Does Hoodia Gum Really Work?

Hoodia gum, hoodia chews and hoodia pops are all speciality hoodia products which have been introduced to the market place over the last few years. All of these products are intended to be highly effective at controlling and suppressing hunger almost instantly. The theory is that by controlling your appetite, you will be able to eat less and therefore lose weight.

Now this may sound like a dream come true to many of you, but I certainly have my doubts. For a start I do not believe that any of these hoodia gum products actually contain genuine hoodia gordonii. Hoodia gordonii is a plant that is found only in South Africa, and contains a molecule called P57 which can actually trick the brain into thinking you are full. Even though there are many varieties of hoodia, only hoodia gordonii contains this molecule.

Right now we are experiencing a short supply of hoodia gordonii because there is so much demand for it, and that demand can’t be met. This has resulted in the price of hoodia gordonii skyrocketing. Over the past few years many manufacturers have seen how popular hoodia supplements have become and have jumped on the bandwagon. However, in order to improve their profits they have cut corners, either by diluting their products so they actually contain very little hoodia gordonii, or by not using any at all!

You may be wondering how so many companies have been able to get away with behaviour like this? Well the answer is because hoodia products are not regulated. Therefore, it is up to the consumer to be educated about the facts to ensure they don’t get ripped off. It’s sadly the case that the majority of hoodia products and supplements, like hoodia gum, are in fact nothing more than fakes. They contain very little hoodia gordonii, and most don’t contain any at all. In fact, experts estimate that the number of fake hoodia products sold on the market today could be as high as 80%.

There are several things you can look for when buying hoodia gum and other hoodia products to ensure that what you are buying is real, but the two most important are CITES certificates and independent lab test results. You’ll find these documents on websites that sell and market hoodia gums and other hoodia supplements. If you can’t find them, then it is very likely the product doesn’t contain authentic hoodia gordonii.

I have researched numerous websites selling hoodia gum and have struggled to find either of these documents displayed. This is the main reason that I doubt the authenticity of their products, even though the websites are marketing them as highly effective appetite suppressants. If you cannot view these documents then the product probably doesn’t contain any hoodia gordonii, and will therefore have absolutely no affect on your hunger or appetite.

However, let’s assume that these hoodia gum products contain authentic hoodia gordonii. I still believe they would be highly ineffective when it comes to suppressing appetite because they contain very little hoodia gordonii. Hoodia gum products typically claim to have anywhere from 20-150mg of it per stick of gum. That isn’t going to be nearly enough to effectively suppress appetite.

Some experts and doctors say that it can take as much as 3,000mg of hoodia gordonii per day to effectively suppress appetite. At a minimum, most people need anywhere between 800-1,500mg per day to suppress appetite. Assuming you’re able to get by with 800mg per day to suppress your appetite, you’d still need to chew several sticks of gum with each stick only containing 20-150mg of hoodia gordonii!

One final concern I have about all of these hoodia gum products is that the majority of them state that they were made using concentrates or extracts from the hoodia gordonii plant, and that these concentrates only contained the active ingredient P57. The problem with this is that the process of extracting this molecule has not yet been fine tuned and there is only one company in the world, called Phytopharm, who have the legal rights to do this.

Phytopharm are a pharmaceutical company based in Britain who are the sole holders of the patent to extract the active ingredient of hoodia gordonii and use it in weight loss supplements. Despite spending a number of years, and millions of pounds sterling on developing a method for extracting the P57 molecule from hoodia gordonii to use in mass-market products, they have so far been unable to do so. Exactly how can all these hoodia gum products be made from hoodia extract when the process hasn’t even been finalised yet?

I honestly do doubt that any of the hoodia gum products that are marketed today contain any genuine traces of hoodia gordonii and therefore I seriously doubt that they would be able to have any effect on your appetite or hunger levels. If you are really desperate to try a hoodia supplement to help in your weight loss, then I seriously advise you to stick to the traditional, proven hoodia diet capsules.