Hoodia information

Hoodia in the weight loss industry refers to an extract of the Hoodia plant. This extract is known for lowering blood pressure and for supressing apetite, and is used in more and more herbal products that either ment to treat blood pressure problems or used as a weight loss solution.

Hoodia refers to a circa 3feet high plant that grows mostly in deserted areas. Hoodia is NOT a cactus, however it looks like with its spikes/torns and just like a cactus does it stores water in it's stem (stem succulents). It is a member of the Apocynaceae family.

Because Hoodia is a protected plant by law (in most places) the extract most likely will come from greenhouse grown Hoodia plants that migh benefit quality and assure a contamination free product.

Hoodia uses

Hoodia can be used as an extract or consumed directly as a blood pressure lowering aid or as an apetite supressing agent. Its taste is not bad, but it's texture is not pleasand for many as it is something between a cucumber and some kind of squash. What will most likely keep you from eating it rare is the availability of the plant as it requires either professional greenhouse equipment and personnel, or a trip to the Kalahari Desert in South Africa.

Where Hoodia really shines is that it isn't a stimulant, so it has the potentional to be used on individuals with elevated blood pressure or cardiac problems. This property can be very important for the elderly or the obese, whose age or obesity is already causing elevated blood pressure or cardiac misbehaviour.

Hoodia can be used to suppress the apetite to the level, when an individual can eat 1000 calories less (based a normal diet), and while it sounds good for anyone, it works best with keeping a close eye on what the dieter eats.

In other words: Hoodia can give you an advantage by killing your apetite and making you feel full, but if you eat 200 sugar cubes dipped into lard for breakfast it WILL fail as any other supplement.

Notes on Hoodia

Using Hoodia or it's extract as a weight loss product is under patent, and some of the suppliers and manufacturers are ignoring that patent, using others expensive research studies as their selling advertisement.

We think, that a plant should not be patented under any circumstances, however we feel that using other's research dollars to sell a product without paying is not ethical. (as no plant should be banned from cultivation or use - e.g. hemp)

We also beleive, that buy purchasing any Hoodia containing product, the customer does not infringe any copyright laws, but if in doubt ask the manufacturer (or the merchant) and/or a lawyer.

Warnings and Hoodia precautions

As of today, the FDA did not approve Hoodia as a safe product. Actually the FDA does not have to approve herbal products at all (except explicitly banning it as it happened to Ma Huang) .

However know, that the Bushmen are eating this product for a long time without side effects or any known health problems, other than loss of apetite and loosing weight.

About Hoodia product ingredients

The active ingredient of Hoodia (P57) should be between 400mg and 750mg per dose (not capsule, as multiple capsules might be needed for a dose), so always pay attention to the strength of the product you are buying.

Fake Hoodia pills warning:

When you purchase an extract, you have to pay attention to it's ingredients, and dosage information, as well as rely on multiple reviews from multiple sizes. Also buy from stores that are established online, not from some spam with a throw-away email address at a public email provider.

Counterfeit Hoodia pills have been found before and will be found on the market. If you know a biologist or a pharmacist and buy Hoodia, take a pill and ask them to identify the ingredients. A tip: university students will probably find it a fun project and will be helpful.