Hoodia Gordonii Diet

Hoodia gordonii dietary supplement marketers have a powerful presence on the internet. Many hoodia products purport to be "100 percent pure" or flagrantly make claims that, by law, only prescription weight loss drugs can make. Hoodia gordonii, a relatively obscure succulent native to Africa, gets a lot of press -- but there's still no evidence to suggest that it works to curb your appetite.

History

According to Drugs.Com, hoodia gordonii has been mentioned in ethnobotanical reports that date back as far as 1796; however, its effects as an appetite suppressant were first documented in 1937. Hoodia, also called xhoba, was used by the San Bushman who lived in the Kalahari Desert. These nomadic hunters ate the stems of the plant prior to going on long hunts in areas where food wasn't readily available. Drugs.Com states that hoodia gordonii was first studied for its appetite-suppressing properties in the early 1960s. A British pharmaceutical company called Phytopharm purchased a license from the South Africa Council for Scientific and Industrial Research in 1997 to develop the active ingredient in hoodia into a diet aid.

Effects

The active constituent in hoodia that's believed to affect your appetite is a molecule called P57, says Drugs.Com. According to Phytopharm scientists, P57 makes you think you're full even if you haven't eaten. It also decreases your interest in eating and protracts the time between meals before you feel hungry again. According to an April 2005 article in "The New York Times," there are no published clinical studies on how hoodia gordonii affects humans. The results of one unpublished, two-week study indicate that nine men who took P57 experienced a decrease in appetite and weight loss compared to a same-size group that took a placebo; however, the Times points out that because the study isn't published in a reputable journal, its methodology cannot by scrutinized by other scientists.

Expert Insight

Hoodia gordonii dietary supplements are marketed and sold as a weight loss aid in the United States; however, Mayo Clinic internist Brent A. Bauer indicates that there's no solid proof that they work. Additionally, hoodia dietary supplements are not approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration as a weight loss drug. By law, manufacturers cannot purport that the supplements will cause you to lose weight. Bauer indicates that the FDA has issued warnings to several hoodia gordonii dietary supplement sellers for making unsubstantiated claims about their products.

Cautions

The safety of hoodia dietary supplements is also of concern. Drugs.Com states you should avoid using hoodia dietary supplements if you have diabetes, a heart condition, a blood clotting disorder or take medications for any of these conditions. Additionally, hoodia supplements aren't safe for people with an eating disorder, such as anorexia. According to "The New York Times" article, there's also some concern that because of the way hoodia is processed in your body, taking the supplements can be harmful to your liver.

Other Information

Because of the mad run on hoodia gordonii as a weight loss aid, the plant is considered in danger of being over-harvested and is protected by conservation laws. The slow-growing succulent is grown and harvested on commercial farms in South Africa. After examining hoodia gordonii dietary supplements available on the U.S. consumer market, Phytopharm, along with its partner company, Unilever, determined that two supplements contained no significant amounts of hoodia; four contained a small amount of hoodia; and the remaining four supplements contained a significant amount. The National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine points out that the quality of hoodia supplements varies disparately, so you may not be getting the diet aid you think.