History And Safety Of The Hoodia Gordonii Appetite Suppressant

     Hoodia Gordonii is a well known appetite suppressant that has gained a lot of publicity over the last couple of years. This was caused by its discovery rather than creation in a laboratory, and by the fact that many movie stars and other celebrities have used it to quickly shift their weight for new movies or for personal reasons.

Hoodia Gordonii is also different than most fat burners or weight loss pills. What sets Hoodia apart from other weight loss solutions is that is is not a metabolism booster that increases heart rate to make you more active and burn more calories. Hoodia wont make your heart beat fast like many products that contain Ephedra will.

Hoodia Gordonii is also appealing to people trying to lose weight because it can be bought without prescription and it does not require a major shift in your lifestyle. You can still eat what you like and lose as much as a few pounds per week.

How Appetite Suppressants Work

By being an appetite suppressant, Hoodia Gordonii has the ability to produce a feeling of fullness, that is, it causes you to not be hungry. Hoodia Gordonii is the only one of 13 Hoodia plant species that exhibits this property for humans. The modern world recently discovered the Hoodia Gordonii plant which grows natively in several ares areas of Southern Africa.

The Hoodia Gordonii plant however, only grows in Namibia. The plants have long been eaten by the native tribe of the San Bushmen of Southern Africa. This plant has been considered by nutritionists, body builders, movie stars, and even Oprah as a miracle plant, and has a wide range of uses from healing indigestion and several types of stomach problems, to curing minor infections.

History

These plants have been used by these indigenous people for more than twenty five thousand years. The story goes that the stems of the plant always helped them survive without hunger for long hours or days as they went on hunting expeditions.

These people have long taken this plant to fight against the craving for food and water, and it has always been effective for them. The local people of South Africa also claim that this plant also gives people a surge of vitality, and the general sensation of feeling good.

How Hoodia Gordonii Stops Hunger Cravings

The Hoodia Gordonii, when consumed in raw form or in pill form as is normaly consumed worldwide, has proven to be an effective aid in natural weight loss. The active appetite suppressing molecule named P57 acts on the part of the brain called the hypothalamus, which serves as the brains hunger center.

P57 tricks the hypothalamus into thinking that a person has already eaten, and thus feelings of hunger or thirst occur less often, so people tend to eat and drink less. It is plain and simple that when you take in less food than you burn, you will loss weight. Remember to drink plenty of water as you may even more dehydrated than normal as Hoodia will banish all thoughts of eating or drinking.

Research

The Hoodia Gordonii plant has been studied for its properties for more than thirty years. Over the last five years, the active ingredient in Hoodia Gordonii extract called P57 was isolated and through a deal with Pfizer, it has been commercialized into food supplements in liquid, pill, patch, and even chewing gum form.

The SANL (South African Natural Library) was the first agency to research and eventually apply for a patent on Hoodia Gordonii, in 1977. The SANL gave all rights to commercialize Hoodia to a British company names Phytopharm.

Later that same year, Phytopharm conducted several pre-clinical trials which showed positive results. The successful testing resulted in their first anti-obesity formula which was tested in real clinical trials on patients. The results showed that 70% of all patients reached their weight loss goals in the trial period. Phytopharm soon worked with Phizer to commercialize their new formula to the United States and worldwide.

In 1999, A new research facility and plantation was started in South South Africa to conduct ongoing testing and clinical research to understand more about the appetite suppressing compounds inside Hoodia Gordonii. By far the biggest problem for researchers at Pfizer and Phytopharm was to isolate the compound in Hoodia Gordonii, to create a successful appetite suppressant product.

However many independent herbalists say that Hoodia Gordonii is safest when taken in its pure form, and unknown side effects can occur from taking just the isolated P57 compound.

Side Effects And Safely

The effects of commercial supplements created from either the isolated compound or from the pure Hoodia Gordonii plant extracts commonly relate to those experienced by the original San tribesmen. So far, no side effects have been reported from taking Hoodia Gordonii such as nausea, disorientation, weakness, and depression.

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