Hoodia Gordonii Warnings – How to Spot the Fakes

What looks like being a fantastic drug for one of the Wests speediest evolving illnesses, obesity, is also becoming a marketing catfight embellished with complete marketing-hype.

For those not in the know, Hoodia Gordonii has been identified by the (CSIR)South African Council for Scientific and Industrial Research 50 years ago as a way of naturally subdueing hunger pangs.

Enjoyed for hundreds of years by Kalahari Bushmen as a way of putting off feelings of hunger on exhausting hunting trips, the CSIR along with a British company called Phytopharm to pinpoint the “magic” ingredient in Hoodia Gordonii. This they did, and Phytopharm called this ‘wonderous molecule’ P57 (as it was their 57th discovery).

Though P57 has a patent on it, the plant itself can’t be. This has caused a ton of herbal supplement manufacturers to all start manufacturing Hoodia products, using some very suspicious marketing practices.

The most dubious of these practices is the increasing number of self-styled ‘Hoodia consumer websites’. These ‘consumer’ websites are nearly all a ‘con’, as they are run by Hoodia manufacturers or affiliates of the manufacturers themselves, hidden under different identities. These sites say that they compare different brands, with their brand of course at the top of the list!

With these kind of websites emerging every few weeks, the best advice is simply to discount them, find the manufacturers primary website, and then decide if you can trust the brand.

Another tactic that is confusing the consumer is the supposed differences in the quality of other brands. The most common is to do with the term ‘extract’. Some companies claim that they sell an extract which is more powerful than non-extract products. (What is an extract? An extract is a concentrated from of a herb, that is derived after the crude herb has been mixed with water, alcohol, or another solvent and distilled or evaporated.).

Nobody is selling Hoodia Gordonii extract, as it would be violating the patent held by CSIR (which has been leased to Phytopharm, who in turn have leased it to Unilever). Any company claiming to sell a Hoodia extract had better watch their step – apart from misleading consumers, Phytopharm and Unilever are unlikely to ignore such blatant patent theft.

One more common deceit is to claim to be 100% Hoodia while selling at what seems a really great low price. How can they do it? Simple – they’re telling the truth. They’re using the whole of the plant, rather than the ‘heart’ of the plant which contains the active ingredient. As the ‘skin’ of the Hoodia can account for as much as 40% of the weight, your 100% pure may only be 60% pure and not quite the bargain that you imagined.

All the ‘Hoodia wars’ seem to be doing is confusing potential customers, who become less able to take an informed decision about which product is best for them.
Here are 4 questions that anyone wanting to buy Hoodia should ask, before parting with any money:

1. Is this genuine Hoodia Gordonii from the Kalahari region of Southern Africa? (Hoodia is now being grown in China, Texas and elsewhere, and there is evidence that the Kalahari soil contributes to the effectiveness of the plant)

2. What part of the plant is used? (Remember, it’s only the core of the plant that has been identified as having the active ingredient).

3. Is it an extract or powder? (The right answer is powder).

4. Is it Hoodia GORDONII? (There are many different types of plants in the Hoodia family – it is the Hoodia Gordonii that has been shown to be the appetite suppressant).

Plus remember:

• If the price is low, likely the quality of the product will be.
• If it’s number one on some consumer comparison chart, what else are they ‘fixing’?
• If they’re vague about their product and simply bombard you with hype – it’s likely the product can’t stand up on it’s own merit.

For more Hoodia advice, visit our site: Hoodia Diet Pills