The Hoodia-Oprah Connection Finally Explained
Have you noticed the hoodia Oprah connection as you’ve browsed around the Internet for information on hoodia diet pills? With the exception of those listed on my best rated hoodia page, it seems as if every website that sells or promotes hoodia supplements implies there is a connection with Oprah Winfrey and hoodia.
As an example, one site selling hoodia proclaims, “Oprah recommended” and still another says, “As seen on Oprah.” My personal favorite, though, is a website that claims to be the definitive guide on hoodia. On the top of one of the pages it says, “FACT: Hoodia is the ONLY diet pill in history to be featured on Oprah, CBS the Today Show, 60 Minutes, MSNBC, and the BBC.”
After reading about this supposed hoodia Oprah connection for over a year now, I thought I’d do some digging to see what the actual connection was between Oprah Winfrey and hoodia. Even though many sites proclaim hoodia was featured on Oprah, I couldn’t find any proof of that.
Many websites also claimed that Oprah supposedly featured hoodia in her magazine, O. Some sites even suggested that she endorsed a specific brand of hoodia. Through my research, I learned that hoodia gordonii was indeed mentioned in her magazine in the July 2005 issue. The article was titled, “Diet Pills: The Next Generation.”
I went to Oprah Winfrey’s website to see if the article was archived but it wasn’t. I searched high and low for the specific article to see if there was a copy of it anywhere on the Internet but I couldn’t find anything. I finally coughed up a few dollars and ordered the issue on eBay. Sure I could have gone to the library, but who does that anymore?
Quite frankly, I’m amazed that Oprah’s people haven’t come down on these websites for misrepresenting Oprah and her magazine. I wonder if the writer, or the editors for that matter, ever imagined that one simple article would be used as an endorsement for hoodia diet pills.
For starters, the article wasn’t even written by Oprah. It was written by Mary A Fischer. Now most of you are probably thinking the fact that it appeared in her magazine must mean she endorses it to some degree. I would agree with you if the article was a ringing endorsement of hoodia diet pills, but it wasn’t.
The article begins with a large close up of a San tribe member with a piece of hoodia plant in his hand. At first glance, I immediately assumed the entire article was going to be about hoodia. Boy was I wrong!
I hope Oprah and her legal department are o.k. with this. The following two paragraphs appeared in the July 2005 issue of Oprah’s magazine, O. It is found on page 103 of the issue. Here are the first two paragraphs copied word for word. Please note the bold text:
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Deep in the heart of Southern Africa’s Kalahari Desert may lie the secret to weight loss. For thousands of years, the Bushmen have turned to spiny plants with delicate blossoms called Hoodia to stave off hunger and thirst during long treks across sparse terrain. When scientists at South Africa’s national laboratory discovered that the cactuslike plant caused weight loss in animals, they knew they were onto something big. They spent the next 30 years isolating the crucial compound, then licensed it to Phytopharm, a British pharmaceutical company, in 1997.
As word of Hoodia spread, supplement manufacturers sought to capitalize on its weight loss properties. So far, however, there’s little proof that the supplements are even mildly effective: Most contain only small, probably insignificant levels of Hoodia extract, and caffeine is likely the active ingredient in many of them. Phytopharm is aiming higher: They have already spent at least $20 million researching what makes the plant so effective, and recently partnered with Unilever to develop a Hoodia-based food additive. The company is also working to develop a synthetic prescription drug, and if they’re successful, the Bushmen will receive 6% of the royalties. Up to now, though, no one has figured out precisely how Hoodia curbs appetite, and Phytopharm doesn’t yet have a drug ready for clinical trials. Meanwhile, other pharmaceutical firms are laboring on their own weight loss “miracles,” all of them racing to come up with the next win-the-jackpot diet drug. |
hardly a ringing endorsement of hoodia!
Believe it or not, that’s all the article says about hoodia! The rest of the article, which is equivalent to two full pages of text, is about diet drugs (not supplements) and how pharmaceutical companies are racing to come up with the next big diet drug.
I was so surprised over the reality of this article and the supposed hoodia Oprah connection, I had to read it a couple times to make sure I wasn’t missing anything. Hoodia was in fact only mentioned in the first two paragraphs. The article didn’t endorse hoodia and it certainly didn’t endorse a specific brand of hoodia diet pills. In fact, the writer states there is little proof hoodia supplements work!
The next time you see a hoodia website that claims Oprah endorses hoodia or that their brand of hoodia was featured in Oprah’s magazine, you’ll know the real story about the supposed hoodia Oprah connection.
