Hoodia, it might be flying off store shelves but is this diet pill safe?

Hoodia is fast becoming one of the best sellers in nutritional stores but you have to ask yourself; what do you really know about this new African weight loss product? If you ask some dieters they liken their experience of taking Hoodia to finding water in the middle of the desert. They will tell you that it actually does reduce their hunger, which is for these people trying so very hard to lose weight a real weapon in their arsenal against obesity. The question remains still, is this product safe? Just because there are many people taking Hoodia and saying that it’s great and works for them, does this mean you should jump right in with this craze. The answer is: BE CAUTIOUS WHEN IT COMES TO HOODIA, NOT ALL HOODIA IS THE SAME! We have seen countless other diet pills that have come and gone in the arena of weight loss; leaving their scars on people with their side effects and dashed hopes of weight loss. Hoodia is not the same as these other weight loss products, with Hoodia there are different reasons for being concerned. So far safety is not the top concern when it comes to the Hoodia, many people are now taking Hoodia and at this point there are no reports of any serious health problems related to consuming Hoodia properly. Additional assurances of Hoodia’s safeness can be further validated in the origin of where this cactus type plant comes from. The actual plant that is now found capsulated in pill form is called “Hoodia Gordonii” and grows in the Kalahari Desert of South Africa. Hoodia has been a source of nourishment for the native Bushmen that live in the desert where the Hoodia succulent grows naturally. These Bushmen called “The San” have eaten Hoodia for thousands of years with no ill health effect; they actually claim it gives them energy in addition to helping them have no hunger. Reducing hunger is an important part of these aborigines’ lives because of the fact that food is hard to come by in the desert; these people sometimes have to go days without eating. Because The San People have been eating Hoodia for so long it would suggest that Hoodia is safe to consume. Unlike other diet pills that have been on the market lately where safety has been the top concern, Hoodia has other issues for the consumer to deal with. The most prevalent problem when it comes to Hoodia is if what you have bought is actual real genuine Hoodia Gordonii from South Africa. Most people trust that what they get on store shelves is what it says it is; this is not the case with Hoodia and it’s not necessarily the company’s fault that is selling it. The problem is there is no regulation with Hoodia and there are only a few companies that have adopted self regulation in the form of certification and independent testing. World demand has put a high price on Hoodia and big profits without regulation are an equation for corruption. One study done by Truth Publishing and Alkemist Pharmaceuticals located at: naturalhealthreport.com/A-Hoodia-Gordonii-exposed.html, found that eleven out of seventeen brand-name Hoodia supplements tested failed a laboratory analysis of authenticity. Shocking isn’t it, and some of these Hoodia brands are selling in your neighborhood nutritional store. Many times the brand name may not even be aware of the problem because the breakdown in authenticity comes at the source of distribution. There are other cactus type plants in South Africa that look like Hoodia only don’t produce the same appetite suppressing qualities. Some sources collect these plants and mix them in with the real Hoodia and then export them to unknowing companies that then sell it as genuine Hoodia. Safety wise, it might not hurt you to eat these plants but you won’t have the hunger curbing effects of the real Hoodia that you want. In the future, hopefully more regulation will be put in place and fake Hoodia won’t get into the consumers hands. Until that time you need to be vigilant to be sure what you are getting is the real thing. There are a few Hoodia brands that have contracted with registered Hoodia farms and are giving dieters authenticity assurances with independent testing and certification. The independent testing by Truth Publishing stated that their were six Hoodia brands they tested that passed for authenticity, these brands are: Desert Burn ZA, Hoodoba Hoodia, Dr. Wheeler's Afrigetics, King Hoodia, Hoodia Max and Ethno Africa. Genuine Hoodia is giving many people the results they want and helping them lose weight; just make sure you have the real stuff before you join the Hoodia Weight Loss Club.