Is Hoodia Harmless

Is hoodia harmless ?

That's a concern for the multitude of people who are using and thinking about using any products containing hoodia in them. There are scores of such products on the market nowadays, with more arriving all of the time.

Here's what we know about hoodia currently (as of early 2006):

• Hoodia has been used for thousands of years by the Sans Bushmen, a tribe of hunter-gatherers who first discovered its appetite and thirst squelching properties, with no negative side effects.
  
• The active ingredient in hoodia gordonii -- called P57 which was discovered by the CSIR (Council for Scientific and Industrial Research) isolated the active molecule -- and sold the patent rights to a pharmaceutical company called phytofarm.
  
• Phytofarm conducted a clinical study with morbidly obese patients, half of whom used P57 from hoodia and half of whom were on a placebo. The group on P57 achieved astounding results (reduced body fat and consumed on average a 1,000 less calories per day). They also experienced no negative side effects.

This is all great news so far, but it doesn't mean we can answer the question: is hoodia harmless ? with a yes.

First of all, more studies on its safety need to be carried out. One study does not prove something is safe. In addition, it's possible that hoodia gordonii may interact negatively with prescription or over the counter meds, which the Sans Bushmen do not take at all.

Is hoodia safe during pregnancy ?

No clinical studies have been conducted to answer the question: is hoodia safe during pregnancy. Because of this, it is much better to err on the side of caution and not use hoodia during pregnancy at all. In fact, all supplements should be avoided during pregnancy without first talking to your doctor.

Something else to keep in mind is that hoodia may not be harmless to diabetics because it fools the brain into thinking you're full even when you haven't eaten.

The result is that if a diabetic thinks he's full but hasn't eaten, he or she may experience a dangerously low blood sugar level and not even know it.

So, if you have diabetes, be very careful if you decide to use a hoodia gordonii product, and make sure you tell your doctor.

On an interesting note, the Sans Bushmen use hoodia gordonii for a variety of medicinal purposes, and one of them is to help treat diabetes. We're not saying it should be used for this purpose, but we thought we should mention it.

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