[friendlykat4u]

I don't believe any of those claims that there is a magic pill out there for weight/fat loss. Like someone mentioned in another thread, when you read the fine print on most of them it says that they should be combined with a sensible diet and regular exercise... well duh!

Now I'm starting to hear about this Hoodia plant, here's a quote from the website:

"Authentic hoodia is one of the rarest botanicals in the world. It is a cactus like plant that grows exclusively in South Africa . Scientists have isolated several compounds in hoodia that helps suppress appetite. It contains a molecule called P57 that is 10,000 times as active as glucose. It goes to the mid-brain and makes those nerve cells feel as if you are full and this in turn stunts the appetite. It basically tricks the brain into thinking that you are full. To date, there are no known adverse side effects caused by the use of hoodia."

Has anyone heard/tried this yet? A friend of mine just ordered them and I'm concerned about her taking this stuff. To me it's just a waste of money, and who knows if there are any side effects, even if they say there aren't any.

[nelie]

Hoodia does have some promise, unfortunately there is a lot of fake hoodia pills out there. True hoodia isn't available yet. As that article says, it is a rare botanical but every diet pill around claims to have it in them.

Once it does become available, I think it would be interesting to try. I think they are a year or more away from it becoming available though.

[jillybean720]

Yup, what nelie said Whatever your friend ordered is likely either fake or contains so little hoodia that it may as well not contain any at all. There are LOTS of rip-offs out there claiming to have hoodia, but it just ain't so. Remember that non-precription diet pills are NOT regulated or monitored by the FDA, and a recent study showed that most OTC diet pills don't even contain what their ingredient labels claim they do

[Rock Chalk Chick]

Last I'd heard, the companies who isolated and grabbed the patent on the P57 component of hoodia (Phytopharm and Pfizer) have found it to have effect only when injected directly into the brain, and cannot be delivered in sufficient quantities to serve as an appetite suppressant, and have all but shut down the research. It's a dead end.

While the plant itself does appear to have anorectic function, the amount of plant needed to provide this effect is not compatible with the cost of production. Add on the fact that there have been no peer-reviewed published studies on hoodia and its effects, even though we've been hearing about this magic plant for at least 5 years, suggests that it's not actually effective.

Needless to say, the unregulated OTC supplements are pretty unlikely to contain anything related to a cactus in the first place, and even if it does contain hoodia, it's unlikely to contain enough of the active ingredient to be effective, and even if THAT were the case, your liver demolishes it before it can reach the brain and have an effect. Don't waste your money.