Hoodia is a prickly plant called a succulent, which closely resembles the
cactus family. Bearing large odorous blooms, the hoodia plant has been used for ages by the San tribe of South Africa. The San people, also commonly known as bushmen, use hoodia by chewing on the root during long desert trips.
The appetite suppressant qualities of the hoodia plant were discovered by
the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research, or CSIR, in 1996. The
CSIR were performing a study of the natural foods eaten by the bushmen and
happened to discover the amazing potential the hoodia plant offered
regarding weight loss. Hoodia was first tested by being fed to animals, who
lost weight after eating it.
In 1997, the Council was able to isolate the specific ingredient found in
hoodia that caused the weight loss. They licensed the patent for this
ingredient to the Phytopharm company, who named it P57. Currently
Phytopharm is working to develop energy bars and drinks than contain hoodia.
These products are estimated to hit the market in 2008.
Currently the only real hoodia legally available is grown by the San people
in South Africa, who receive compensation from all sales of their hoodia
plants. If you purchase hoodia that comes from anywhere else, it is not
guaranteed to be authentic or effective, and may even be illegal or
counterfeit.
The hoodia plant works by tricking the brain into thinking it’s full. This
occurs in the part of the brain called the hypothalamus. The effects on the
brain are similar to those of glucose, only 10,000 times more effective!
You can find hoodia gordonii available in several different forms such as
capsule, spray, liquid, and patch. What you choose depends on your own
preferred method of hoodia ingestion.
When added to a healthy diet and regular exercise, extracts of the hoodia
plant can be an extremely effective way to decrease hunger, speed the
metabolism and lose weight.
Gary Stephens is known as the king of diet products. After losing over 60lbs with the use of certain diet products, he now writes informative articles and reviews of popular weight loss methods. To learn more about Hoodia please see [http://www.hoodiahaven.com]
