Hoodia Gordonii – My Secret Weapon

I have been using Hoodia Gordonii since the last week of February. It has been a tremendous help and I attribute a large part of my success to the South African cactus. One of my biggest problems has always been excess. When I felt hungry, I ate, but I ate a lot. Hoodia is an appetite suppressant and nothing else. It doesn't boost your metabolism and it doesn't block fat. It keeps you from feeling hungry.

Keep in mind that if you are the type of person that eats because they are depressed, stressed out, or just bored, Hoodia is not for you. If you are the kind of person that eats because they feel hungry, then Hoodia will become your best friend and maybe your secret weapon. If you are considering using Hoodia Gordonii, you want to read every word on this page. A recent report by Mike Adams of "Natural News" states that an estimated 80% of Hoodia products are counterfeit. I have done a ton of research on this and have created this page to help you out. Read on to learn more about Hoodia Gordonii and how to protect yourself from scammers.

What Is The Hoodia Plant?

There are 13 known types of the Hoodia cactus. The Hoodia Gordonii is the only one of the 13 that has the active ingredient P57. The P57 molecule was discovered by a British company called Phytopharm. To this day Phytopharm still holds the license  for P57 and all Hoodia Gordonii originates from them. The Hoodia Gordonii plant only grows naturally in the Kalahari desert in South Africa. The San bush people have been using the cactus for 1000's of years. Hunting groups would eat the cactus to stave off hunger and thirst during long trips into the desert.

Hoodia Gordonii was relatively unknown until 60 minutes did a piece on it in November of 2004. Since then, the market for Hoodia has exploded. The demand has quickly out grown the available supply. The cactus takes 5-7 years to mature and the P57 molecule does not appear in any significant quantity until the plant is 3-3 1/2 years old. Hoodia that grows in the wild is considered an endangered species therefore the South African government has strict controls in place. Since Hoodia's overnight popularity, they have allowed a limited number of growers to cultivate Hoodia, but supplies of the real herb are still limited. This is the main reason why there are so many frauds. There is a huge demand and not enough supply.

How Does Hoodia Work?

When you eat food, the body converts it into ATP (adenine triphosphate) which is in essence, fuel for your bodies cells. The body also converts your food into glucose, which is basically sugar. The part of your brain called the hypothalamus is sensitive to the bodies sugar levels. When glucose and ATP levels go up, your brain tells your body that you are full. It is believed that P57, the active ingredient in Hoodia Gordonii, is about 100,000 times as active as glucose. The hypothalamus sees the P57 as increased levels of sugar and tells your body that you are full.

Studies in rats and humans have shown that people that take regular doses of Hoodia Gordonii consumed 30-50% less calories. Hoodia does not make you lose weight by increasing your metabolism or blocking fat. It simply keeps you from feeling hungry by tricking your body into thinking that you are full. I took Hoodia Gordonii for the entire month of March and I can verify this claim. I am a person that really enjoys eating and when I don't eat on time, my stomach lets me know it. If you have been following my blog, you know that I eat 5 small snacks a day instead of 3 large meals. Since I started taking Hoodia, I have to make myself eat my snack. When I wasn't taking the herb, I always knew when it was time to eat because my stomach would be growling, but not any more. If you have the real deal, it works. The problem is to find authentic, pure Hoodia Gordonii.

Pure Hoodia Gordonii

If you want to try hoodia, you need to be careful. I have been doing a ton of research on this because I wanted to make sure that I got the real deal. Scammers will go to great lengths to take your money. The United States of America is the fattest country, per capita, in the world. There is an insatiable market for weight loss products and the charlatans are taking full advantage of our gullibilty. The internet makes it even easier for them to present themselves as legitimate businesses. There are people literally stuffing capsules with sawdust and selling it as Hoodia.

There are also people selling real Hoodia, but it is from China or Mexico. Only Hoodia grown in South Africa is the real deal. You also want to stay away from extracts. Here are a couple things that should throw up a red flag:

• any product not grown in South Africa
• any product claiming to be a very potent 20:1 extract
• products that are priced lower than the norm (real Hoodia is scarce and therfore expensive)

There are only a handfull of hoodia Gordonii growers in South Africa. These farmers are required to have a growers license, an export license, and a C.I.T.E.S. license per shipment when exporting raw Hoodia. C.I.T.E.S. stands for Convention of International Trade of Endangered Species. Because of the huge amount of fraud in the Hoodia market place, any company that has these certificates will post copies on there website. Not to say that they are all legitimate. Someone could easily Photoshop a fake certification, but if they don't even have a fake on their website, I would run away.

I am going to tell you the results of my research and tell you which brand I use and why I picked them. I have tried the product first and have had great results. I lost 9.4 lbs. the first month I used the product and noticed a drastic change in my hunger patterns. I feel safe in saying that the product I am taking is real Hoodia Gordonii. I will also reveal 2 other brands that I would feel safe spending my money on because of people that I know personally that have used the product and because they have been mentioned on several authoritative websites that I trust.

There are 3 brands that keep coming up as 100% pure Hoodia Gordonii in my research. The first is the one that I use called Desert Burn. They are one of only 2 companies that are able to buy directly from the Hoodia growers without going through a middle man. They buy directly from Phytopharm, which is the British company that holds the license on the P57 active ingedient. They were one of the very first companies to make Hoodia in a capsule form and were in business selling Hoodia before the 60 Minutes special and subsequent hoodia gold rush. They also are members of the Better Business Bureau and they have a USDA import license.

They do extensive random testing on their products to insure high quality all of the time. If you go to their website, you will see the results of tests by 2 different independent companies; Alkemists Pharmacuticals and Chromex. They also have their various licenses on display including a Phytopharm certification that you won't find on any other Hoodia websites. They are also members of the American Herbal Products Association, but I am not sure what that means.

Go to the website by clicking on the picture or one of the links. They will take you to my affiliate site. Yes, I make 25% off of any sales but that is not why I am promoting Desert Burn. There are many more Hoodia products out there that have better affiliate payouts. I am promoting Desert Burn because it is what I am using and I know it works. I am a part time internet marketer and I know that if you promote crap, those are the kinds of results you will get…crap. If I am going to monetize my blog, (you should always do that, something has to pay for your web hosting), I am going to do it right. I want people to be ecstatic with the results they get so they become repeat customers. I lost more weight this past month then I have the previous 2 months of this year sans Desert Burn.

The other two products that I feel safe to recommend even though I have not personally tried them are Hoodoba from Strickly Health Corp. and Hoodia Hoodia brand from Millennium Health. I have not tried these but the names came up time and time again in my research as being authentic Hoodia Gordonii products. My personal experience is with the Desert Burn products. They are the innovators in the industry. They have liquid Hoodia for those that can't take pills and they also have Hoodia tea and coffee. They even have Hoodia fruit bars and just recently came out with Hoodia shakes in 3 different flavors.

Hoodia Gordonii Side Effects

Hoodia is not regulated by the FDA. The pharmacuetical giant Pfizer purchased the license from Phytopharm but was unable to secure a patent on a plant that grows naturally and were not able to create an extract of the P57 molecule that would be varied enough from the original to be considered their creation. So they sold the license back to Phytopharm. Phytopharm is now working with Unilever, the makers of Slimfast.

Hoodia Gordonii is touted by most promoters to be free of any harmful side effects. The truth is that there have not been enough "official" studies done to prove otherwise. I can say that there are definately not any immediately noticeable side effects like when I used Allia. If you read up on Allia, it has known side effects such as oily bowl movements and possibly anal leakage! I took Allia for about 2 months last year and I can attest to the truth of those reports. That fat that it blocks has to go some where.

When Pfizer was doing there studies, they mentioned that there could be some possible long term effects on the liver but did not give any conclusive results. Like any kind of supplement, you should consult with your physician before starting any kind of weight loss regime. This is especially true if you are taking any kind of regular medication like blood pressure medicine. Diabetics should also be careful. Hoodia controls the feedback to your brain in regards to blood sugar levels. Common sense tells you that this could possibly lead to complications with someone who is diabetic.

I have not found any instance of people complaining about any ill effects. The one side effect that I have noticed and have also read where other people experienced the same, has been an increased libido. Now this may be a result of the exercise and healthy eating but I have read claims that Hoodia acts as an aphrodisiac. Most people won't consider this a bad thing but it is still a side effect.

Here are some things you want to watch out for:

• Hoodia may cause you to not eat enough. If you are trying to lose weight, you need to eat regularly to boost your metabolism. You may find that you need to set reminders to make yourself eat on time.
• You shouldn't take Hoodia if you have an eating disorder or are underweight.
• Hoodia also curbs your thirst. Drinking a lot of water is an important part of your weight loss regime. You may find that you have to make yourself drink your daily doseage of water.
• Hoodia is a herb. People that have allergies could possibly have an allergic reaction.
• Pregnant or lactating Mothers should always consult their physician before taking Hoodia.(or any supplement for that matter)

If you want to do more research than what I provided or want a second opinion, go back to the top of the page and click on the link to "Natural News". Adam Smith has a very informative website called naturalnews.com which is where I got a lot of my information. If you feel I have provided enough information then click on one of the pictures or links to go to the Desert Burn website and see what's available.