| OK, so you want to find a Hoodia supplement that | | | | by the FDA. It looks likely that Hoodia Gordonii will be |
| really does work and lets you lose your excess | | | | officially made available for weight loss sometime in |
| pounds. | | | | 2008. That said, you can buy it over the counter |
| You've seen all the adverts and television interviews | | | | now as a dietary supplement, but it won't be labeled |
| about how hoodia is a great weight loss product. But | | | | as a weight-loss drug. |
| there's so many different products and variations on | | | | Hoodia came to fame in November 2004 in a '60 |
| the shelf. Just how do you go about choosing the | | | | Minutes' program on CBS. Since "as seen on TV" is a |
| right hoodia product for you? | | | | powerful selling point, lots of companies have started |
| Start by doing a little bit of research about Hoodia | | | | marketing hoodia products, often in combination with |
| Gordonii, so that you can tell the truth from the | | | | some other appetite suppressant drugs like ephedrine |
| advertising hype. Hoodia is a cactus-like succulent | | | | or ma huang, with some fake Hoodia. |
| plant that only grows in the regions near the Kalahari | | | | There is also no standard dosage of Hoodia Gordonii |
| Desert of South Africa. The San Bushmen living there | | | | in the pills or capsules marketed by the various |
| regularly eat hoodia to kill their hunger on their long | | | | companies. |
| hunting expeditions. Western scientists analyzed the | | | | Which makes finding a true hoodia supplement a little |
| hoodia plant and discovered a molecule in the hoodia | | | | bit hit and miss unless you're careful and follow these |
| gordonii plant, which they named P 57. Further testing | | | | rules: |
| found that it is this molecule that makes the plant a | | | | - Make sure the company marketing has a permit |
| wonderful appetite suppressant. | | | | from CITES (the Convention on the International |
| There's only one company, a British one called | | | | Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora) |
| Phytopharm, that holds the sole right to market | | | | - Check the product carries a report about its purity |
| Hoodia Gordonii as a weight-loss product. So other | | | | - Check it carries a license from the Western Cape |
| companies have teamed up with them to market it. | | | | Conservation Authority of South Africa |
| Despite the fact that the San Bushmen have been | | | | - Make sure it has no ephedrine, ephedra or ma |
| using hoodia for so long, it still needs to go through all | | | | huang and that it is 100% pure |
| the usual pharmaceutical trials before it is approved | | | | - Ideally, get a money back guarantee as well. |