Hoodia Pops: Britney Spears Sucks On Weight Loss Power Pops With Hoodia
Britney Spears has been spotted sucking on power pops with hoodia to help with her weight loss, but do these hoodia pops really work?
Britney Spears and Las Vegas illusionist Chriss Angel were spotted recently sucking on hoodia pops, also known as Power Pops. Extra TV, the popular tabloid show, claims that the sucker is used by the pop diva to suppress her appetite. According to the tabloid, Britney had a supply of the weight loss lollipops shipped to her to help suppress her appetite and give her energy.
It seems Hollywood has had a fascination with these power pops. The same tabloid did a story about these lollipops back in May 2006. Extra TV touted the Power Pop as, “Hollywood’s latest secret to staying thin.” The supposed key ingredient in these lollipops is hoodia.
The tabloid story reported that the co-owner of the company behind Power Pops was quoted as saying, “We have the only form of hoodia the way South Africans take it. By sucking it; that’s why it’s so effective.”
While that claim may sound good for a tabloid report, the San tribe didn’t suck on the hoodia gordonii plant - they actually ate it like a banana. They cut a small piece of it, peeled it, and then ate it. To say they sucked on the plant is completely false.
The supposed key ingredient in Power Pops is hoodia gordonii. I say “supposed” because I couldn’t find any information on how much hoodia is in these lollipops. I can’t imagine there would be that much. Like hoodia patches, another gimmicky weight loss product I would never recommend, Power Pops likely contain less than a couple hundred milligrams of hoodia gordonii. That’s not nearly enough to suppress appetite considering that most people need at least 2,000mg of hoodia gordonii per day for it to be effective!
More important than the amount of hoodia that may be in Power Pops is the authenticity of the product itself. After comparing these hoodia pops against the criteria in my list of things to look for when you buy hoodia, I question whether these lollipops even contain authentic hoodia gordonii. I couldn’t find any CITES certificates or independent lab tests the prove Power Pops contain authentic hoodia gordonii.
For those that claim these hoodia pops work, it’s likely because of two reasons. One, there is a placebo effect. People essentially trick themselves into believing Power Pops work - so they do (for the short term anyway). This placebo effect isn’t permanent. The second possibility is likely due to the fact that your mouth is occupied. The mere act of sucking on a Power Pop occupies your mouth and “keeps your mouth busy” and helps keep your mind off food. If that’s the reason, any lollipop or stick of gum would work!
Britney Spears and the rest of Hollyweird may think Power Pops with hoodia are an effective weight loss aid, but I’m not convinced.
Editor’s Update: The owner of Hoodia Power Pops contacted me shortly after I wrote this article. He wasn’t very happy about my assessment of his product and said despite my views, his product does work. Of course I would expect him to say that but it made me reconsider my opinion. I decided to buy my own Hoodia Power Pops on eBay and give them a try.
In the interest of full disclosure, I only tried them for a few days but when I did they didn’t do anything for me at all. I didn’t notice any difference in my appetite. To be honest, I was hoping they would work because they’re cheap and they would be very convenient. I would much rather take something like this instead of popping pills. Unfortunately, they had no effect on me and they didn’t taste that great either. I got the watermelon flavor and while it did taste like watermelon, it was overpowering and too sweet for me.
To be fair to the owner of Hoodia Power Pops, they may work for some people, but they didn’t do a thing for me!
Sources:
BestSyndication.com
ExtraTV.com
