Introduction

Don't forget to also read our Best Fat Burners list!

The Mechanism

While hoodia gordonii as an ingredient does have some very impressive anecdotal evidence surrounding its ability to promote satiety and therefore reduce caloric intake, this is evidence that is not supported within the scientific community.  Hoodia is one of the few products that became popular enough just through the internet to attract the attention of the scientific community.  That in itself is an interesting point, but what is more relevant for the purpose of this review is that the scientific community has yet to come up with any convincing proof that the anecdotal evidence is correct.

Weight loss science is not by any chance complete in terms of the knowledge base and for that reason there are a lot of people that like to play hunches based on anecdotal evidence.  This is how products like Hoodia get to become hyped in the first place.  Often, as is the case here however, it is in spite of real evidence against the product.

Mark Blumenthal, founder and executive director of the American Botanical Council, a nonprofit research organization in Austin, Texas says:

"We can only say the evidence available to us right now, which is considered inadequate, suggests that there is some type of appetite-suppressing mechanism in some of the naturally occurring chemicals in hoodia."

The laboratory evidence Blumenthal refers to was produced by David MacLean, MD, an adjunct associate professor at Brown University in Providence, R.I., and a former researcher at the pharmaceutical giant, Pfizer. In a report published in the Sept. 10, 2004, issue of Brain Research, MacLean reported that a molecule in hoodia, called P57, likely has an effect on the brain's hypothalamus, which helps regulate appetite. His study was done in animals.

There is also plenty of evidence to suggest it does work such as: 

Hoodia gordonii: a natural appetite suppressant. , van Heerden FR., J Ethnopharmacol. 2008 Oct 28;119(3):434-7. Epub 2008 Aug 30. Review.

The main hype behind Hoodia products surrounds their main ingredient.  If you take a look at the list of ingredients for any Hoodia product, you will quickly discover that the main ingredient is really the only ingredient in there that is potentially relevant to dieting and weight loss.  That ingredient is hoodia gordonii and to say that it took the dieting world by storm is to become a candidate for biggest understatement of the decade.  Hoodia was the main weight loss hype less than a year ago and even though many have moved on to other pastures, there are many that still swear by the almost mythical anecdotal prowess that hoodia gordonii supplies.  It is supposed to be the best appetite suppressant around if you believe the stories, with people claiming some ridiculously small caloric intake amounts as a direct result of using it.

The Facts

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