Herbal Diet Regimen – Hoodia

Appetite suppressants are perfect if you are aiming to lose weight. Hoodia gordonii is one of the most famous herbal appetite suppressants in the market today. This is from a plant source which has a molecule which could make the brain feel full and would signal your body to stop craving for food.

This hoodia gordonii is a succulent plant which resembles a cactus. It is has a shaped similar to a cucumber with many tentacle and spikes. Hoodia is almost like a cucumber but when eaten raw it does not have a palatable taste. About 40,000 years ago, the San tribesman of the Kalahari Desert in South Africa used to consume this bitter tasting plant.

Hoodia was said responsible for keeping them from feeling the thirst and hunger while they are on the desert for the hunting season. Hoodia gordonii can grow at very high temperatures and takes at least 7 years to grow and mature. There are a lot of variations of the hoodia plant. Only Hoodia gordonii has the distinctive appetite suppressant molecule.

Hoodia gordonii will not have stimulant properties and is not considered to be a drug. It took the South African national laboratory 30 long years to isolate and identify the specific appetite-suppressing molecule in hoodia gordonii. This plant contained a previously unknown substance or molecule, which has since been known to be P57. When scientists found it they have applied for a patent and licensed it to Phytopharm. They in turn sold the production and marketing rights to the giant pharmaceutical company Pfizer Corporation.

This appetite suppressing molecule behaves almost like glucose. It makes the brain think that the stomach is already full so there should be no cravings and hunger. Hoodia gordonii can effectively helps to reduce the appetite by 100 to 1000calories a day. The major effect of hoodia gordonii is that you will feel the urge of hunger only after your usual time of eating. It can generate a general feeling of well being and fullness of the stomach as soon as you have eaten only small amount of food.

The San bushman used hoodia gordonii by eating it raw after removing the spikes and the entire skin. Even though there are no side effects in the use of hoodia, there are researches that that people who are underweight or have eating disorders or are having anorexia nervosa with or without bulimia should not be taking hoodia gordonii.

Some people might be allergic to some plants, so allergic precaution should be taken into consideration. When you eat refined carbohydrates blood sugar will drop and hoodia does not counteract it so people with diabetes mellitus should be cautious in taking hoodia gordonii.