Hoodia Gordonii: Miracle Appetite Suppressant? Or Blatant Money Grab?

Hoodia Gordonii is one of the most hyped diet products on the 'net. Containing a miracle ingredient (labeled P57 by scientists), Hoodia has been presented to consumers as the ultimate appetite suppressant and the end to obesity. While this all sounds wonderful, the reality is somewhat different. Let's get to the bottom of things by taking a closer look at Hoodia...

First of all, what the heck is Hoodia?

Hoodia Gordonii is a succulent (a cactus of the aloe family) found in the Kalahari desert of South Africa. Stories are spreading about how the native Kalahari bushmen would use this cactus to stave off hunger on long trips through the desert. Many Hoodia retailers are correlating the Kalahari bushmen's nonexistent obesity rate with the consumption of this cactus. In fact, it has more to do with being dirt poor and living in a harsh desert environment with nary a McDonald's or Kentucky Fried Chicken restaurant in sight.

Hoodia does show some promise though. As I mentioned, scientists isolated the molecule responsible for Hoodia's appetite suppressing characteristics. This molecule, called P57, is now under development by a company called PhytoPharm. At one time P57 was licensed to U.S. pharmaceutical giant Pfizer for development. Pfizer bailed on Hoodia, though, and discontinued clinical development of P57 in 2003.

Much has been made of PhytoPharm's clinical study, indicating the amazing appetite suppressing effects of Hoodia's amazing P57 molecule (click here for PhytoPharm's press release).

Unfortunately, this study has never been published... a serious blow to the credibility of the effectiveness of Hoodia.

In December 2004, PhytoPharm teamed up with Unilever (who owns SlimFast, Knorr, and Hellman's, among other things), and committed to bringing the active P57 molecule to the market within three years. Unilever will be contributing $21 million to the project.

One of the biggest problems with the Hoodia products currently available is that most contain very little, if any, of the active ingredient needed to suppress hunger. Real Hoodia is very difficult to come by. Additionally, Hoodia has only demonstrated effectiveness in fresh, raw pieces of the plant. The effectiveness of powdered Hoodia has yet to be demonstrated.

In South Africa, Hoodia is on the endangered list of plants. Believe it or not, Hoodia is not even supposed to be exported. Of course, that begs the question...

Is there any Hoodia in my Hoodia?

Hoodia is sold under the following labels... Desert Burn, Mega Hoodia, HoodiaSpa, Slim Cactus, Afrigetics, Hoodia Slim, and Hoodoba. I'm currently experimenting with Fat Destroy&# (ahhh... I better not say too much or else I could get threatened again with a lawsuit). Anyway, their formula claims to contain 750 mg of Hoodia per serving. So far, I've noticed no effects at all.

Bottom line? Hoodia shows some promise, but we'll have to wait for a couple of years until Phytopharm and Unilever release the "real deal." Current products are highly suspect, and I'd recommend giving them a miss.

Have you used Hoodia? Tell us what you think! (Don't forget to let us know if we can use your comments on the Web site!).

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