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Lesley Stahl of CBS's 60 Minutes told viewers it worked for her. Actor Joseph Gannascoli of The Sopranos says Hoodia has helped curb his cravings for pasta while he sticks to a sensible diet and exercise plan.
The fuss is over a traditional remedy made from Hoodia gordonii, a cactus-like plant used for generations by the San people of southern Africa to stave off hunger during long hunting trips.
Only one peer-reviewed study of Hoodia's effects appears in the National Library of Medicine's online database, PubMed. That research, conducted on rats, found that P57 increased the content of energy-carrying molecules called ATP in the hypothalamus, a part of the brain thought to control hunger. Doctors don't know if Hoodia is safe or effective in humans.
Slim-Fast maker Unilever hopes begin testing its safety and effectiveness in the U.S. -- meanwhile dozens of firms crowd the Internet claiming to sell Hoodia.
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has logged at least 100 complaints about Hoodia sellers and products through its consumer-fraud monitoring system, as many products currently sold on the internet contain little or no Hoodia. Because they are sold as dietary supplements, not drugs, the FDA does not require testing of Hoodia pills before they are sold.
Hoodia has been proven to reduce appetite, but there is not a great supply of the innocuous cactus that grows naturally in Southern Africa, and much of the controversy now is over suppliers pushing the product with little of the active ingredient.
Opportunists are rushing to try and grow Hoodia in China and Mexico, but Hoodia takes at least five years to mature, and no one is sure what the proper growing conditions are to produce its active ingredient.
Source: by Terry Bunk, from market-day.net |
