The History of Hoodia
The use of hoodia began thousands of years ago in South Africa. There are 13 different types of hoodia, all in the Apocynaceae flowering plant family, but only hoodia gordonii has been proven to work as an appetite suppressant. Hoodia gordonii is a leafy, spineless plant that was discovered by the San Bushmen of South Africa as an appetite suppressant and digestive aid. For centuries, these hunters used hoodia to minimize their thirst and suppress their appetites during week-long hunting excursions in the Kalahari Desert.
In 1937, a Dutch anthropologist first observed the appetite suppressant effects of hoodia while studying the habits of primitive San Bushmen of the Kalahari Desert. The Bushmen called the plan Xhoba and ate the stem to warm off hunger during hunting trips. In 1977, the ingredient called molecule P57 was isolated by the South African Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) and identified as an appetite suppressant. The San Bushmen were featured in the movie, "The Gods Must Be Crazy".
In the 1990s, Phytopharm, a pharmaceutical company in the UK, performed clinical research with hoodia to monitor the effects on humans. The results of the study revealed that P57 works like glucose on the brain to trick you into thinking you are full. However, the effects of hoodia are up to 10,000 times stronger than glucose. The subjects in the Phytopharm clinical study realized an average calorie reduction of 1,000 calories daily without any additional activity, proving the power of hoodia gordonii. By 1996, a patent was issued to Phytopharm for hoodia. Dr. Richard Dixey of Phytopharm said about the diet aid, "There is a part of your brain, the hypothalamus. Within that mid-brain there are nerve cells that sense glucose sugar. When you eat, blood sugar goes up because of the food, these cells start firing and now you are full. What the Hoodia seems to contain is a molecule that is about 10,000 times as active as glucose. It goes to the mid-brain and actually makes those nerve cells fire as if you were full. But you have not eaten. Nor do you want to."
The connection between hoodia and the brain was verified in a study on rats conducted by Brown Medical School. The study linked the hypothalamus, the part of the brain that lets you know you are full, and hoodia by injecting laboratory rats. Within 24 hours, the ATP neurotransmitter and cell energy source in hypothalamic neurons increased up to 50 to 150 percent and food intake decreased by 40 to 60 percent in the group of rats injected with P57.
In 2004, according to a transcript of 60 Minutes as reported by Leslie Stahl when she tried hoodia herself, "I'd have to say it did work."
Over the past few years, a lawyer named Roger Chennells represented the Bushmen in South Africa and indicated using the traditional knowledge about hoodia without compensation was "bio-piracy". No companies who harvest hoodia gordonii legally from the Kalahari desert must pay royalties to the Bushmen who originally discovered its properties. Additionally, Pfizer paid Phytopharm for the rights to market the diet pill with P57 but when they were unsuccessful at making it synthetically, Pfizer pulled out of the deal. In 2004, Unilever entered a deal with Phytopharm to market hoodia in its food product line, which will be out in 2008.
For thousands of years, hoodia gordonii has safely and effectively been used as an appetite suppressant and it is a popular, easy way to get rid of unwanted pounds today.
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