Hoodia Gordonii is a plant that is grown in South Africa. Although often referred to as a cactus it is actually a species of succulent. The plant has been used for thousands of years by the Bushmen of South Africa as an appetite suppressant. They would eat the plant to suppress their appetite when going on long hunting trips. In more recent times there have been scientific tests performed on Hoodia by the Brown University when rats were injected with an extract from the plant and during this test they reported no dangers of Hoodia.
Along with these test results, there is also the history of this plant being used in South Africa for thousands of years and in all that time there has never been any reports of any negative side effects from the plant.
Concern was raised over Hoodia as a result of known dangers from other herbal weight loss products. In particular, the product Ephedra which was also used as an appetite suppressant and caused negative side effects and in some cases even death.
The difference between Hoodia and Ephedra is that the Ephedra plant was a stimulant and resulted in stimulating the heart and blood pressure which produced negative results. Hoodia is not a stimulant and has no effect on the heart or blood pressure.
With all the testing performed on Hoodia Gordonii it has proven to be very safe and it has shown no dangers when used as an appetite suppressant.
Hoodia simply mimics the effect that glucose has on our body by sending a signal to the brain to tell it that the stomach is full. As a result you no longer feel hungry and reduce the amount that you eat. The results of using Hoodia to assist with weight loss have been incredibly effective by many people.
Testing and the history of usage have shown Hoodia to be safe but these results are based on 100% pure Hoodia. The safety of inferior or even copycat products are not guaranteed so it is important to buy only 100% genuine Hoodia Gordonii.
