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You've probably seen it around in the supermarkets, on TV, or just heard about it from a friend. Hoodia gordonii is supposed to be one of the next big products in the weight loss industry, or is it? Hoodia claims to be able to curb your appetite by being able to mimic the effects that food has on your hypothalamus - therefore, making you feel full. Hoodia has a special compound in it known as P57 that mimics the effects of glucose on the nerve cells in the brain therefore reducing appetite. Hoodia gordonii is a plant resembling a cactus found in the Kalahari Desert in Africa. The San Bushmen living within this desert have used Hoodia for thousands of years in order to prevent themselves from becoming hungry during long hunting expeditions. It has been anecdotally reported that they can curb their appetites for about a period of 24 hours by chewing on hoodia. In sometime around the middle of 2004, the media began to delve into hoodia. It mostly started when a correspondent to CBS known as Lesley Stahl actually went to the Kalahari Desert to find an authentic version of this special plant. According to the story on the CBS website, Stahl reports that "She had no after effects - no funny taste in her mouth, no queasy stomach, and no racing heart. She also wasn't hungry all day, even when she would normally have a pang around mealtime. And, she also had no desire to eat or drink the entire day. 'I'd have to say it did work,' says Stahl." In a paper titled "Increased ATP content/production in the hypothalamus may be a signal for energy-sensing of satiety: studies of the anorectic mechanism of a plant steroidal glycoside," the authors of the paper found that in the animals tested, injected P57 (the active compound in hoodia) reduced subsequent 24 hour food intake by about 40-60%. In addition to this, at Phytopharm's website (Phytopharm is the original developer of the hoodia product) Phytopharm states, "In 2001 Phytopharm completed a double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical study in overweight, but otherwise healthy volunteers using an extract of Hoodia gordonii. The large doses of extract caused a statistically significant reduction in the average daily calorie intake. In addition, a statistically significant reduction in body fat content was also observed compared to the placebo group after two weeks." So, it's quite clear that from the fact that the San Bushman have been using Hoodia for centuries, an anecdotal report from Lesley Stahl that says that hoodia curbed her appetite, a scientifically controlled study done with P57 in animals, and a statement form Phytopharm that hoodia really does work to reduce appetite. But is there more to the story? Hopefully this article has provided some insight for you into the confusing realm of hoodia.
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