Hoodia gordonii is a plant that is grown in the desserts of South Africa. It has been known for centuries by the local population to be an effective appetite and thirst suppressant which can be a very helpful tool when you are trying to lose weight. Hoodia comes in capsule, liquid, soft chew, and even tea form and is readily available at health food stores and online. Hoodia isn’t a brand, it’s an ingredient so you have many brands to choose from, just make sure that you find a brand that has only pure hoodia and check the concentration since it can range from 250 mg all the way up to 1,000 mg per tablet and that is one factor that can cause a variation in hoodia results.
There are approximately 20 varieties of hoodia but the appetite suppressant is only found in the hoodia gordonii which is often referred to as a cactus, but in reality it is a succulent and can take up to 5 years to mature and be harvested.
In all the years that it has been sold as a diet supplement, there have been no signs of any negative side effects associated with the consumption of hoodia, and if you look at the bushman of Africa who have been eating the plant for centuries with no ill effects it would seem to suggest that this is a safe diet supplement. It’s important to remember that one of the side effects is also a decrease in thirst so make sure you drink plenty of water throughout your day, even if you don’t feel thirsty.
There haven’t been many studies done to ascertain the true effectiveness of hoodia. The only one that I have been able to find took 18 subjects and divided them into two groups, one group received a hoodia supplement and the other a placebo. After 15 days the group who was given the hoodia had lost weight and were eating an average of 1,000 calories per day less than those taking the placebo.
There was also a test done on rats which injected the hoodia directly into their brains with the effect being a reduction in the amount they ate. That study has to be taken with a grain of salt since it was performed on rats and since the hoodia was directly injected into their brains rather than administered via pill form as would be the case for humans.
While there is no real substantiated medical proof that hoodia is an effective diet aid, the anecdotal evidence, while not scientific, would seem to suggest a correlation between hoodia intake and a reduction in appetite. The bottom line is this: even if there is limited scientific study that backs up the claims of what hoodia can do, there is also a lack of evidence suggesting it can be harmful so what have you go to lose? Why not give it a try for yourself and you can find out what hoodia results you get… which is all that really matters anyway!