Ever since the introduction of Hoodia to the American public through a feature in “60 minutes” some years back the popularity of Hoodia Diet Pills have skyrocketed. It is hailed to be the next step in the future of diet pills. Its main active ingredient “P57” is reported to help suppress appetite which greatly helps in the slimming process.

Most Hoodia diet pills are made from essentially the same thing. One thing that has to be mentioned first is that the only part of the Hoodia plant that contains the active ingredient P57 is the core stem of the plant leading from the root to the top of the plant. The core stem only accounts for about 20% of the plant thus some unscrupulous merchants grind the core along with other parts of the plant as their Hoodia diet pill recipe. When shopping for the pills you should only consider those that grind only the core.

The rise in popularity of Hoodia has meant that the regulations regarding the planting, harvesting and production of Hoodia for diet pills have been tightened. Currently in the South and West of Africa Hoodia is grown in large farms specifically for commercial use. These farm grown Hoodia plants make up the bulk of all Hoodia that is sold to the world. The standards of these commercial farms is regulated by the local authorities who issue a CITES Certificate (Certificate of International Trade in Endangered Species of Flora and Fauna) for plants approved for commercial sale.

Currently there are no registered or reported side effects from taking Hoodia. The native Bushmen however claim that Hoodia have added benefit as an aphrodisiac although the main used is still to suppress appetite and also as a thirst quencher. The San Bushmen also use Hoodia in their medicinal preparations in treating abdominal cramps, hemorrhoids and also drink Hoodia tea to ease indigestion. Additionally, the San Bushmen use Hoodia to treat Hypertension and tuberculosis.

It should be noted that as of the time of writing Hoodia sold in the form of diet pills there hasn’t been an FDA approved study to scientifically prove the effectiveness of Hoodia in suppressing appetite. This is because of the costs it requires for such a large study to be conducted. As a result of this all Hoodia diet pills sold are not FDA approved and rather sold as a food supplement rather than an actual drug. It should be noted that because of this lack of regulation, the Federal Trade Commission has reported many scams and complaints associated with Hoodia. So, buyer be ware.