Copyright 2006 Hoodia Advice, LLC
In Nov 2004 Leslie Stahl of CBS News 60 Minutes went to South Africa, ate some Hoodia and proclaimed “no desire to eat or drink the entire day. I'd have to say it did work” and unintentionally launched a red hot Hoodia supplement industry.
In case you have a terrific spam filter – here is the 411 on Hoodia. Hoodia Gordonii is a succulent plant that grows in South Africa. The SAN Bushmen have chewed on Hoodia for close to 1,000 years to reduce their appetite while on long hunting trips. Hoodia is now a highly sought after plant for it ability to suppress appetite. In fact, Hoodia Gordonii is in such high demand it is considered a protected plant and can only be exported with a special permit from the government of South Africa (a CITES permit).
It has now been almost two years since Hoodia as an appetite suppressant burst onto the diet scene so let’s recap what has happened in the past 2 years.
*A cure for lonely email boxes – Hoodia Spam!
A plant from South Africa that could suppress appetite and had the endorsement of Leslie Stahl – this was just too much for the spammers to resist. The spammers of the world somehow found time in their busy schedule of spamming about Viagra and casinos to send a few million spams about Hoodia supplements. If you had been concerned that you just didn’t get enough emails – you can thank the Hoodia spammers for solving your problems.
* Turns out everyone in world really wants to help the SAN Bushmen
The SAN Bushmen discovered Hoodia and are supposed to get a percentage of any legitimate Hoodia sales. If you believe all the websites – everyone is a friend of the Bushmen and paying them handsome royalties. Strange how with all this love and promise of money the SAN Bushmen have seen almost no royalties at all.
* In a breakthrough of science – more Hoodia has been sold than grown.
Amazingly, more Hoodia has been sold in supplement form than has ever been grown and exported from South Africa. Every company claims to have authentic pure Hoodia from South Africa, so the only possible answer is a scientific breakthrough that allows you to have more Hoodia than actually exist in the world. If they just apply this to food, I guess we could end world hunger.
* Hoodia is free* (*as long as you are willing to pay $99 a month for the rest of your life).
New Hoodia sites appear everyday offering a free supply of Hoodia. Of course “free” is a relative term. It turns out it is only free for 5 days, then you are billed $99 every month until you cancel. Don’t worry – canceling is easy – you just need to call their non-existent phone number and speak to a friendly non-existent customer service rep.
* Over 200 Hoodia Products have been featured on Oprah, 60 Minutes and The Today Show.
If you believe all the Hoodia web sites that say “As Seen on Oprah, 60 Minutes and The Today Show” there would be over 200 Hoodia products featured on those shows. It must make for a long segment when you need to endorse all of those products. Of course, none of those shows have ever recommended any Hoodia supplement by name, but that is just a minor point.
* Authentic Lab Tested Hoodia is available
Given the terrible state of the Hoodia supplement industry it may be most surprising to learn that authentic lab tested Hoodia Gordonii from South Africa is available and effective. Companies such as Alkemists Labs have developed independent lab tests that can determine if a Hoodia supplement is authentic or not. Unfortunately, the majority of companies selling Hoodia do not perform Alkemists lab tests.
So, was Leslie Stahl crazy? Is the whole Hoodia business a scam? No, not at all you just need to do your research to make sure the Hoodia you buy is actually lab tested Hoodia Gordonii from South Africa. Try searching Google for “Alkemists Hoodia Lab Test” and you will find the few reputable companies that are selling authentic, lab tested, Hoodia from South Africa.
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Dan Nessel is a writer and researcher for Hoodia-Advice.Org. Mr. Nessel has spent the last 10 years writing and researching dietary supplements for various online publications. Hoodia-Advice.Org specializes in presenting unbiased research and information on Hoodia Gordonii.
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