Hoodia Diet Pills
For centuries Hoodia was used to help Bushmen living in the Kalahari Desert halt their hunger pangs during a shortage of food. Then a South African research laboratory researched the plant and found that a certain ingredient was used to help suppress the appetite - an obvious benefit for anyone seeking to lose weight. The ingredient was labeled "P57" and the researchers patented and licensed it for commercial use to a British Pharmaceutical company named Phytopharm. And the hoodia diet pills industry was born.
Researchers from Phytopharm claim that the active ingredient in Hoodia (P57) diet pills tricks the brain and makes the user in essence feel full. This reaction on the brain can make one feel full even if they have not eaten. As of yet there are no known side effects from consuming Hoodia diet pills or weight loss supplements other than a bitter taste.
It has been reported that Phytopharm has pumped millions of dollars into studying Hoodia, and that they have conducted test of their diet pills on humans. It was found that a test group of nine men who took an unknown amount of Hoodia consumed around 1,000 fewer calories a day than a group of men who were given nothing. The large pharmaceutical firm Pfizer had struck a deal with Phytopharm to research and synthesize P57 Hoodia into a diet pill form, but the agreement was broken after the cost of synthesizing was deemed too expensive for Pfizer. But, the Hoodia plant has a very high demand and due to a short supply, this naturally wild plant has begun to be cultivated throughout South Africa. Phytopharm has invested into a large number of Hoodia plantations so that the demand for this new diet pill craze can be met.
In 2003 it was reported by the BBC that a leading brand of Hoodia pills that were being sold in the United States had no traces of the active ingredient Hoodia that was claimed to be in them. Due to such a high demand and a short supply it became hard to understand how so many companies were able to produce a supplement that contained Hoodia. It has been strongly held by some critics that many of the products being sold contain either little or no traces of Hoodia, thus they are fraudulent. In most cases many of the brands that were put under the microscope so to speak contained less than 0.1% of the active ingredient that they claimed.
It should be noted that many of the studies that are claimed by manufactures who sell Hoodia based products have little relevance. In fact there have not been any studies on the subject at all in any major medical journals. Further, the FDA has warned manufacturers that there are many unknowns to the safety of these weight loss products as a whole. Many doctors have concurred that there is no evidence whatsoever that shows the safety or effectiveness of Hoodia diet products.
At this point it is hard to tell whether or not Hoodia will create new standards in the diet pill and weight loss industry. There are so many studies yet to be done that prove the safety and efficacy of Hoodia products. It should also be understood by anyone looking to use Hoodia products that the only firm that is licensed to produce the product (Phytopharm) has yet to put any products on the market. Phtyopharm stands behind the fact that there are still many trials and research that needs to be done to prove the safety and effectiveness of their new diet products containing Hoodia. They expect to have results and to be producing products with Unilever within the next three years. With so many reports of counterfeits on the market today it is hard to know whether or not the product you are purchasing actually contains the active ingredient in Hoodia.