How Does Hoodia Work?

Like many subjects relating to the human body, the question; how does hoodia work is still being studied. Many scientists agree that it does work as an appetite suppressant and on-going clinical trials are mostly concerned with issues concerning dosages, drug interactions and other factors affecting positive results. The connection between a portion of the brain called the hypothalamus, hoodia gordonii and appetite was made by scientists at Brown University. The San of southern Africa knew nothing about the affect that hoodia had on the brain. They only knew that it alleviated their hunger and thirst.

Scientists at the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research were not much concerned about how does hoodia work. They were evaluating what is called “bush food” to determine toxicity and possibly for use as food or drugs. The hypothalamus hoodia connection was not made at this time. They did discover that animals which were given an extract of hoodia gordonii lost weight, but the weight loss did not appear to be due to any toxic affect. At that time they were able to identify what they believed to be the active molecule in hoodia gordonii and named it p57.

Research and clinical studies by Phytopharm and later Pfizer which began in 1995 did not address the issue of how does hoodia work, but does hoodia work. Phytopharm performed a double blind (meaning that neither administrators nor participants know who is receiving a placebo and who is receiving the actual extract) study of overweight volunteers in 2001. After two weeks, those persons who had been given the extract had reduced their caloric intake and lost body fat. Phytopharm does not mention anything about the hypothalamus, hoodia gordonii’s affect on the nerve cells of the hypothalamus or the role played by the hypothalamus in appetite.

Finally in 2004, someone addressed the issue of how does hoodia work. A study at Brown Medical School, in which the p57 molecule was isolated from hoodia gordonii, created the hypothalamus hoodia link. A study group of rats was injected with the p57 molecule while a control group was injected with placebo. After 24 hours there was an increase in ATP (an important neurotransmitter and cell energy source) in hypothalamic neurons of 50-150% and a decrease in food intake of 40-60% in the study group. While the control group was fed a low calorie diet for four days and exhibited a decrease of ATP in the hypothalamus of 30-50%. The control group was then injected with the hoodia extract and the decrease was blocked. Interpreting the hypothalamus, hoodia and ATP results in simplest terms; this study indicates that the part of the brain responsible for feelings of hunger, thirst and many other things temporarily blocks the hunger and thirst sensations and relays a sense of fullness, because hoodia gordonii causes an increase in ATP, which normally decreases when food intake is reduced. This is the best explanation we have yet of how does hoodia work. It is often hard to determine exactly how a chemical compound works in the human body and this is no exception.

For more information about the hypothalamus hoodia link, visit the Hoodia Info Blog.

Patsy Hamilton is an editor of the Hoodia Info Blog. Visit us at http://hoodiainfo.blogspot.com.

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