Safety and
Hoodia Gordonii Sourcing Concerns
The San Bushmen have used hoodia as whole
fresh plant or dried whole plant (without flowers or root) for
thousands of years in their diet, and at times of famine, they have
relied on hoodia as a staple in their diet. This circumstance
creates a great precedent for the safety of the hoodia plant, but it
does not create precedence for the safety or effectiveness of a drug
derived from the hoodia plant.
The effects of hoodia on the central nervous
system exhibit powerful potential for weight control, where behavior
modification can reduce calorie intake. The San Bushmen report an
energizing effect of hoodia, and they have used the plant during
their strenuous hunting expeditions.
This implies that hoodia supplements would be
safe when combined with aerobic exercise, a major factor in
promoting weight loss and health, and in combating insulin
resistance (the metabolic Syndrome X). One interesting, but
apparently inconsistent, “side effect” of hoodia is its aphrodisiac
properties.
In South Africa, the hoodia plant is processed
most often by sun-drying the plant to produce powder or
concentrates. These substances can be used as dietary supplement
ingredients or perhaps as food ingredients.
Unfortunately, there is evidence emerging that
bulk suppliers of some material used in hoodia supplements are
providing “cactus-like” bulk material imported from Mexico or China.
I have been involved in testing some bulk supply labeled hoodia and
have found circumstances where steroidal glycoside content is very
low, or even negligible, in some samples.
It seems prudent for manufacturers and
marketers to use only hoodia from approved South African sources
operating as government-approved cultivators. Recent directives from
South Africa warn that the supply of hoodia has been outstripped by
the demand.The response from the South African government has been
to limit export permits to control and conserve hoodia resources.
Therefore, purchasers should research their supply channel and test
imported material to ensure they are supplying consumers with safe,
effective hoodia.
Properly formulated hoodia supplements appear
to alter the body function of appetite control in a manner that
affords great promise for the “new, healthy diet revolution.” Hoodia
may be ideal for use in combination with other supplements that can
benefit weight control, such as green tea polyphenols and chromium
compounds. While more research may be required to fully understand
hoodia’s mechanism of action in weight control, there appears to be
mounting open-label experience of its use as a dietary supplement to
suppress appetite, control weight and provide minor energizing
effects, without any content of stimulant substances.
To have a safe dietary supplement that can
help to “switch off” appetite, or at least provide behavioral
reinforcement to control appetite, is an outstanding new promise.
Hoodia likely will be one of the most popular dietary supplements of
2009, but the pathway forward may be hampered by many negative,
emerging commerce issues.
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