hoodia

[262000]

A client has come to me in regards to a new appetite suppressant "Hoodia" a South African cactus like plant. Does anyone have any experience with this plant or know any mechanism of action or contraindication?

Thank You,
Jessica  

[Tom]

Hi Jessica

I have no personal experience with this one yet. I pass on a couple of links however. Best of luck in your work!

Tom

 Case University Study  

Wikipedia Free Encyclopedia    

[Lisa Flosznik]

I'm quite late in responding, but I had heard about this, too, and I know that Mary Shomon, an evangelist for people with thyroid disorders speaks very highly of it.

See: About Hoodia  

[kimcotton]

Anecdotally, a few people have reported appetite suppression with the Bija tea (though there are other ingredients).  One woman who I've spoken with, reported that it didn't work for her at all.  Upon further questioning, she revealed she was a stress/emotional based overeater, not one from any biochemical problem like a thyroid issue.

--Kim Cotton

[Eva]

I work at a health food store that sells hoodia, so I get feedback from people all the time about how it works for them.  It's so different for everyone, of course.  Some people say that it takes a few days to suppress the appetite, others say it only works if you quadruple the serving size.  Others return bottles saying it didn't do anything at all.  Some other information I came across word of mouth was that it might damage the liver or raise blood pressure. I don't know about this for sure but it's worth looking into. Someone told me that it only works if you eat the cactus fresh, but not after it has been dried and encapsulated.  If you try hoodia, I would suggest to look for the entire name hoodia gordonii on the bottle; some companies are selling the wrong part of the plant, or a different cactus all together.  Flora makes hoodia in veggie capsules packaged in glass bottles.  One formula adds green tea, green coffee, yerba mate, and cocoa extract, so if you don't want to clench your jaw, beware! 
One question I have about the hoodia is how does it effect us long term?  To assist with fasting makes sense I suppose, but most people seem to be using it to lose weight.  I understand that not eating actually slows down your metabolism.  It seems that for long term weight management, one may want to eat different foods more frequently, and change lifestyle.  Hoodia has a lot of hype, but does it actually help people lose weight and stay healthy? 

[princetoner]

I'd really like to post the fact that when it comes to hoodia the buyer must watch for one thing above all others, and that is purity. As far as I know (and I've tried almost all of them), the Hoodoba brand sold at
hoodia-dietpills.com is the only brand sold in the US that has no fillers or additives whatsoever.
 
This is key in that unless it has enough of the raw hoodia powder in the capsules, the level of appetite suppression will not be strong enough to make a difference. From what I understand the other brands dilute the products with additives, and fillers, and other ingredients as much as 70-80 percent to cut corners and to cut cost. When I look under the Other Ingredients section of the label, from those that I purchased (8 different brands), the Hoodoba label is the only one that says "None". No wonder it is also the one that truly suppresses the appetite as discussed in the studies.   

[Marlina E]

Thank you for the recommendation.

Just want to remind our users that we should all keep in mind that specific recommendations from any individual should be thoroughly researched as we do not have knowledge of people's personal affiliations. Certainly information shared on the forums is very helpful for guidance, but as professionals, we should always follow up with personal research.

Thanks for posting.  We welcome you to the forums and look forward to interacting more!