If you are struggling to lose weight, you know it pretty well that you cannot win the battle against obesity unless you know how to control your hunger pangs. Your countless weight loss resolutions would come to nothing because every time you try to reduce your food intake for the purpose of weight loss, hunger would force you to break your resolution and eat more of those ‘forbidden foods’.

You have probably used over-the-counter diet pills with the hope of putting an end to this nuisance. Diet pills may suppress your appetite to an extent but they come with harmful side effects. In essence, they would harm you more than help. The best appetite suppressant is one which is completely herbal and natural. And Hoodia Gordonii is one such weight loss supplement. Read the rest of this entry »

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Tags: Desert of South Africa, food intake, food supplies, Kalahari desert, obesity, South Africa

I just ran into a couple of great articles on Hoodia and thought it would be great to share them. Why do I care about Hoodia? Well I keep getting spam about the “Greatest weight loss product ever” and man do I hate unfounded hype.

It seems that Hoodia may be a good product but if there is ever a wonder drug that will stop people from eating and help them lose weight than the lack of exercise will surely kill people. I t is very important to remember that even if Hoodia does a great job in helping you lose weight that you still need to exercise regularly to stay or regain health. I have made my own notations here in bold from this great article at about.com written by Cathy Wong

Introduction to Hoodia

Each year, people spend more than $40 billion on products designed to help them slim down. None of them seem to be working very well.

Now along comes hoodia. Never heard of it? Soon it’ll be tripping off your tongue, because hoodia is a natural substance that literally takes your appetite away. It’s very different from diet stimulants like Ephedra and Phenfen that are now banned because of dangerous side effects. Hoodia doesn’t stimulate at all. Scientists say it fools the brain by making you think you’re full, even if you’ve eaten just a morsel.

Hoodia is a cactus that’s causing a stir for its ability to suppress appetite and promote weight loss. 60 Minutes, ABC, and the BBC have all done stories on hoodia. Hoodia is sold in capsule, liquid, or tea form in health food stores and on the Internet. Hoodia is also found in the popular diet pill Trimspa.

Hoodia gordonii can be found in the semi-deserts of South Africa, Botswana, Namibia, and Angola. Much like a cactus it has recently been turned into a cash crop in Namibia where there are hundreds of acres of it being grown to meet the demand in North America.

It takes about 5 years before hoodia’s pale purple flowers appear and the cactus can be harvested. Although there are 20 types of hoodia, only the hoodia gordonii variety is believed to contain the natural appetite suppressant.

Although hoodia was only marketed recently, the San Bushmen of the Kalahari desert have been eating it for a very long time. The Bushmen, who live off the land, would cut off part of the hoodia stem and eat it to ward off hunger and thirst during nomadic hunting trips. They also used hoodia for severe abdominal cramps, haemorrhoids, tuberculosis, indigestion, hypertension and diabetes.

In 1937, a Dutch anthropologist studying the San Bushmen noted that they used hoodia to suppress appetite. But it wasn’t until 1963 when scientists at the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), South Africa’s national laboratory, began studying hoodia. Initial results were promising — lab animals lost weight after taking hoodia.
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Is Caralluma the next Hoodia?

As we have all heard and I have written here. Hoodia is one of the most popular weight loss products on the market today even if there is very little research confirming it but in the world of weight loss anectodal evidence is all that really matters. Caralluma is the same type of plant, a succulent and many people believe that it will be the next hoodia with some research,however small, showing positive results and people are making some weight losses. The really nice thing about Caralluma and Hoodia is that they have been used voer thousands of years and we know that in using them in moderation there are no obvious health issues.

Caralluma fimbriata is a succulent plant, in the cactus family. Where have we heard this before? Hoodia anyone? Caralluma has been used as a natural appetite suppressant in India for centuries. Caralluma is a “new” disovery in the west in the family of cactii and succulent plants that are becoming increasingly popular for their appetite suppressant, and weight loss properties, as well as their ability to lower blood sugar. Supplements made from the popular hoodia gordonii cactus from the Kalahari Desert in Africa, are very popularfor weight loss in the U.S., Canada, and Europe.

Like hoodia, Caralluma Fimbriata has been used to suppress appetite, and as a portable food for the outdoors as opposed to how we in the west have always used dried fruit and dried meat. It is used to suppress hunger and appetite, and enhance endurance throughout India. It is also sometimes considered a “famine food,” used during periods of famine to suppress appetite.

Caralluma Fimbriata is essentially a vegetable of daily use in tribal India. It is eaten in several forms. It is cooked as a regular vegetable with spices and salt. It is used in preserves like chutneys and pickles and is even eaten raw. Indian tribals chew chunks of Caralluma Fimbriata to suppress hunger when on a day’s hunt. This succulent is used amongst the labor classes in South India to suppress appetite and enhance endurance.

Two clinical trials of a proprietary Caralluma fimbriata extract (Gencor Pacific, Inc., Austin, TX) found the product to be without any serious side effects.6,11 The extract is described as a powder alcohol and water extract of the shade-dried aerial parts of the plant and containing not less than 10% total saponin glycosides, 3% bitters, and 25% total pregnane glycosides.7 Specific active components are noted to include luteolin-4?-O-neohesperidoside, kaempferol-7-O-neohesperidoside, sitosterol, tomentogenin, and pregnane glycosides, including caratubersides A and B and various boucerosides.6

In a double-blind, placebo-controlled, randomized trial on potential weight-loss effects, the Caralluma extract was administered in gelatin capsules initially to 62 obese subjects, 50 of whom completed the 8-week study. Subjects were of both genders, in normal health, not taking medications, and had not dietary restrictions during the trial. Reasons why the 12 subjects failed to complete the trial and the dosage used and quantitative results are not found in the summary made available for this report. According to the trial summary, reductions in the indicators of weight-loss were statistically significant and all adverse effects were gastrointestinal (constipation, moderate acidity, and flatulence), reported by both the placebo and the extract treatments groups, and transient (subsided within 7 days without further incidence).6

A 4-week, randomized, placebo-controlled trial of Caralluma was conducted in 26 overweight subjects (7 in the placebo group and 19 in the extract group; 9 men and 15 women ages 31 to 73). The extract was supplied in gelatin capsules at a dosage of one 500-mg capsule 30 min. before each meal. Subjects were instructed to maintain their previous exercise pattern and food intake and not to make any changes in their diet during 4 weeks before the treatment period, neither of which are described in the publication made available for this report. One male in each of the treatment arms of the trial failed to appear for final assessments; however, the reasons for their absence were not stated in the publication. The only adverse effects reported were from one subject in the final placebo group (3 males and 3 females) and one in the final extract treatment group who both complained of bloating and acidity shortly after beginning treatment and upon starting treatment again after ceasing. Subsequently, both discontinued the Caralluma capsules. The trial summary states that over 80% of those in the final treatment group (5 men and 13 women) lost weight with 11 out of 18 subjects losing approximately 6 pounds. Others lost 1-2 pounds (n=4) or maintained their starting weight (n=2). The exceptions in the extract group were one woman who lost 8 pounds, another who lost 9 pounds, and one who deviated from the trial instructions by increasing her calorie intake and gained 17 pounds. Three subjects in the placebo group (n=6) gained a pound and one subject lost one pound.

Take this as you would like but it seems that Caralluma is poised to be one of the new most popular weight loss products. One thing to watch for in the news is how easily this product will be to grow and produce as there are many companies that can package and market and with few if any side effects there will be very little resistance to a “new” indian weight loss product.

Tags: Africa, Austin, bloating, Canada, constipation, Europe, famine food, food intake, Gencor Pacific Inc., India, indian weight loss product, Kalahari desert, portable food, United States, weight loss products