The hoodia plant is a spiny cactus that grows in the Kalahari desert in Africa, mostly in the arid areas of South Africa, Botswana, and Namibia. San Bushmen (who are one of the world's oldest and most primitive hunter-gatherer tribes), have known about the appetite suppressing abilities of hoodia for countless generations. Rock paintings of the San Bushmen go back more than 20,000 years. The nomadic Bushmen, who live in this harsh and arid desert, use the hoodia cactus as an appetite suppressant during their long marches and hunting trips.
  Limited feedback from hoodia users indicates that hoodia supplements are effective for weight loss in about half of users.

Supplements that could suppress appetite, help with weight loss, or improve metabolic syndrome. Many of these are found in a product called Diet Rx
Citrus-Aurantium also known as bitter orange, Ginger root (Zingiber officinalis), Green-Tea-Extract (Camellia sinensis, standardized to contain 50% polyphenols), Spirulina (Spirulina platensis), Hoodia-Extract (Hoodia gordonii, 20 to 1 extract), CLA fatty acids, Cinnamon root (Cinnamomum cassia), Apple Cider vinegar, Apple pectin, Garcinia Cambogia CitriMax HCA-600 SXS (standardized to contain 60% hydroxycitric acid), Glucomannan konjac 4 to 1 extract, Alpha-Lipoic, Grapefruit extract (Citrus paradise, 4 to 1 extract), Acetyl-l-Carnitine. Banaba extract (standardized to contain 1 % corosolic acid), 5-HTP, Choline bitartrate, Inositol, Carnitine (Hcl), Pomegranate (standardized to contain 40 % ellagic acid), Bitter melon extract (Momordica charantia), Psyllium husk, Coleus forskohlii (standardized to contain 10 % forskohlin), Fenugreek seed extract 4 to 1 (Trigonella foenum), Guggul herb (standardized to contain 10 % guggulsterones), and Inulin. Other products to consider include chitosan.

The Sad San Story -- A short history of the San Bushmen
Relatively small in stature, the San Bushmen first made contact with Western explorers in the 1920s. They were treated unkindly (some of the explorers even hunted them like animals) and by the 1930s the Bushmen population was so decimated that a wide section of the Kalahari desert was officially turned into a game preserve and the San were allowed to live off the land. Unfortunately as a result of the Apartheid laws in South Africa in the 1950s, the San were forced to settle in a makeshift township on the edge of the Kalahari desert. They were forbidden to hunt and ended up living in poverty and squalor... to this day.
   In July 2004, it was reported in the news that more than 200 bushmen from the Kalahari desert are taking the Botswana government to court over their forced eviction from ancestral land. They are challenging a 2002 decision to resettle them outside the Central Kalahari Game Reserve, which was their home for tens of thousands of years.

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Hoodia standard
A reference standard published in the United States for an extract taken from Hoodia gordonii, will enable companies to quickly and accurately identify Hoodia in their supply chains and assist them in complying with Good Manufacturing Practices regulations. The reference, called "Hoodia oxypregnane steroidal glycoside reference standard P57," is published by phytochemical standards specialist, ChromaDex, and will be independently reviewed. Once this has happened, the reference standard will enter the American Herbal Pharmacopoeia (AHP). AHP-verified reference standards offer an independent verification of the standards offered by companies like California-based ChromaDex.

Growing Hoodia
The hoodia cactus is difficult to grow and requires just the right amount of water, sunlight and temperature. It takes five years for the hoodia cactus to grow to full maturity.

Hoodia Research
It was in the 1960s that scientists first discovered that when rodents were given hoodia, they practically stopped eating. According to news reports, researchers in South Africa discovered hoodia contains a previously unknown compound, not known to be present in other plants, which has since been named P 57. Apparently the license was sold to a British pharmaceutical company, Phytopharm, who in turn sold the development and marketing rights to Pfizer Corporation. Studies with hoodia are being conducted at this time. A preliminary report in the news media which I can't find in medical journals indicates that hoodia is able to suppress appetite in humans.

Hoodia testing
In February 2008, Alkemists Pharmaceuticals conducted their Premium Partner Random Analysis quarterly for companies that have volunteered for inclusion. The Hoodia products tested by Alkemists are the following brands, Hoodia Shake, Power Slim, HoodiSpray, HoodiTrim, HoodiThin, Certified Hoodia, Hoodia Standardized, Prime Hoodia. Alkemists Pharmaceuticals testing found no adulteration or contamination in these eight hoodia supplement products.
 

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