the brain that you’re full. How does hoodia work? The first tests of hoodia effects on animals were performed by Dixey – the animals which once ate any food stopped eating at all. Human tests lead to a wonderful success. Some volunteers were placed in a “phase 1 unit”, a place in some way like a prison, and for some time they could only eat, read and watch television. One group of volunteers were taking hoodia, another group was given placebo. The result was that the first group lowered the calorie intake by 1000 each day.

The San Bushmen is a depauperated and displaced tribe, people of which don’t realize the wonderful potential of using hoodia. If it’ll bring the expected profit, then 100,000 of Bushmen will become a very rich people due to the efforts made by the South-African lawyer Roger Chennells. As many of the Bushmen people drink a lot of alcohol, smoke marijuana and are really poor, not realizing the value of money, they would need a competent help to protect their money. In fact no one of the Bushmen has realized all the advantages of hoodia effects for people of the modern world. If you appeal to the numbers given by the British Heart Foundation, then you may clearly see all the possible market advantages of hoodia pill: 17% of men and 21% of women suffer from obesity, when 46% of men and 32% of women are overweight.

In order to receive evidence that hoodia actually works, BBC Two’s correspondent Tom Mangold drove into the Kalahari Desert to search for the cactus. There he found a plant, looked like a long cucumber with about 10 tentacles, which are covered with spikes. These spikes should be carefully stripped off in order to get a fleshy plant in some way unpleasant in taste. Tom Mangold was had a question – how does hoodia work? So he decided to try it himself. At about 6 p.m. Tom Mangold and his cameraman ate the half of a banana piece of this plant and began their trip back to Capetown. They felt good, what is more the plant gave them a feeling that everything is alright. They hadn’t a single thought about any food and felt like they’ve eaten a lot and were full. After coming to their hotel at about midnight, they as before didn’t feel like eating, so they simply went to bed without eating. In the morning the feeling of being full remained, so they didn’t eat breakfast, their appetite returned only in about 24 hours.

Roger Chennells thinks that, finally, the San Bushmen can forget about the years of oppression, poorness and discrimination. He plans to create trust funds, where percentage of hoodia gain would be kept. In this case, the Bushmen children will be able to join South-African middle classes during the lifetime of their parents. He imagines that in some time hoodia would be eaten like a cucumber – simply cut in salads. Of course, the taste of hoodia is not very pleasant, but it’s much more important that there’re no any side effects of using this plant as a supplement, and the unpleasant taste could be flavored somehow.

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As it has been already mentioned, African Hoodia Gordonii grows in Kalahari Desert, so there are certain problems in growing this plant for commercial uses. As you can guess, this plant requires a really high temperature in order to grow and develop, like in its native desert. Another problem is the fact that Hoodia Gordonii plant needs up to five years in order to reach the maturity. The quantities of wild plants are extremely limited and protected by the government of South Africa from reaping. The first company which started to use Hoodia Gordonii in the composition of its products (“Phytopharm”) has found a solution – it set up large plantations in South Africa and grows Hoodia there. Still, “Phytopharm” is not going to sell their products, which are protected by the rights laws, in the nearest years. There are many other companies offering various hoodia products, but you should know that there are over twenty different kinds of Hoodia plant and only Hoodia Gordonii produces a natural appetite suppression effect. So there are lots of various kinds of Hoodia products, produced by different companies, but if there’s no Hoodia Gordonii in their composition, then such products won’t have an effect of appetite suppression. So it’s better to choose a company with a good reputation which has a full line of products. Remember that along with appetite suppression Hoodia Gordonii leads to the suppression of thirst, that’s why it’s recommended to drink a lot of water when using it.

So Hoodia Gordonii plant has a wonderful effect and it’s no wonder that some people would like to have a large supply of it, still, it’s important to preserve the wild plants of African Hoodia Gordonii in order the future generations could enjoy the helpful effects of this plant.

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There are many kinds of Hoodia Cactus, but one of the most commonly used is Hoodia Gordonii Cactus. It’s known for its suppression of appetite. This plant was widely used by the people of the primitive tribe, which name is “Sans Bushmen”. The so-called “Council for Scientific and Industrial Research” (C.S.I.R.) is an institute, which during the 1990 performed a research of plants, eaten in the “Sans Bushmen”. They tried to find out what plants the people of that tribe were eating in order to protect themselves from toxic compounds. During the research Hoodia was found, which was not only non-toxic but at the same time was used to suppress the appetite of their animals. The C.S.I.R. has isolated the substance which produced the effect of the suppression of appetite. Thus, Hoodia Gordonii extract was isolated and called “P57”. “Phytopharm” – a British pharmaceutical company – has bought the rights of using “P57” in its products.

Still, not only “Phytopharm” produces supplements, including hoodia gordonii extract “P57” – you may find a lot of different companies selling Hoodia supplements. How can it be if only “Phytopharm” has the rights on using “P57”? The awareness of the existing patent laws will bring you the answer. In fact, only“Phytopharm” can isolate the active molecule, which is called “P57”, from Hoodia Gordonii Cactus and use it as hoodia gordonii appetite suppressant or other agent in their products. Still no one can buy the rights for using the plant itself, so Hoodia Gordonii Cactus is available for all companies, who want to use it in their supplements. So many other companies sell hoodia supplements on a legal basis.

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As Lesley Stahl (correspondent) reports, hoodia plant for centuries was used by the South-African tribe, known as Bushmen. They use it because of it being a natural appetite suppressant, which help them during the long trips. Originally, hoodia cactus only grows in the Kalahari Desert in South Africa. You may see the Bushmen in the film called “The Gods Must Be Crazy”. So, Nigel Crawhall, a linguist and interpreter, and Toppies Kruiper, a local man from the Bushmen, were hired in order to help with finding hoodia. They started their 60 minute journey into the desert. Kruiper have told, that hoodia is more delicious after the rains. After finding the hoodia plant, Kruiper cut off the stalk and removed the sharp thorns. Stahl tried to eat it and realized that its texture in some way resembles the cucumber. After eating it, Stahl found no side effects: he didn’t feel seek, the taste was alright, and his heart felt good as well. She felt the appetite suppressing effect on her own back: she didn’t feel hungry or thirsty for the whole day, even during her usual meal hours. So, she realized that hoodia plant is a natural appetite suppressant which actually works.

The first scientific research of hoodia cactus was performed by the national laboratory in South Africa. As long as hoodia was a usual food of the Bushmen it was studied along with other local foods. They noticed that animals which were fed with this cactus began to loose weight. Dr. R.Dixey is the head of an English pharmaceutical company named Phytopharm. The company is trying to develop hoodia supplements, which would help to lose weight. Dr. Dixey reports that the wonderful effects weren’t discovered at once, and the first research was held in 1960s. The national laboratory of South Africa spent 30 years in order to isolate the molecule which provides the appetite suppressing effect. Phytopharm have bought the rights for using this isolated molecule in its product line.

Phytopharm performed a study, which cost more than $20 million. They hired fat volunteers to try using Hoodia, and the results were really good: people who used hoodia ate about 1000 calories a day less than those who didn’t take hoodia. Compare it with the fact, that an average American man takes in about 2600 calories a day, and an average woman consumes about 1,900 calories. So it’s obvious that using hoodia supplements will considerably reduce the amounts of food taken a day.

As long as Phytopharm has bought the patent, can other companies use hoodia as a component of their weight-loss products? Actually, the patent is not on the plant itself, but only on its application as a weight-loss substance and the application of the active compounds of the plant. So it seems that no other companies except Phytopharm are able to use hoodia as a weight-managing substance without contravening the patent. Still some companies advertise their weight-managing products and don’t hide the fact that hoodia is used in their composition. For example, Trimspa speaks openly that its X32 product contains 75mg of hoodia. In spite of the fact that the FDA has informed Trimspa about the lack of evidence of the product being safe, Trimspa is marketing X32 and holds an advertising campaign featuring Anna Nicole Smith. What is more, some companies in the marketing of their products openly refer to the results of clinical tests, originally performed by Phytopharm. Dr. Dixey declares it to be a straightforward theft, as these companies refer to results which they haven’t got. What is more, they don’t have a clear understanding of hoodia and its effects. For example, Phytopharm examined the materials, which contained up to 0.1% of the active substance of hoodia, while other companies the whole bottle call hoodia.

Still, Dr. Richard Dixey is not the only one who felt he was robbed. Roger Chennells, a South-African lawyer who represents the Bushmen, was shocked by the news that Phytopharm have bought the patent on hoodia plant. He says that the Bushmen weren’t aware of it, they simply gave information and then the patent was sold. This act is called “bio-piracy”, as long as there was no compensation for the use of the traditional knowledge, so the Bushmen felt that something valuable was stolen from them. So some letters were written and some threads were made so that the fact of bio-piracy was acknowledged. Roger Chennells was the one to help the Bushmen, who were exploited for many years. At first, the black tribes have pushed them aside, and then white colonists almost destroyed the Bushmen. It’s a documented fact that even in the turn of the century farmers were allowed to kill the Bushmen in Namibia and South Africa. Nowadays the stigmatization of the Bushmen still appears in South Africa, so they are often not permitted to be employed, they have little education and suffer from alcoholism. Now it seems that an additional harassment was appended to their long oppression – they didn’t get even the smallest part of hoodia bunce. So, Chennells threatened to sue at law the national laboratory in order to protect the interests of the Bushmen. Finally, they have come to an agreement, that the Bushmen or the San, as they are also sometimes called, will get a share of the hoodia gain. Of course, if there will be any gain, because now it’s not clearly seen if hoodia will bring the gain of millions and millions of dollars.

Anyway, the future of hoodia plant use is still undecided. Last year the project met a huge obstacle. When the development of a pill containing the active ingredient of hoodia seemed impossible, Pfizer, a pharmaceutical giant which cooperated with Phytopharm and funded a large part of the research, have quitted. Still, Dixey says that a synthetic counterpart could be made. He reports that some milligrams of this synthetic counterpart have already been obtained. Still, they require a very expensive process which can’t be scaled, so it can’t be produced in really large amounts suitable for providing thousands of obese people with an appetite suppressing product. That’s the reason why Phytopharm decided to use a natural appetite suppressant isolated from hoodia cactus.

So, it’s obvious that now Phytopharm needed the hoodia itself. Taking into account the huge numbers of obese people in the USA, it was clearly seen that a lot of hoodia will be needed. The wild-growing plants in the Kalahari Desert couldn’t meet the needs in this plant. The answer was making a lot of hoodia plantations to provide Phytopharm with the necessary amounts of hoodia. Simon MacWilliam, an agronomist, was entrusted with this difficult task. He was to organize plantations, where billions of hoodia will be grown within just a few years. The main problem was the lack of experience, as it was a new plant which wasn’t ever cultivated. They were to take the wild plant and start growing it in huge amounts, without knowing it peculiarities and diseases which hoodia may suffer from. It’s a hardly reachable but possible task. Simon MacWilliam has in his disposal 100s of acres and he is sure to reach a success and meet the needs of Phytopharm.

Phytopharm has bold plans, according to which by 2008 hoodia natural products will appear on the shelves of the supermarkets. As long as it’s possible to say that America is going through the epidemics of overweight, hoodia supplements being natural means of the suppression of appetite would find a profitable place on the market. macWilliam says that the species they grow on the plantations are in some way different from those wild-growing. The species on the plantations grow much faster but taste bitter. It might be a problem, you may think. Still Phytopharm promises to supply really effective and success-brining products with a good taste. They’ll also be tested and certificated in order to prove their safety and effectiveness.

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