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Posts Tagged ‘Phytopharm’

A natural weight loss product called Hoodia has enjoyed recent popularity. It contains the vital mix of suppressing your appetite while simultaniously increading your metabolism, which helps you burn more calories while eating less.

It comes from the plant Hoodia gordonii. This plant is also called Kalahari cactus and Xhoba. It grows in the arid Kalahari on the border of South Africa and Nambia. A native people called the Xhomani bushmen or San people have been using the plant on hunting trips for thousands of years to reduce their sense of hunger and thirst.

An organization called the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) in South Africa began investigating this phenomenon. In 2003, the CSIR reached an agreement with the San people to share in royalties from the sale of drug products derived from Hoodia gordonii.

In 1997, the CSIR approached Phytopharm, a British company which develops drugs from plants, about collaborating on developing the active ingredient. Phytopharm has subsequently sold licenses to Pfizer and Unilever. However, it is currently marketed by other companies as a natural product to curb appetite and aid in weight loss.The chemical isolated from Hoodia gordonii that is believed to cause appetite suppression is P57AS3, or more commonly called just P57. It comes from dried extracts of the plant’s sap. Studies on rats, mice, and dogs have shown that P57 causes weight loss with little side effects.

Research has lead scientists to believe that it increases the naturally occurring chemical ATP (adenosine tri-phosphate) in an area of the brain called the hypothalamus. The hypothalamus has a number of functions, mainly dealing with the regulation of hormones and other body processes. ATP is basically the fuel on which our bodies run. If ATP is low in the hypothalamus, the brain may sense that the body is low on energy and needs to eat.

If ATP can be kept high, the brain may decide that the body has plenty of energy and does not need to eat. This mechanism is just a theory at this point, and more research needs to be done.Phytopharm has done some initial research on humans. It has examined the safety and tolerability of P57. One very small study on 19 overweight men that lasted only 15 days showed that P57 caused a 30% decrease in the amount of calories they ate as well as a weight loss of 1 kg (2.2 lbs).

However, these data have not been peer reviewed in scientific journals.Hoodia does seem to offer some promise to a new and relatively safe diet pill. Any therapy that has few or no side effects and is effective in helping people lose weight is a much welcomed drug. The research is still new, and there is much more that needs to be done to understand the effects of the P57 compound. Even in light of the positive outlook, it must be remembered that drugs and most all supplements seem to have side effects.

Much of the time, it takes several years for side effects to become apparent. Natural products can have potentially devastating consequences. As an example, Ephedra was banned by the FDA because it was linked to heart attacks, strokes, death, etc. One must be careful about taking any supplement because of this. Products marketed as natural supplements are not subject to the same scrutiny of safety and effectiveness as drugs. With this caution, hopefully, researchers will use Hoodia gordonii to develop a safe and effective weight loss medicine.

Technorati Tags: Active Ingredient, Appetite Suppression, Atp, Body Processes, Bushmen, Cactus, Csir, Extracts, Gordonii, Hoodia, Hoodia Gordonii, Hormones, Hunger And Thirst, Hunting Trips, Hypothalamus, Kalahari Cactus, Nambia, P57, P57as3, Pfizer, Phosphate, Phytopharm, Royalties, Simultaniously, Supplements, Unilever, weight Loss, Xhoba

Despite its popularity, there are no published randomized controlled trials in humans to show hoodia is safe or effective in pill form.
One study published in the September 2004 issue of Brain Research found that injections of p57 into the appetite center of rat brains resulted in altered levels of ATP, an energy molecule that may affect hunger. The animals receiving the P57 injections also ate less than rats that received placebo injections. However, this was an animal study and injections in the brain are different from oral consumption, so it cannot be used to show that oral hoodia can suppress appetite in humans.
The manufacturer Phytopharm cites a clinical trial involving 18 human volunteers that found hoodia consumption reduced food intake by about 1000 calories per day compared to a placebo group. Although intriguing, the study wasn’t published or subjected to a peer-review process, so the quality of the study cannot be evaluated.

What are the Side Effects of Hoodia?
There have not been any side effects reported from eating Hoodia or from taking the P-57 molecule. Remember, for thousands of years that Bushmen have eaten Hoodia Gordonii plants with no ill side effects.
How do I Know if it’s Pure Hoodia?
There are widespread reports of counterfeit hoodia products. Mike Adams of News Target, estimates that 80 percent of hoodia products are contaminated or counterfeit. It is impossible to know if a hoodia product contains pure hoodia and the active ingredient, unless it has been tested by an independent laboratory.
We have tested the leading Hoodia Brands and have selected three products that we feel offer the safest, most effective weight loss on the market today.
Latin Name: Hoodia gordonii
Other Names: hoodia, xhooba, !khoba, Ghaap, hoodia cactus, South African desert cactus
Hoodia (pronounced HOO-dee-ah) is a cactus-like plant that grows primarily in the semi-deserts of South Africa, Botswana, Namibia, and Angola.
In the last few years, hoodia has been heavily marketed for weight loss and has become immensely popular.
Although there has always been a demand for diet pills, after the ban on the herb ephedra, the market was particularly ripe for the next new diet pill.
Much of hoodia’s popularity stems from claims that the San Bushmen of the Kalahari desert relied on hoodia for thousands of years to ward off hunger and thirst during long hunting trips.
They were said to have cut off the stem and eat the bitter-tasting plant.
Hoodia gordonii grows in clumps of green upright stems. Although it is often called a cactus because it resembles one, hoodia is actually a succulent plant.
It takes about five years before hoodia gordonii’s pale purple flowers appear and the plant can be harvested.
There are over 13 types of hoodia. The only active ingredient identified so far is a steroidal glycoside that has been called “p57″. Currently, only hoodia gordonii is thought to contain p57.

Technorati Tags: African Desert, Animal Study, Brain Research, Cactus Hoodia, Calories Per Day, Desert Cactus, diet, Effective Weight Loss, Energy Molecule, health, Hoodia Cactus, Human Volunteers, Independent Laboratory, Latin Name, Oral Consumption, P57, Phytopharm, Placebo Group, Pure Hoodia, Rat Brains, Semi Deserts, Target, weight Loss