Phytopharm Set To Launch New Hoodia Weight Loss Supplement

In my opinion, a major story broke this week regarding Phytopharm’s efforts in producing a weight loss supplement that contains an extract of the active ingredient in hoodia gordonii, P57. According to the story, Phytopharm is in the final stages of preparing the launch of their weight loss supplement that contains P57 hoodia extract. The product is set to launch in the second half of 2009.

So why is this such an important story? Because if this product is as effective as these two companies claim it will be, it could completely change the landscape of the hoodia and weight loss industry. To understand the potential impact of this product, we need to take a step back. In a previous article, I wrote about hoodia tincture and other types of hoodia. In the article, I briefly mentioned P57 hoodia extract and how Phytopharm and its partner, Unilever, are working on creating a product that contains it.

P57 is the naturally occurring ingredient found in the hoodia gordonii plant that is responsible for its appetite suppressing abilities. Hoodia supplements sold today contain parts of the plant in either powder or liquid form. In theory, since these supplements contain parts of the actual plant, it naturally contains some P57. The question has always been, however, how much P57 actually makes its way into these supplements?

The other problem with today’s hoodia diet pills is that most are fakes. They either don’t contain authentic hoodia gordonii (thus, they don’t contain any P57), or they contain so little of it that it won’t do anything for appetite suppression. This will not be the case with the hoodia extract supplement set to launch by Phytopharm and Unilever (the makers of the popular SlimFast brand of products).

These two companies have been working on finding a way to extract the actual P57 molecule from the plant and then use it in their own weight loss products. In other words, the product(s) they produce will contain 100% P57. In addition, they will be able to determine the precise amount of P57 they want in these products. If all goes well, their product will essentially be the most effective hoodia appetite suppressant you’ll be able to buy - even more so than the hoodia diet pills I recommend on my best rated hoodia page.

Why? Because the weight loss supplement they produce will contain 100% P57 (not parts of the hoodia plant that have “some” P57) and in the amounts necessary to essentially guarantee effective appetite suppression. No other hoodia weight loss supplement will come close to this product in terms of its effectiveness IF the P57 hoodia extract supplement is as effective as the two firms hope it will be.

To that end, Phytopharm said the efficacy of the P57 hoodia extract has been demonstrated in a double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical study. According to this statement, it appears the product is working as well as they had hoped. This is good news for the consumer but bad news for existing hoodia supplement sellers. Since Phytopharm and Unilever have the exclusive patent on P57 extract, other companies will not have the right to make their own P57 hoodia extract supplement and thus, will not be able to compete.

During the final stages of preparing for this launch, the two companies have been on the “warpath” at other, shoddy, hoodia products. They have been reporting fake hoodia supplements to relevant food authorities. Why? Because these fake hoodia supplements are discrediting the market and these two firms don’t want their product to be lumped in with all these imitations.

The two firms issued the following joint statement: “Analysis of these products has demonstrated that the great majority of them contain little or no hoodia. Phytopharm and Unilever have made contact with the relevant authorities concerning this development and are satisfied with the progress being made to limit these activities.”

This news story is a major development in the hoodia industry and it will be interesting to see how things unfold in the coming months…stay tuned.

Source: Food Navigator