Hoodia > Hoodia and Anatrim - Fact or Fiction?

Hoodia and Anatrim - Fact or Fiction?

Copyright 2006 Jonni Good

Lately our email boxes have been filled with come-on's for a weight-loss product called Anatrim, which appears to contain (or claims to contain) extracts from the Hoodia gordonii plant, a suculent that grows naturally in South Africa.

The emails claim that Hoodia will help you lose weight without any unwanted side effects. There may be some truth to this claim about Hoodia itself, but the products that claim to contain Hoodia may not do you any good.

If you watched Leslie Stahl eat a bit of hoodia in the Kalihari Desert
on 60 Minutes, you know that this plant
may actually contain a compound that suppresses the appetite. However, the active ingredient in Hoodia gordonii is patented, and it is not legal at this time for any company to sell Hoodia in a weight loss product except for the patent's owner. That company isn't ready
to sell Hoodia for weight loss, and probably will not have a product available until 2008.

However, there are products on the market at this time that claim to contain Hoodia, including the one called Anatrim. The hoodia patent owner, Phytopharm, claims that these products contain such a small amount of the active ingredient that they are essentially worthless.

Hoodia is a desert plant that grows sparsely in one of the most brutal environments on earth.

It is highly unlikely that any of the companies now selling Hoodia weight loss products could ever pick or produce enough of the spiky little plants to fill all those bottles of weight loss pills. Phytopharm's own hoodia farm in South Africa looks sparse indeed, and these slow-growing succulents can't possibly yield high returns without many months of patient cultivation.

The real product, containing useful quantities of the active ingredient in hoodia, (and not just the word 'hoodia' on a label), should be on the market in 2008. With no side effects, no addiction, no heart racing, no deaths - this could be the 'miracle cure' that will cure the obesity epidemic. We just need to be patient.

Even if the Anatrim folks had found a fast and easy way to grow lots of Hoodia, and even if the product worked, (which may be doubtful), there's another reason to wait for the product from Phytopharm. This company has signed an agreement with the San people, who are the first to use the plant as an appetite suppressant, and on whose ancestral land the plant traditially grows.

They will receive a portion of the profits from the sale of Hoodia products sold by Phytopharm.

The San of the Kalahari have been eating this cactus-like plant for centuries. The scarcity of food in the desert is the likely cause of the Bushman's thin figure, but an appetite-suppressing plant would have big advantages to people who must often do without food during times of scarcity. It is ironic that the same plant could now be offering a lifeline to a world suffering from too much food.

But does it work? Apparently it does. A study was done in 2001 for Phytopharm. The study included overweight but otherwise healthy volunteers using an extract of Hoodia gordonii.

The study found that large doses of Hoodia gordonii extract caused a statistically significant reduction in the average daily calorie intake and a reduction in body fat content compared to the placebo group after two weeks.

So there we have it - it appears that Hoodia gordonii extract really does have the ability to reduce our appetites and help us lose excess fat, but the products currently claiming to contain Hoodia may be ineffective. We will have to wait until 2008 to see if the real MacCoy really works as promised.
.

Jonni is the author of a Weight Loss: How to Keep Your Commitment, which helps you break your sugar addiction and lose weight naturally. http://www.howtothinkthin.com For more information about Hoodia and other quick weight loss products, see Jonni's website at http://www.stress-free-weight-loss.com

What Is Hoodia?

Hoodia has been used by South African Bushmen as an appetite suppressant and thirst quencher during long hunting trips for more than 100,000 years. It was discovered during a study of indigenous foods by a lab in South Africa, and may represent a great opportunity for the South African economy as well as a diet miracle for many who have given up on other weight loss products. Hoodia is a succulent cactus?like plant, with stalks that look like spiky pickles. However, it does not belong to the cactus family. Hoodia plants grow up to about 1m tall, with large strong smelling flowers in the wild of the Kalahari Desert in South Africa.

They are known to the indigenous people as Xhoba.

Hoodia Gordonii is the species that is being researched for its appetite suppressant properties. There are other Hoodia species, some of which are grown in gardens, but only Hoodia Gordonii is thought to contain the active ingredient, Hoodia P57.

The diet industry is a billion...

What Is Hoodia?

Hoodia > What Is Hoodia?

Hoodia Buying Information

There are many Hoodia products on the market these days and of course you want the best Hoodia product for you and your diet. Before you buy Hoodia and spend your hard earned dollars you need to know some facts.South African Hoodia Gordonii is where it all started and when the authentic extract comes from. Do not buy anything that is not pure Hoodia Gordonii or you will simply be wasting your money. You may see some Hoodia products that are 20:1 or does not show you the exact contents. These are products to stay away from.

You need to be buying products that display full information and that you know you can track back to it's original producer in South Africa. Many people have bought Hoodia products only to find out that it is mostly rice products. Most Hoodia Gordonii sold on the internet are nothing but products filled with an unidentified product. It could be starch, rice powders and in somecase people have even discovered sawdust. This is just outright fraud.In recent years...

Hoodia Buying Information

Hoodia > Hoodia Buying Information

New Hoodia Label Makes A Lot of Sense

(ContentDesk) October 26, 2005 -- As soon as Hoodia Gordonii was recognised as being a potent natural aid to help with weight loss, the major herbal manufacturers started to bring various Hoodia based supplements to the market.Then, as interest grew, major US and UK television stations ran documentaries about Hoodia, resulting in dozens of "smaller players" springing to life, producing their own "mini-branded" products.As competition has grown, some facts have been marketed as fiction, with some fiction, being marketed as Hoodia fact.One of the challenges the Hoodia consumer faces today, is deciphering the fact from the fiction, and so make an informed choice about the best product to buy.As the Hoodia supplements marketplace has become intense, the latest hype surrounds the required Hoodia dosage size, with some brands launching 750mg, 1000mg, and even 1250mg size tablets.As impressive as that sounds, the larger supplements allow little room for the consumer to find the right dosage...

New Hoodia Label Makes A Lot of Sense

Hoodia > New Hoodia Label Makes A Lot of Sense

Hoodia: Call it Gift of Magi for Obese

Deep Kalahari Desert is the mystical place to the external world. The climate is very predictable hot very hot most unsuitable for the survival of human being.
But few tribes have been living there since time immemorial. What do they eat in such an extreme climate where vegetation is extinct? They primarily depend on hunting of animals found in desert. They have to go deep in the desert for hunting and this expedition can take a whole day.

How do they control their appetite in the desert? Hoodia is the answer to this question; it is a succulent plant which is found there and has the qualities of a powerful appetite suppressor. The plant looks like cactus as its leaves are turned into spines.

It is a well known fact that obesity can be cured with the help of a proper appetite suppressor. The proper appetite suppressor means a medication which has high efficacy in curbing appetite and it doesn't pose the user's body to any side-effect. Phytopharm found...