Let’s take a look at hoodia gordonii, the succulent plant which has the world in a tizzy promising to open the doors to a slimmer world. The plant grows in South Africa as well as in Botswana, Namibia and a few surrounding states. It is spiny and leafless and it has a strong smelling flower which reminds you of rotting meat – the pollination of the plants is done by flies. The San bushmen in these areas called it ‘hoba’ and they used the plant when they went on their hunting trips into the desert to suppress their hunger and thirst. The plant is medicinal and is also used to treat infections and indigestion.
It was the CSIR or the Council of scientific Research in South Africa where the ingredient P57 was first extracted from this plant and it was patented. The rights were then sold to the British pharmaceutical company, Phytopharm. Part of the profits will go to the San bushmen who helped in identifying the plant and taught the world about its extraordinary properties. They entered into collaboration with Pfizer to market it but Pfizer backed out and the contract went to Unilever. So did Pfizer think that it would not work on obesity cases? Or was the fact that there were indications to state that the extract affected the liver the reason? One does not know but now, one wonders whether or not the product from Phytopharm will make its appearance as a prescription drug or a supplement which will be more suited to Unilever’s marketing strengths.
Thus far, people are only going by the fact that this is a natural product that has been used for centuries so they feel that it cannot be harmful. No proper studies have been done, the only research that has been done and the findings made public has been done on rats not human beings. This still does not deter manufacturers or customers from marketing and buying hoodia gordonii products. The only thing to take note of is to go to a supplier who is known and who has all the certifications that the product contains real hoodia gordonii – in its pure, potent form, unmixed with anything else.
Though there have been a few small group studies that have been done – most of them successful, they have not been reviewed in peer group journals. Maybe the fact that it is being sold still as a supplement does not bring it into the strict rules that govern pharmaceutical products.