The Bushmen that live there use the Hoodia cactus, specifically Hoodia Gordonii, to keep them from getting hungry on long hunting trips. The native tribes eat the plant and can survive for days on little or nothing to eat while they search for food. The Hoodia cactus suppresses their desire to eat. It fools the brain into thinking that they are already full.

The discovery of this plant sent pharmaceutical companies after the secret to stopping the obesity epidemic. Taking Hoodia is supposed to suppress the appetite and therefore lead to weight loss. When hunger does start to kick in, Hoodia users can eat healthier foods to fuel the body.

Taking Hoodia and following an exercise plan leads to weight loss according to those who swear by the substance. Natural Hoodia has no side effects and can affect the appetite after the first pieces are eaten. Pharmaceutical companies are trying to synthesize Hoodia for market to the rest of the world.

The cactus diet plan is still not perfected. The Cactus diet involves taking supplements that contain Hoodia. There are many types of Hoodia and you may be buying a pill that claims to suppress the appetite but may not. The amount of Hoodia may not be enough to cause the same effects that the Bushmen experience from eating the actual plant. Since this plant has not been found outside of this desert-like region of Africa, to follow the Cactus diet plan, people have to rely on commercial pills that make boastful claims about their product having the same effects as the original Hoodia plant, but those claims are completely untested and the substance itself is hard to reproduce with any accuracy so you never know if you are getting the same efficiency in any particular brand of pills that you take.

Those who buy products that contain Hoodia should beware. We all know what they say about something that seems too good to be true. Until further notice, watch what you eat and exercise regularly to lose weight. Set aside the gimmicks.

What Is Hoodia?

Hoodia is a plant that grows in South Africa, amongst other places. And, according to anecdotal evidence, and a few small but unsubstantiated studies, it can drastically suppress your appetite. As a result, you won’t feel hungry for long periods of time, so you won’t feel the urge to eat. And, since you’ll eat less, you’ll lose weight.

Hoodia first gained widespread attention thanks to Leslie Stahl of 60 Minutes fame. While in Africa, Stahl ate some hoodia that had been located for her by a local Bushman. According to Stahl, she didn’t feel the need to eat anything for the rest of that day.

Every year, millions of people battle with their weight. They try to diet, but those diets often fail due to the hunger they experience on starvation diets, or the cravings they experience on other types of diets.

Those in the pharmaceutical and weight loss industries know there is a profit to be made with any substance that can actually suppress your appetite safely. So there’s no surprise they saw potential in hoodia.

The Hoodia Drawbacks

While hoodia would seem to have a lot of potential as a weight loss aid, there are also quite a few potential drawbacks.

• While there are many varieties of this herb, only one, hoodia gordonii, contains the active ingredient that seems to suppress the appetite. And many people end up purchasing expensive products that don’t contain hoodia gordonii. So these products won’t do much to help them reach their weight loss goals.
• Unfortunately, there are dozens of fake hoodia products on the market. These fakes often don’t contain the right kind of hoodia, or don’t contain it in the correct amounts. Many of these products have also been found to contain substances that could be detrimental to your health.

There is no way for the average person who is trying to lose weight to know whether or not the product they have purchased actually contains the ingredients they really need to suppress their appetites. Not unless they buy the product from a source they completely trust, who themselves bought the product from someone they completely trust, and so on and so forth.

The Evidence On Hoodia

Unfortunately, there is little real, trustworthy evidence about hoodia.

• There haven’t really been any reputable, long term studies to determine hoodia’s effectiveness as an appetite suppressant. Many people claim that it has worked for them, while many others say that it hasn’t, or that they had to take larger doses than recommended for hoodia to suppress their appetite.
• There have been no human studies on any possible, long term side effects hoodia might have on those who take it. Until such long term studies are done, there’s no way to know if hoodia is safe, especially with prolonged use.
• Finally, because hoodia is an herb, many assume that automatically makes it safe. But herbs can be as dangerous as prescription drugs if not used properly.

The jury is very much still out on hoodia. So, if you have been thinking about taking hoodia as part of your weight loss program, you might want to think twice. If you do prefer to take a diet pill, a better option would be Proactol, which works very similiar to the prescription weight loss drug, Xenical, but you don’t need a prescription for it.

You can find out more about Proactol at their website.