Ask the experts: I've read that hoodia is an effective herbal appetite suppressant. What is it, and does it work?
Hoodia (Hoodia gordonii)
is a slow-growing succulent
plant (not a cactus, as is often
misreported), used traditionally as
an appetite-suppressing survival
food in the deserts of South Africa
and Namibia. The current meteoric
rise in popularity of hoodia as a
weight-loss aid is based mainly on
this traditional use, recent media
reports, and conjecture.
While there has been some
research on hoodia, to my knowledge
there are no published
human clinical trials demonstrating
its appetite-suppressing
effects. Without published data
from clinical trials, the safety of
hoodia must be evaluated based
on its traditional use as well as any
modern empirical data. In South
Africa and Namibia, hoodia is not
a staple in the diet; it has been
used as a survival food and to suppress
appetite during long treks in
the desert. However, it appears to
be relatively safe at this time.
The quality of hoodia supplements
is still in question. It normally
takes at least two to three
years for hoodia plants to grow to
an adequate size for harvest. But
many herb-industry experts agree
that the demand for hoodia has
probably outpaced the ability of
producers to supply it. The result,
according to independent testing,
has shown variations in potency
and quality in supplements in
which other ingredients appear to
have been substituted for hoodia.
-Mark Blumenthal, founder
and executive director of the
American Botanical Council
and the editor of HerbalGram
