Hoodia Extract

This page on hoodia extract is probably one of the most important pages of our site and should be read before looking at any of the various hoodia gordonii products we discuss on other pages.

It will help clear up any confusion you have about what exactly hoodia is and what you are getting in any type of hoodia product you may buy.

First, let's talk about Phytopharm and Unilever. Phytopharm is a British based pharmaceutical company that owns the patent rights to something called p57. p57 is the name given to the active ingredient present in hoodia gordonii that is responsible for its appetite killing (and hence weight loss) benefits.

Phytopharm currently has a joint venture with Unilever (owner of the Slimfast product line) to develop hoodia gordonii products from p57, which are slated to be released in a couple of years.

Only Phytopharm and Unilever, because of patent protection, are allowed to sell hoodia extract of p57 simply because they own the legal rights. What this means is that they can purify, isolate or alter p57 and use it in any upcoming weight loss products they develop.

Stated differently, only Phytopharm and Unilever can legally employ methods to extract the p57 molecule.

This is what some people think of when they think of hoodia extract or hoodia cactus extract.

Now here's where we can clear up some misunderstanding.

Just because Phytopharm and Unilever jointly own patent protection for the p57 molecule hoodia extract process does not mean they are the only ones who can sell hoodia gordonii based products.

And this is exactly why you are seeing many websites that offer a range of differents kinds of hoodia gordonii products.

Hoodia Potency

This leads us into our discussion of hoodia potency -- or, how you can tell more potent hoodia from less potent hoodia.

First, any company selling a product saying they are using 100% pure hoodia plant is probably a cheaper product. This is because when the hoodia is crushed and grounded into a powder for encapsulating into a product or supplement it will contain other undesirables that are used as fillers. For example, the hoodia gordonii plant has flowers, skin, and roots which the Sans Bushmen do not eat to kill their appetite. 

Also, pulpy leaves are normally discarded and left out of more potent hoodia products since they just take up room in the supplement.

But in cheaper products these will be used as fillers to make it less expensive to manufacture a hoodia product. Cheaper for them means a higher profit margin for them -- but it means you get "cheated" out of potent hoodia.

Some other hoodia gordonii products -- and these have more potency -- are made with a process that entails using alcohol.

Here's how it works: hoodia gordonii plant is put into an alcohol solution, and the alcohol helps to separate it from the cheap fillers, such as pulpy leaves, skin, fibrous material, and so on.

The end result is that when the alcohol is removed a lot of the filler material is removed with it, leaving more of the good stuff: hoodia gordonii powder used for the products.

These products are more expensive because you're getting more of what you want -- what some companies call hodia gordonii extract -- and less of what you don't.

If you read labels on hoodia products that are using this method you'll see the concentration of the hoodia gordoni extract listed. For example, you might see 10:1 printed on the label.

When you see 10:1 on the label, for example, it means 1 gram of extract was produced from 10 grams of the whole hoodia gordonii plant.

This is obviously a lot more concentrated than just using the ground up powder of the whole hoodia plant that is comprised largely of other material. Such extracts will, of course, be more expensive.

So now you have some information about hoodia gordoni extract -- between the difference of Phytopharm's hoodia gordonii and what other sellers have on the market.

One last word of warning is this: no matter what product you buy, you should always stick to one that has certification on their website that they are using authentic South African hoodia gordonii in their products.

Hoodia gordonii is an expensive, limited supply commodity. Because of this, there are unethical companies selling product touted as hoodia that don't even contain any hoodia.

Also, there are over a dozen species of hoodia, but only the hoodia gordonii type has the appetite killing effects. The other twelve or so hoodia species do not. Therefore, also be aware of products that say "100% pure hoodia" because it might not be hoodia gordonii....and you won't get any benefits, even if they are technically not lying.

So, unless you are buying a product certified to be using authentic South African hoodia hordonii, it won't matter what the concentration level is. Hoodia extract won't have any weight loss benefits unless it's real hoodia gordonii.

Alternatively, you can wait a couple of years for Phytopharm and Unilever to release their anticipated products.

	To learn about Hoodia Gordonii Central's Featured Hoodia Products, please visit our page at: Buy hoodia