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You might want to check out this article:
Hoodia Gordonii Review
Here is an excerpt from the above article which was written by Cathy Wong (Cathy Wong, ND, CNS, is a licensed naturopathic doctor and an American College of Nutrition-certified nutrition specialist. Cathy has 10 years of research, clinical, and teaching experience in the field of complementary and alternative medicine. In addition to her experience in private practice, she was a consultant to the spa industry. )
“How Does Hoodia Gordonii Work?
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 are some potential side effects of hoodia that you should be aware of…. ”