Hoodia
Hoodia Gordonii also known as Hoodia, Ghaap, South African desert cactus, hoodia cactus, khoba, and xhooba is a natural weight loss agent.

Not All Hoodia is the same?
Hoodia is a plant found in the Kalahari Desert which has caused quite a stir in the weight loss industry in recent years. It grows in thickets of green upright stems and is essentially a succulent, not a cactus. It takes about 5 years before the Hoodia Gordonii plant's pale purple flowers become visible and the plant can be harvested. This is important because many less reputable companies greedy for sales have harvested the plants sooner which results in a much less powerful product. It's important to note as well that although there are many types of Hoodia, only Hoodia Gordonii has the neccessary components to promote weight loss. Many news articles have been written lately that suggest up to 80% of Hoodia products on the market today are fake and will not aid weight loss. We have done our best at w8lossreviews.com to ensure the products we showcase that contain Hoodia are legitamate, all of our products have current C.I.T.E.S Certificates and their Analytical Report. ProShapeRx that is our #2 product contains Hoodia and is quite reputable, ProShapeRX also contains White Kidney Bean Powder, Beet Root, White Willow Bark, Green Tea and Chitosan.

About Hoodia?
Although Hoodia was unearthed comparatively recently (Mid 2004), the San Bushmen of the Kalahari Desert have been consuming it for a very long time. It was initially used by the native bushmen, who during their nomadic hunting trips would chew the Hoodia stem and consume it to ward off hunger and thirst. Its usage has also been known to help with diabetes, hemorrhoids, severe abdominal cramps, tuberculosis, indigestion and hypertension.

South African scientists, aligned with Phytopharm a British company to isolate the active component in Hoodia, a steroidal glycoside, which was later named P57.

Hoodia (P57) works by fooling the brain into thinking there is an adequate amount of blood sugar, this in turn shuts down the hunger mechanism. The side effect is weight loss.

Hoodia is usually taken about an hour before meals with a glass of water, beware that Hoodia also shuts down your thirst mechanism so be sure to drink plenty of water so that you stay hydrated.

Hoodia, hasn't been around long enough in western society to know what side effects it might have, but for a company as large as Phizer to drop it , you have to wonder what we don't know about it.

Jasjit Bindra, PhD, a former researcher at Pfizer on the Hoodia project (Phizer a multi billion dollar company licensed the rights to develop hoodia for $21 million but later returned the rights), stated in a letter to "The New York Times" that although hoodia did appear to suppress appetite, there were indications of unwanted effects on the liver caused by components other than the active ingredient P57 that could not easily be removed during processing.

Bindra added, "Clearly, hoodia has a long way to go before it can earn approval from the Food and Drug Administration. Until safer formulations are developed, dieters should be wary of using it".