Weight Loss With Pure Hoodia
Studies on Hoodia Gordonii have been conducted by the CSIR in South Africa due to its known use within the San tribe as a hunger suppressant. The plant is a succulent, cactus-like plant that grows in the wild in the Kalahari desert that the indigenous tribe of South Africa would eat during long hunting expeditions to suppress their hunger and thirst.
The CSIR (South Africa Research Institute) managed to discover the active ingredient and isolate it, naming it P57 and having it patented in 1997, eventually passing the rights and the patent on to Phytopharm, a British company seeking to study and sell the plant in 1998. Given a double-blind test, participants of a Phytopharm-based study who took the plant (in powder form, taking 400mg per day) saw a reduction in their calorie intake by up to 1,000 calories in comparison to those who were not taking the drug. Due to patent infringements, Phytopharm is still required to market the plant as a food supplement as opposed to a weight loss aid.
Teaming up with Pfizer in the United Staets, Phytopharm and Pfizer were capable of producing the P57 active ingredient synthetically. Due to economic issues, Pfizer backed out of the partnership in 2004.
The synthetic Hoodia alternatives helped foster a new company, a trademark-named “Pure Hoodia”. Pure Hoodia legally imports all of their Hoodia Gordonii from South Africa, where it was farmed by private farm owners. They then create capsules with 400mg of their Pure Hoodia Gordonii, and recommend users take one or two capsules about an hour prior to eating. Unlike some companies who labeled the weight loss pill as a drug, Pure Hoodia opts to refer to their product as a dietary supplement, and an all-natural one at that.
Consumers must be careful about what they get into, however. With Pfizer no longer interested in creating the synthetic P57, and the fact that it takes five years for the plant to mature to a point of being usable makes Hoodia hard to get a hold of. To make matters worse, the limited wild supply of Hoodia is being restricted of its export by CITES. This makes getting Hoodia extremely difficult, so be careful what you buy.
Furthermore, consumers must question the integrity of the studies conducted by the various drug companies. An independent consumers guide, Truth Publishing, accused Pure Hoodia of having poorly conducted tests. These accusations stated that when “Alkanist Pharmaceuticals” tested Pure Hoodia’s product, the identiy of Hoodia Gordonii could not be identified, and that there cannot be 400mg of actual Hoodia in Pure Hoodia. Furthermore, they accused Pure Hoodia of having two other identities, Hoodini and Slimtron, and selling similar products under alternate branding.
All in all, it’s important to watch what you buy and to be cautious about buying from untrusted sources. Be cautious in your decisions!
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