Is Hoodia Really An Effective Appetite Suppressant?

When we eat, our bodies convert our food into glucose that is sent to all our organs, tissues, and cells through the bloodstream.  As this glucose fills our blood, a signal is sent to the brain that tells us that we are full and no more food is needed at this point.  Of course, once the glucose has reached its goals and the amount in the blood diminishes, our brains now perceive that it is time to replenish the supply and we begin to feel hungry.  Hunger pangs and cravings usually lead to diet failure – and the small portions usually allowed with a diet will leave you feeling hungry even more quickly than a normal meal would. 

Diet pills of various kinds have been used to suppress appetite, with results that can be great or nonexistent.  Some pills rely on heavy doses of caffeine to keep you from feeling hungry and to try to speed up your metabolism to burn more calories.  The trouble with this kind of pill is that those who take it often feel jittery and nervous and have difficulty falling asleep.  Other diet pills were actually found to be health risks and have since been withdrawn from the market. 

However, it was discovered during the Twentieth Century that the Bushmen in the Kalahari Desert chewed hoodia gordonii to quell hunger and thirst as they hunted.  Investigation into what causes this effect has led to the isolation of an ingredient that has been named P57.  This substance actually tricks the brain into thinking that there is plenty of glucose in your blood.  When adequate glucose for bodily functions is present, you feel full.  Hoodia appears to have the ability to let you feel full even if it’s been hours since you have eaten. 

If you have tried numerous diet programs and experienced nothing but disappointment and failure, due mostly to food cravings, perhaps you should give hoodia a try.  Many people have found that by taking the recommended dosage of hoodia before a meal that they tend not only to be satisfied with less food, but also not to feel hungry between meals.  However, as with any diet supplement, results can vary from person to person.  One thing to always keep in mind when searching for the right hoodia product is to purchase from a reputable source.  You will do best if you choose a hoodia supplement that is pure hoodia, and make sure that your supplement is made from hoodia gordonii, it is the only member of the hoodia family that has been shown to have any ability to suppress the appetite.

The Benefits Of Hoodia

One of the worst things about dieting is what might be called the dieter’s obsession with food.  Not only do you have to measure, weigh, and analyze nearly everything that you put into your mouth, but you also have to deal with the hunger and cravings that a restrictive diet results in.  How easy will it be for anyone to confine themselves to 1,000 calories or less every day, especially if they have been eating 3 or 4 times as much?  It is really no wonder that so many diet programs do not work, and leave the person not only depressed over another failure, but often even heavier than when they began.

How many people have wished that they could somehow just turn off their hunger?  While there is no magic wand to wave to do this, you might find that hoodia may help to suppress your feeling of hunger while you diet.  This South African succulent could be the answer to hunger pangs and cravings.  The reason why hoodia seems able to do this is because of a substance in this plant, P57, which acts on the part of the brain that controls appetite.  Basically, hoodia gordonii does seem to ‘flip a switch’ to turn off feelings of hunger.

The search for a reasonable and safe way to lose weight has become more focused since the removal of several dangerous diet products from the market.  Suppressing the appetite is an excellent way to deal with hunger while dieting because if you do not feel hungry, you will not be tempted to eat.  Taking a hoodia supplement before meals will keep your portion reasonable, and you will feel full while eating less.

Many diet plans are a combination of caloric restrictions and exercise.  When you are using hoodia you can certainly exercise to maximize your weight loss, but it is not really necessary at all.  If you are too busy to work out, you may find that hoodia gordonii could help you lose weight without exercising.

Overeating does not just entail piling up food on your plate at mealtimes; it also involves eating nearly every waking minute.  If you are used to munching on a snack while watching television or a film or while reading a book, you are simply adding to your caloric load for the day.  Some people also overeat in response to emotional needs such as dealing with stress or worry.  Hoodia could also help with eating problems such as these – you just will not have the desire to pick at a bag of corn chips or open another box of chocolates. 

Make sure that the hoodia product that you choose is actually hoodia gordonii.  Hoodia gordonii comes from a fairly large family of succulents, but seems to be the only one with the ability to suppress appetite.  Remember to drink adequate amounts of water while taking hoodia as it not only suppresses appetite, but thirst as well.

What Are Appetite Suppressants?

It is hardly surprising that many people who want to lose weight feel like they are on some kind of merry-go-round.  They try diet after diet because most of these plans fail to address one simple, basic factor – hunger.  It is all very well to say that if you only eat 1,000 calories per day that you will lose weight, but how many people are going to be able to tolerate living like that for very long?  On top of that, many people who are overweight are used to eating almost constantly, so any interruption in what has become a normal activity will cause hunger cravings, even if there is no actual reason to feel hungry.

Appetite suppressants are designed to work by tricking your brain into believing that you are full, so that you simply will not want to eat.  When we eat, our bloodstream carries glucose to all parts of our body, and it is the presence of a lot of glucose that tells the brain that we are satiated and do not need to eat anything more for a while.  Of course, when the glucose has been distributed to cells, tissues, and organs, the level in the blood will drop.  When glucose levels fall, a signal is sent to the brain that activates what you might call the ‘appetite center’, and this shouts out “Feed me!”

There are several bodily chemicals that have a direct bearing on whether we feel hungry or not, and these are serotonin and catecholamine.  Both of these have a direct bearing on hunger and appetite, and when levels of serotonin are low, cravings and hunger set in.  If the level of serotonin is increased, it acts on neurotransmitters to tell the brain that there is no need to eat again. 

A number of appetite suppressants are available either as prescription medication or as over-the-counter supplements.  Prescription appetite suppressants are usually only meant for short term use, and some of them carry potentially serious side effects, including the possibility of addiction.  Appetite suppressants that you can purchase without a prescription will usually be based on natural substances such as hoodia gordonii, green tea, or raspberry ketones.  Many of these products are combined with caffeine or acai berry extract to assist in burning fat while suppressing the appetite.

Part of the way that appetite suppressants might be able to assist with your weight loss will be that you will be retraining yourself not to eat as much.  Breaking the habit of constantly putting food into your mouth can be hard if you feel hungry, but if you feel full or not hungry at all, this behavior has a good chance of being corrected.

What Are The Benefits Of Appetite Suppressants?

In your battle to lose weight, you have probably tried a number of diets without success.  Generally, even if you do lose some weight using a diet, it comes right back on after you get off the diet.  Some diets call for you to eat foods that are nutritionally deficient and that will result in malnutrition if followed for a long period of time, which can threaten your overall health.  If you have been struggling with your weight, you should consider trying appetite suppressants.  These could have the ability to allow you more control over your weight. 

Appetite suppressants work by ‘turning off’ the appetite portion of the brain, so that you either do not feel hungry or feel full after even a small meal.  These supplements might well be of use to you in being able to overcome the food cravings that are the downfall of so many diets.

Being overweight is not good for anyone, it not only detracts from your appearance, but it also has some very serious health problems associated with it.  People who are carrying too many pounds put themselves at risk from high blood pressure, heart disease, stroke, and diabetes.  These can all have an enormous negative impact on the quality of your life.  No one wants to jeopardize their health because of obesity, but failing diet after diet can be discouraging and lead to increased food intake.

Appetite suppressants are available either from a doctor or as an over-the-counter supplement.  These products have the potential to help you to manage your weight, but always remember that because everyone has a totally individual metabolism, you may or may not see the results you are looking for. 

When you are considering an appetite suppressant, it is likely that you will look into products that you can simply buy at your local pharmacy or on the internet.  Most of these supplements are based on naturally occurring herbal substances, and some have a long history of use by native people to suppress the appetite. 

Food cravings are undoubtedly the greatest cause of appetite failure, anyone will look for something to eat when they get hungry.  And, munching a stick of celery is not going to satisfy anyone.  A dieter who feels pangs is probably suffering from a drop in blood sugar, which stimulates a feeling of desperate hunger.  The beauty of appetite suppressants is that they can help to dampen down those urges for food, so that you simply will not feel so hungry.  After a normal meal, too, these supplements might help you feel fuller, as if you had eaten a large meal.  If you have been trying to lose weight without success, you may well find that appetite suppressants will help you turn the corner and slim down.

What Is Hoodia?

The Kalahari Desert in southern Africa is a harsh environment that is home to the Bushmen people.  It is always a struggle to stay alive in conditions of temperature extremes (blistering hot by day, freezing at night), scant water, and scarcity of game that are found in this challenging region.  Hunger is often a common condition with these people, but they discovered a way to suppress the pangs when on a hunting expedition, and this was to chew on the pulp from the stems of the Hoodia plant.   

There are quite a few different Hoodias, but the one used to prepared appetite suppressant supplements is Hoodia gordonii, which is found throughout the region of southern Africa.  Although this Hoodia looks quite a bit like a cactus, right down to a spiky exterior, it is actually a succulent.  It was probably hunger that drove the Bushmen at some point to try eating what would otherwise not look like a very palatable plant, especially since the flowers smell like rotten meat.  Undoubtedly, after a desperate experiment, it was found that the hunger pains abated and the people in the group were able to continue in their search for food more comfortably.  Hoodia gordonii may help suppresses thirst.

During an anthropological expedition to the Kalahari Desert in 1937, it was discovered by the European researcher that the objects of his study, the Bushmen, used Hoodia to suppress their hunger.  It was not until several decades later, however, that research into this succulent really began into the potential of this plant to aid with weight loss.  Experiments with animals did seem to yield positive results, and further testing isolated an ingredient called P57.  Although it was thought at first that Hoodia was simply broken down by the body’s metabolism, it has since been discovered that it will enter the bloodstream, allowing it to act on the brain’s chemistry.

Although the benefits of Hoodia in appetite suppression and weight reduction have not been subjected to rigorous scientific trials, investigation into the qualities of this plant is ongoing.   Experiments with rats have shown that those animals that were given Hoodia did eat less than those that were not.  It is thought that the active ingredient in Hoodia, P57, does affect the ATP (adenosine triphosphate) to cause suppression of the appetite.  Breaking the cycle of continuous hunger and cravings while dieting is one of the most important steps to losing weight, and it is thought that Hoodia supplements could help with sensible weight loss.  Informal trials with people who need to lose weight have shown that those who were given Hoodia rather than a placebo did eat less.