Hoodia for Weight Loss
Used for centuries by the San tribesmen of the Kalahari Desert to reduce hunger, Hoodia gordonii was first studied by the South African national laboratory in a study of indigenous foods. When researchers fed this succulent plant to animals, the animals began to lose weight. After years of study, scientists now theorize that Hoodia appears to affect the brains of laboratory animals by making the stomach feel full and reducing the desire to eat.
Hoodia contains a molecule that has similar effects on nerve cells as glucose, and tricks the brain into the sensation of fullness. Results of human clinical trials in Britain suggest that hoodia may reduce the appetite by hundreds of calories a day. Dr. Richard Dixey who conducted research on the plant explained in a BBC interview that it “contains a molecule that is about 10,000 times as active as glucose. It goes to the mid-brain and actually makes those nerve cells fire as if you were full. But you have not eaten. Nor do you want to.”
