Which Products Contain Hoodia Gordonii?
Currently, there are a large number of products that claim to contain extracts from the
Hoodia gordonii plant. However, this plant is not grown easily or quickly, and is protected under an international agreement that regulates how certain native plants can be used (in order to protect them over-harvesting, which could threaten their survival). Therefore, there is a limited supply of
Hoodia gordonii plants available, and there have been several reports claiming that many marketed hoodia supplements contain very little or no hoodia at all.
Currently, Phytopharm (a well-respected supplement manufacturer) holds the patent for p57 (a compound that is thought to be the active ingredient of Hoodia gordonii). At one time, Phytopharm licensed the patent to Pfizer, although Pfizer has since returned the rights back to Phytopharm. At this time, Phytopharm has licensed the patent to another company (Unilever). Also, a certain group of native people in South Africa have the intellectual property rights for the use of hoodia to control appetite.
There is a lack of scientific evidence to support a conclusion that Hoodia gordonii is effective for weight loss. No adequate research studies have been performed and published using it for weight loss. Phytopharm claims to have conducted a study that showed it to be effective, but this study has never been published.
At this time, there is no established safe and effective Hoodia gordonii dose. More research is necessary in order to determine an appropriate dose for these products.
