Hoodia gordonii is a cactus-like plant whose natural habitat is the subtropical arid regions of Southern Africa, growing wild in South Africa, Botswana, Namibia, Angola and Mozambique.
In recent years, Hoodia and it’s extract have been hailed as effective appetite supressants and have been heavily marketed by the natural and alternative health industries, thus becoming very popular.
There has always been a demand (and no shortage of supply) for extreme weight loss pills of one variety or another, and following the ban on the herb ephedra (which has since been lifted), there was a gap in the market for the next new diet wonder-pill.
Hoodia’s popularity and credibility as a diet drug stem from the belief that the San people of the Kalahari desert relied on the plant for thousands of years – to keep hunger at bay during long trips into the desert, for hunting and foraging.
Hoodia gordonii grows in clumps of green, upright stems, and is often referred to as a cactus. In fact it belongs to the group of fleshy, thick-leaved plants called succulents. Cacti of course are also succulents, which is one of the reasons Hoodia is so often thought of as a cactus, although it is not a true cactus.
The plant matures quite slowly and is a slow grower as is the case with most succulents. It takes about five years from seed until hoodia gordonii’s pale purple flowers appear and the plant can be harvested.
There are over 13 types of hoodia. The only active ingredient identified so far is a steroidal glycoside that has been labelled “p57″. Hoodia gordonii is the only member of the Hoodia family that contains this p57 molecule.
In 1937, a Dutch anthropologist studying the San Bushmen was the first European to notice their use of Hoodia gordonii as an appetite suppressant. Then, in 1963, scientists at the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), South Africa’s national laboratory, began studying and testing Hoodia thoroughly. Their research showed that animals that had been fed the plant lost body mass.
The South African scientists, working with a British company called Phytopharm, isolated what they believed to be the active ingredient of Hoodia gordonii, a steroidal glycoside, which they named p57. After obtaining a patent in 1995, they licensed p57 to Phytopharm. Phytopharm have since spent more than $20 million on researching Hoodia.
Eventually pharmaceutical giant Pfizer learned about Hoodia and expressed an interest in developing a Hoodia-based drug. In 1998, Phytopharm sub-licensed the rights to develop p57 to Pfizer for the sum of $21 million. Pfizer subsequently returned the rights for Hoodia to Phytopharm, who now work with the Dutch chemical giant Unilever.
Much of the hype surrounding Hoodia began after Leslie Stahl – a correspondent for 60 minutes – (and a film crew) traveled to Africa to try Hoodia out, hiring a local Bushman to go with them into the desert and find some Hoodia growing wild. Stahl ate it, describing it as “cucumbery in texture, but not bad.” She reported that she lost the desire to eat or drink for the whole day. She also said she didn’t experience any of the immediate or subsequent side effects (such as indigestion or heart palpitations) that some users have reported.
Hoodia gordonii is sold in capsule, powder, liquid, or infusion form in health food stores, and is also abundantly available on the Internet.
Despite its popularity, there are no published studies involving human subjects to prove or disprove that Hoodia extract is safe or effective for humans.
One study published in the September 2004 issue of Brain Research found that injections of p57 into the appetite-control center of rats’ brains resulted in altered levels of ATP, the body’s energy molecule whose levels may have an effect on appetite. The rats receiving the P57 injections also ate less than rats that received a placebo injection. However, this was an animal study, and injections in the brain are different from oral consumption, so it cannot be used to show conclusively that consuming Hoodia orally has an effect on appetite in humans.
The manufacturer Phytopharm cites a clinical trial involving 18 human volunteers that found Hoodia consumption reduced food intake by about 1000 calories per day compared to a placebo group. Although intriguing, the study wasn’t published or subjected to a peer-review process, so the quality of the study cannot be definitively evaluated.
No serious side effects have been reported from eating Hoodia or from taking the P-57 molecule, though it is advised that diabetics and people who suffer from heart conditions avoid the substance, as it is thought to have an effect on glucose levels and raise the metabolic rate, which of course increases the heart rate. It is worth remembering that the San Bushmen of the Kalahari have used Hoodia Gordonii
for thousands of years without experiencing any side effects.
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