Hoodia, it might be flying off store shelves but is this diet
pill safe?
Hoodia is fast becoming one of the best sellers in nutritional
stores but you have to ask yourself; what do you really know
about this new African weight loss product? If you ask some
dieters they liken their experience of taking Hoodia to finding
water in the middle of the desert. They will tell you that it
actually does reduce their hunger, which is for these people
trying so very hard to lose weight a real weapon in their
arsenal against obesity.
The question remains still, is this product safe? Just because
there are many people taking Hoodia and saying that it's great
and works for them, does this mean you should jump right in with
this craze. The answer is: BE CAUTIOUS WHEN IT COMES TO HOODIA,
NOT ALL HOODIA IS THE SAME! We have seen countless other diet
pills that have come and gone in the arena of weight loss;
leaving their scars on people with their side effects and dashed
hopes of weight loss. Hoodia is not the same as these other
weight loss products, with Hoodia there are different reasons
for being concerned. So far safety is not the top concern when
it comes to the Hoodia, many people are now taking Hoodia and at
this point there are no reports of any serious health problems
related to consuming Hoodia properly.
Additional assurances of Hoodia's safeness can be further
validated in the origin of where this cactus type plant comes
from. The actual plant that is now found capsulated in pill form
is called Hoodia Gordonii and grows in the Kalahari Desert of
South Africa. Hoodia has been a source of nourishment for the
native Bushmen that live in the desert where the Hoodia
succulent grows naturally. These Bushmen called "The San" have
eaten Hoodia for thousands of years with no ill health effect;
they actually claim it gives them energy in addition to helping
them have no hunger. Reducing hunger is an important part of
these aborigines' lives because of the fact that food is hard to
come by in the desert; these people sometimes have to go days
without eating. Because The San People have been eating Hoodia
for so long it would suggest that Hoodia is safe to consume.
Unlike other diet pills that have been on the market lately
where safety has been the top concern, Hoodia has other issues
for the consumer to deal with. The most prevalent problem when
it comes to Hoodia is if what you have bought is actual real genuin
e Hoodia Gordonii from South Africa. Most people trust that
what they get on store shelves is what it says it is; this is
not the case with Hoodia and it's not necessarily the company's
fault that is selling it. The problem is there is no regulation
with Hoodia and there are only a few companies that have adopted
self regulation in the form of certification and independent
testing. World demand has put a high price on Hoodia and big
profits without regulation are an equation for corruption.
One study done by Truth Publishing and Alkemist Pharmaceuticals
located at:
naturalhealthreport.com/A-Hoodia-Gordonii-exposed.html, found
that eleven out of seventeen brand-name Hoodia supplements
tested failed a laboratory analysis of authenticity. Shocking
isn't it, and some of these Hoodia brands are selling in your
neighborhood nutritional store. Many times the brand name may
not even be aware of the problem because the breakdown in
authenticity comes at the source of distribution. There are
other cactus type plants in South Africa that look like Hoodia
only don't produce the same appetite suppressing qualities. Some
sources collect these plants and mix them in with the real
Hoodia and then export them to unknowing companies that then
sell it as genuine Hoodia. Safety wise, it might not hurt you to
eat these plants but you won't have the hunger curbing effects of the real Hoodia that you want.
In the future, hopefully more regulation will be put in place
and fake Hoodia won't get into the consumers hands. Until that
time you need to be vigilant to be sure what you are getting is
the real thing. There are
a few Hoodia brands that have contracted with registered
Hoodia farms and are giving dieters authenticity assurances with
independent testing and certification. The independent testing
by Truth Publishing stated that their were six Hoodia brands
they tested that passed for authenticity, these brands are: Desert Burn ZA, Hoodoba Hoodia, Dr. Wheeler's Afrigetics, King Hoodia,
Hoodia Max and Ethno Africa. Genuine Hoodia is giving many
people the results they want and helping them lose weight; just
make sure you have the real stuff before you join the Hoodia
Weight Loss Club.