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Hoodia
gordonii is a plant of the apocynaceae family, and is native to
Southern Africa and Namibia. The plant is no leaves and has a spiny
texture and grows in various dry areas. The flowers emanated stench of
rotting meat of and are generally pollinated by swarms of flies. The
plant is famous for its medicinal uses and it has been used for a
number of medicinal purposes for many centuries by the natives of the
area, although none of these benefits have ever been properly
scientifically proven. Hoodia is a
protected plant and the harvesting of it is only allowed to take place
in its native habitat and by certain authorized organisations which
obtain a licence for it. Today the plant cells for $130 a kilogram
although back in 2007 it street price was $250. In spite of this,
products that use it was still very widely marketed.
The medicinal history of Hoodia dates back to its famous use as an
appetite suppressant during cross-country hunting expeditions across
the Kalahari Desert. It has also been used in the past to treat medical
problems like indigestion and the prevention of lesser infections.
Because of its history as an appetite suppressant, markets around the
world have started to capitalise on it in the ever booming weight loss
industry.
The active ingredient of Hoodia, which is believed to have the appetite
suppressant affect, was isolated by researchers in 1997. Patented in
1996, nonetheless since then, a large number of scientific studies have
resulted in there being no solid proof that the plant is actually an
appetite suppressant. Because of this Hoodia
has never had any approval from the Food And Drug Administration. In
addition, very few professional dieticians and well respected companies
actually recommended to people interested in losing weight.
The plant is presently endangered and there are a great deal of
restrictions on the export of it and in many cases it is not allowed to
be harvested at all. There are a number of monitors on international
trade of the product by the Convention Of International Trade Of
Endangered Species. Because of this, it is generally a legal to explore
the plant out of Africa.
Still today, there are four laboratories in the United States which are
still studying the properties of the plant but no one has yet proven it
supposed benefits. In spite of the enormous amount of media coverage
that the plant is had, doctors still do not advise its use in general,
and much of this advertising has been proven to be deliberately
dishonest, simply based on rumours.
Weight loss is a rapidly growing market, especially with the advent of
the Internet and there are a great deal of scams out there and spammers
who constantly send unsolicited emails advertising Hoodia based
products.
Today, products containing extracts of the Hoodia plant
can still be found in a number of places on the Internet and even in
drugstores in various countries, although most places it is restricted
if not illegal, especially as it is not approved by the Food And Drug
Administration.
Products based on these plants come in a variety of forms. Some of these are capsules, tablets, tinctures or other forms of directories supplements.
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