Hoodia Research, weight loss and appetite suppression, will you lose fat if you take this product?

Hoodia gordonii is traditionally used in South Africa for its appetite suppressant properties. Based on the media attention hoodia has garnered, you would think there has been a lot of research on hoodia. But there has been very little hoodia research published, particularly human hoodia research.
   Hoodia is available as a supplement in various extract forms, and it is also available in combination with other herbs and supplements for those interested in better body weight management. One such effective appetite suppressant is Diet Rx with hoodia gordonii, formulated by world famous medical doctor, Dr. Ray Sahelian, M.D.

Hoodia Extract 400 mg,
Hoodia Gordonii extract 20:1
Note: This hoodia product is a 20:1 extract which means it is 20 times as concentrated as regular hoodia plant. Four hundred mgs of Hoodia extract equals about 8,000 mg or 8 grams of the actual plant.

Hoodia gordonii is a succulent found in the Kalahari Desert of South Africa. The San Tribesmen of the Kalahari have been using hoodia as a food source for thousands of years.


Click here to buy Hoodia Extract supplement

Supplement Facts
Hoodia gordonii Stem Extract (20:1) - 400 mg *

Suggested Use: 1 or 2 hoodia capsules in the morning before breakfast on an empty stomach.
* Hoodia daily value not established.

Diet Rx with Hoodia Extract
All Natural Appetite Suppressant

Decreases appetite so you eat less
Helps you maintain healthy blood sugar levels
Helps you maintain healthy cholesterol and lipid levels
Provides a variety of antioxidant from two dozen herbs and nutrients

Hoodia research - glycosides
New calogenin glycosides from Hoodia gordonii.
Steroids. 2007 Nov;72(13):881-91. Epub 2007 Jul 27. Pawar RS, Shukla YJ, Khan IA. National Center for Natural Products Research, Research Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Mississippi, University, MS 38677, USA.
Ten new pregnane glycosides (1, 3-11) were isolated from organic extracts of aerial parts of Hoodia gordonii. The aglycone was identified as calogenin.

Steroidal glycosides from Hoodia gordonii.
Steroids. 2007 Jun;72(6-7):559-68. Dall'Acqua S, Innocenti G. Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Padova, Via F. Marzolo 5, 35131 Padova, Italy.
Ten new C21-steroidal derivatives, namely gordonosides A-L (1-10) were isolated from a chloroform extract of the aerial parts of Hoodia gordonii, a plant widely used in the nutraceutical market as an ingredient of weight loss supplements.

New oxypregnane glycosides from appetite suppressant herbal supplement Hoodia gordonii.
Steroids. 2007 Jun;72(6-7):524-34. Pawar RS, Shukla YJ, Khan SI, Avula B, Khan IA. National Center for Natural Products Research, Research Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Mississippi, University, MS 38677, USA.
Hoodigosides A-K (1-11), eleven new oxypregnane glycosides and a previously reported oxypregnane glycoside P57AS3 were isolated from the aerial parts of Hoodia gordonii. Cytotoxicity and antioxidant activities of these compounds were tested in cell based assays where they were found to be inactive.

Hoodia P57 research
Determination of the appetite suppressant P57 in Hoodia gordonii plant extracts and dietary supplements by liquid chromatography/electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (LC-MSD-TOF) and LC-UV methods.
J AOAC Int. 2006 May-Jun;89(3):606-11. Avula B, Wang YH, Pawar RS, Shukla YJ, Schaneberg B, Khan IA.
National Center for Natural Products Research, Research Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences, The University of Mississippi, MS 38677, USA.
P57AS3 ( P57 ), an oxypregnane steroidal glycoside, is the only reported active constituent from the hoodia plant as an appetite suppressant. New methods of liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry (LC/MS) and LC-UV for analysis of P57 from Hoodia gordonii have been developed. The quantitative determination of P57 was achieved with a Phenomenex Gemini (Torrance, CA) reversed-phase column using gradient mobile phase of water and acetonitrile. Good results were obtained in terms of repeatability and recovery. The developed methods were applied to the determination of P57 for Hoodia gordonii plant samples, one related genus (Opuntia ficus-indica), and dietary supplements that claim to contain Hoodia gordonii.

Increased ATP content/production in the hypothalamus may be a signal for energy-sensing of satiety: studies of the anorectic mechanism of a plant steroidal glycoside.
Brain Res. 2004 Sep 10;1020(1-2):1-11. MacLean DB, Luo LG. Division of Endocrinology, Hallett Center for Diabetes and Endocrinology, Brown Medical School, Coro Building Providence, RI 02903, USA.
A steroidal glycoside with anorectic activity in animals, termed P57AS3 ( P57 ), was isolated from Hoodia gordonii and found to have homologies to the steroidal core of cardiac glycosides. Intracerebroventricular (i.c.v.) injections of the purified P57 AS3 demonstrated that the compound has a likely central (CNS) mechanism of action. There is no evidence of P57 AS3 binding to or altering activity of known receptors or proteins, including Na/K-ATPase, the putative target of cardiac glycosides. The studies demonstrated that the compound increases the content of ATP by 50-150% in hypothalamic neurons. In addition, third ventricle (i.c.v.) administration of P57, which reduces subsequent 24-h food intake by 40-60%, also increases ATP content in hypothalamic slice punches removed at 24 h following the i.c.v. injections. In related studies, in pair fed rats fed a low calorie diet for 4 days, the content of ATP in the hypothalami of control i.c.v. injected animals fell by 30-50%, which was blocked by i.c.v. injections of P57 AS3. With growing evidence of metabolic or nutrient-sensing by the hypothalamus, ATP may be a common currency of energy sensing, which in turn may trigger the appropriate neural, endocrine and appetitive responses as similar to other fundamental hypothalamic homeostatic centers for temperature and osmolarity.

Hoodia research - appetite suppressant
An appetite suppressant from Hoodia species.
Phytochemistry. 2007 Jun 29; van Heerden FR, Marthinus Horak R, Maharaj VJ, Vleggaar R, Senabe JV, Gunning PJ.
School of Chemistry, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Private Bag X01, Scottsville 3209, South Africa.
Studies conducted at the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR, South Africa) identified extracts from Hoodia species, in particular Hoodia pilifera and Hoodia gordonii, as possessing appetite suppressing properties. Two pregnane glycosides were isolated by fractionation of the dried stems of H. gordonii. Compounds 1 and 2 were also isolated from H. pilifera. Compound 1 was tested for its appetite suppressant properties in rats by oral gavage at 6.25-50mg/kg and the results showed that all doses resulted in a decrease of food consumption over an eight day period and a body mass decrease when compared to the control sample. In a comparative study against a fenfluramine control sample, compound 1 resulted in a reduction in food intake over the study period, with a concomitant overall decrease in body weight while fenfluramine resulted in a small decrease in food intake, but an increase in body weight (though less than control group) over the same period of time.

Hoodia gordonii research questions
Q. I read somewhere that "Hoodia works by increasing the ATP levels in the hypothalamus of the brain initiating satiety within the body. When one feels satisfied, endorphins are released that makes the body feel happy, energized, and not hungry. " Is this true?
   A. It appears that one research paper has referred to this mechanism as an explanation of hoodia and its effect on satiety.