Hoodia's Effectiveness in weightloss

The plant Hoodia known scientifically as, Hoodia gordonii is a miracle weight loss cure. With all "miracle cures," however, the truth is somewhat more nuanced. To answer the Effectiveness of Hoodia, we need to first look at how Hoodia works.

In theory, Hoodia works by tricking the brain, mainly the hypothalamus as a result, the brain tells that you are full and you have consumed large amounts of food. P57 the active ingredient present in Hoodia, is responsible for this. The food you intake is broken down into sugar. The sensors in hypothalamus recognize the sugar in your body, and it stops the desire to eat. P57 is 10,000 more powerful than blood sugar (glucose). Without eating any food, P57 can make your brain to think you have consumed large amount of food

To test the effectiveness of Hoodia, in 1990 Phytopharm a UK based pharmaceutical company studied 18 morbidly obese volunteers; half of them were given genuine hoodia gordonii and the other half was given a placebo.

The supplement or the placebo was given to the volunteers for a total of 15 days. Those who were given hoodia ate less food, which were 1,000 less calories each day than before. These volunteers made no other changes, they did not increase their daily exercise, and they were unaware of the effect produced by hoodia on their appetite. They experienced a natural appetite reduction without their effort.

Experts point out that the study was too small and not reviewed to give any conclusive answers. In addition to this study there have been very few studies to answer this question. Most of the evidence for the effects of hoodia is anecdotal.

Answering the question, is hoodia effective, we must first look at the supplements. The supplements which contain 100% pure genuine hoodia gordonii can reduce the weight.Many supplements in market which claim to have 100% pure hoodia gordonii normally contain little or no hoodia gordonii at all.

Hoodia gordonii supplements, like all other supplements, are unregulated. Companies that sell hoodia gordonii supplements can say anything they want about their product’s effectiveness. The consumer, have to Check the ingredients label of any hoodia product you are considering before purchasing. In order for hoodia gordonii supplements to be effective it must contain 100% pure genuine hoodia.

The way to determine if hoodia gordonii supplements contain 100% pure hoodia gordonii is to look for a CITES certificate on the company's website. CITIES certificates are granted by the South African government (where hoodia gordonii is imported from) and have only been given to a few companies to sell hoodia. The companies selling hoodia supplements display their CITIES certificate in their website. Be aware of fakes! They can usually be easily spotted as the information on the certificate will be blurred or whited out. Real CITIES certificates will display clearly all the information.

Is hoodia effective? Possibly. There are only very few studies that say yes and if it does, the correct way to answer the question, the effectiveness of hoodia is to try it yourself and see what results you get.


Suga vanash is a writer and researcher for health-advice organization. He writes informative articles for hoodia weight loss subject. For more information on hoodia visit Hoodia Ripfast Nutrition