The hoodia plant is a spiny cactus that grows in the Kalahari desert in Africa, mostly in the arid areas of South Africa, Botswana, and Namibia. San Bushmen (who are one of the world's oldest and most primitive hunter-gatherer tribes), have known about the appetite suppressing abilities of hoodia for countless generations. Rock paintings of the San Bushmen go back more than 20,000 years. The nomadic Bushmen, who live in this harsh and arid desert, use the hoodia cactus as an appetite suppressant during their long marches and hunting trips.
   It appears hoodia supplements are effective as a weight loss pill. For more hoodia information, For a natural sugar alternative, consider stevia zero calorie sweetener.
A combination of hoodia, ginger, cinnamon, green tea extract, spirulina, acetyl-l-carnitine, choline, guggul, and several other herbs and nutrients, as found in Diet Rx, a very effective herbal diet pill for weight loss. Users of Diet Rx have lost several pounds within a week or two. See a good discussion of hoodia side effects.

Hoodia Extract 400 mg,
Hoodia Gordonii extract 20:1
This hoodia product is a 20:1 extract which means it is 20 times as concentrated as regular hoodia plant. Four hundred mgs of hoodia extract equals about 8,000 mg or 8 grams of the actual plant.

Hoodia gordonii is a succulent found in the Kalahari Desert of South Africa. The San Tribesmen of the Kalahari have been using hoodia as a food source for thousands of years.


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A history of the San Bushmen
Relatively small in stature, the San Bushmen first made contact with Western explorers in the 1920s. They were treated unkindly (some of the explorers even hunted them like animals) and by the 1930s the Bushmen population was so decimated that a wide section of the Kalahari desert was officially turned into a game preserve and the San were allowed to live off the land. Unfortunately as a result of the Apartheid laws in South Africa in the 1950s, the San were forced to settle in a makeshift township on the edge of the Kalahari desert. They were forbidden to hunt and ended up living in poverty and squalor... to this day.
   In July 2004, it was reported in the news that more than 200 bushmen from the Kalahari desert are taking the Botswana government to court over their forced eviction from ancestral land. They are challenging a 2002 decision to resettle them outside the Central Kalahari Game Reserve, which was their home for tens of thousands of years.

Growing Hoodia
The hoodia cactus is difficult to grow and requires just the right amount of water, sunlight and temperature. It takes five years for the hoodia cactus to grow to full maturity.

Hoodia Research
It was in the 1960s that scientists first discovered that when rodents were given hoodia, they practically stopped eating. According to news reports, researchers in South Africa discovered hoodia contains a previously unknown compound, not known to be present in other plants, which has since been named P 57. Apparently the license was sold to a British pharmaceutical company, Phytopharm, who in turn sold the development and marketing rights to Pfizer Corporation. Studies with hoodia are being conducted at this time. A preliminary report in the news media which I can't find in medical journals indicates that hoodia is able to suppress appetite in humans.

Does Hoodia have side effects?
We are not aware of any published studies on Medline regarding hoodia. Long term positive and negative side effects are currently not clearly understood.

This is a news release by Millenium Health Products
BBC Journalist Tom Mangold, in conjunction with Millennium Health Supplements (the largest exporter of South African Hoodia Gordonii in the world), purchased H57 product (manufactured by JEC Nutrition) from store shelves in December of 2005 and October of 2006 and had this product tested at a third party testing laboratory, using several analytical tests against a reference voucher sample. The results in both cases showed that the material in H57’s capsules was not Hoodia Gordonii. Results of all testing can be viewed at http://www.millennium-health.com, http://www.hoodiahoodia.com and http://www.thehealthreport.com. Jen Cully, Millennium’s President and PR Director says: “There are too many companies making claims about the authenticity of their Hoodia Gordonii products without showing any proof or documentation. Authenticating Hoodia Gordonii can only be done by a reputable testing laboratory experienced in analyzing the unique chemical and microscopic fingerprints of a plant - in this case Hoodia Gordonii”, Cully says. Alkemists Pharmaceuticals in Costa Mesa, California is an independent testing laboratory that has experience in the testing and authenticating of Hoodia Gordonii. Alkemists tests Hoodia Gordonii using 3 individualized testing protocols that examine samples on both microscopic and chemical levels. All their testing is conducted using a university certified botanical specimen of Hoodia Gordonii as their reference voucher sample. Millennium Health Supplements holds contracts for more than 75% of the Hoodia Gordonii sold out of South Africa and Western Cape Province.

Hoodia gum
Dear Sir or Madam:  Regarding Hoodia Gum. We have perfected the taste, feel in the mouth and potency of goodia Gum, with a fresh mint flavour and sugar free. This gum has 500mg of Hoodia in each piece and can be purchased in bulk for your own packing, or we can bottle in any count or blister in 12 piece. We offer private labelling should you require and can produce labels for you at manufacturing. Hoodia Gum is the first of our functional gum products, to follow is a range of chewing gum to contain Vitamin C, Omega 3 & 6, 5 fruits & 5 vegetables, high energy supplements and mulivits together with another diet formula. Dietary Formula Inc, 1901 60th Place E, Suite L3627, Bradenton, Florida 34203.

Hoodia supplement questions
Q. I was wondering if hoodia is a real appetite supressor or just a big HOOT as the rest of the diet crap.
   A. We only have feedback from a few users and the effects are mixed. Apparently it does seem to suppress appetite in some users but whether it leads to long term weight loss is not clear at this time.

Q. A question concerns this hoodia diet pill. Basically, is there any real evidence that it works (studies, etc) and has safety been established? Also, is there anything known about hoodia interactions with prescription drugs--specifically with Synthroid and cytomel?
   A. There have not been any studies thus far on humans and weight loss regarding hoodia as available in supplement form in the US. Hence we don't know how effective hoodia is in the long run, and whether it has any significant side effects in a supplement form. Some people who use hoodia notice a decrease in appetite, but not everyone notices this. The interaction of hoodia with pharmaceutical drugs is not clearly understood and potential does exist for interactions.

Does hoodia supplement interact with tongkat ali herb?
    The aphrodisiac herb is quite potent and we suggest it being taken by itself only.