The Real Deal: South African Hoodia

There are several species of hoodia plant, but the only species that has shown any promise in appetite suppression is hoodia gordonii, a rare and endangered succulent grown only in the Kalahari Desert in and around South Africa. Thus, only South African Hoodia is known to produce the desired effect.

Cost Cutting: Bypassing South African Hoodia

Pure South African hoodia requires a special permit for harvesting. In addition, the Sans tribe must be paid a percentage of the profits. This makes supplying hoodia in mass quantities a fairly expensive proposition. If manufacturers are to make a profit, something must be done to cultivate hoodia outside of its natural habitat. Unfortunately to date, the results have been less than positive.

Hoodia gordonii is a very difficult plant to grow. As it is a desert plant, its growth is very slow. It takes anywhere from two to seven years to produce a mature plant. As a result, supplies are low and those plants cultivated in China and the United States produce low or no amounts of P57, the chemical that causes appetite suppression. This means that only South African hoodia is even remotely effective.

This has not stopped companies from buying the cheaper and ineffective hoodia. In order to profit, they mislabel their products particularly the amount of hoodia in each capsule. They use filler ingredients to supplement the small amounts of hoodia they provide and they buy the inferior cultivated products and pass them off as the real South African hoodia.

Buyer Beware

If a person is looking for the genuine product, he needs to make sure that what he is getting is South African hoodia. One must read labels carefully and research companies through the Better Business Bureau and other industry watchdog groups. The information is available to aware consumers and it could make a difference in the wallet and in one's health.

Also, if a company is found to be selling a fraudulent product, the proper agencies need to be informed. There are thousands of email scams that promise free samples, deeply discounted prices and highly inflated claims of effectiveness. It is probably good to remember that if something looks too good to be true it probably is.

Most people are desperate to lose weight in a society that pays attention to appearances. But buying products that may jeopardize one's health only encourages fraud by those who can operate under the radar in an industry that has little regulation and a product that has yet to be verified as effective scientifically. If one is ready to take a risk, the best thing to do is get the safest product available and pay the extra for peace of mind. Making sure the product is South African hoodia is worth the price in the long run.