100% real Hoodia gordonii. The purified extract of Hoodia gordonii, P57, researched by Phytopharm. Supplements containing hoodia gordonii. All of the above claim to be natural appetite suppressants, the answer to weight loss and possibly cures to obesity. But does hoodia gordonii really work? The above question asked by many people about the efficacy of hoodia gordonii as an appetite suppressant does not have a ready answer.
The San bushmen in the Kalahari Desert used hoodia gordonii. When going on long hunting expeditions or foraging for food, the Bushmen would eat the fleshy part of this plant to stave off hunger and thirst, until they found something they could eat.
Scientists at Phytopharm isolated an active substance in hoodia gordonii and named it P57. This purified extract was injected into the brains of laboratory rats and altered the levels of ATP in the hypothalamus, a part of the brain known to control hunger, thirst, blood sugar, etc. They hypothesized that this may have been the reason that hoodia gordonii acted as an appetite suppressant, since the increased levels of APT, a neurotransmitter as well as an energy source to all the cells in the body probably sent signals indicating that food was not required. Many nutritionists and dieticians today recommend eating every two hours or eating many small meals a day – to keep our blood sugar levels stabilized and prevent “bingeing”. The elevated levels of APT from ingesting hoodia gordonii possibly keep the blood sugar levels high enough to prevent the sensation of hunger.
Now human beings, on the other hand, are not animals in laboratories and we tend to eat whenever we feel like it for a variety of reasons, hunger not necessarily being one of them.
Hoodia gordonii has been proved (in limited trial runs) to suppress hunger pangs, but how often does one eat because one is “hungry”? We snack at any time, and often eat merely for the taste sensation. The San Bushmen did not eat hoodia gordonii to “lose weight”. They ate it only when necessary – when food was not available and they wanted to stave off the pain of hunger pangs, while they foraged for their next meal.
Observations from physicians, comments from consumers, limited researches and clinical trials that have been conducted so far, do indicate that 100% real Hoodia gordonii has shown results on many people. No long term research has been carried out, nor has there been any thorough clinical trial subjected to a peer-review process, so going by only the known results today, the answer to the question appears to be that. Hoodia gordonii may well help a person through the early difficult phases of a lifestyle change to a healthier life, when real and psychological hunger pangs are at their worst. If one can then follow a healthy meal plan, supplemented by exercise and make this the new lifestyle to be maintained, then possibly hoodia gordonii will have done its job.