Originally published October 21 2005
Doctor warns about the lack of knowledge surrounding Hoodia
by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, NaturalNews Editor
Dr. Ed Rabin, practicing at Life Chiropractic Center in Boise, addresses the new line of diet pills containing Hoodia, and for readers, he advises caution until the safety of hoodia in its new applications has been confirmed.
As a spokesperson for a major brand of Hoodia-containing diet pills, ersatz socialite and reality show deep thinker Anna Nicole Smith is a natural; she never met a drug she didn't like.
From the moment the FDA removed the supplement Ephedra from the market, the weight-loss industry has been scrambling to come up with the next blockbuster herbal formula, and they might have found it in the South African desert plant named Hoodia Gordonii.
Originally, only the San Bushmen of the Kalahari Desert knew its properties as an appetite suppressant---they used it during persistence hunting, an unrelenting drive to track and fatigue game animals to exhaustion.
The eventual success of the company Phytopharm to separate out the element that lessens hunger led to the patent of a substance they called P57 (clearly demonstrating a greater facility with Bunsen burners than with creative brand names).
Normally, the part of our brain called the hypothalamus turns off appetite when it detects a rise in blood sugar, and P57 appears to stimulate the same sensors.
Now a revenue-sharing agreement between the two guarantees that the indigenous people that provided the original knowledge of the plant will benefit from any success.
Some plants defend themselves with mild poisons against animals that might feed on them, the resulting sickness assures the plant's survival.
If hunger loss in humans is the result of a toxin, it makes sense to wait until safety studies are completed before downing the equivalent of dozens of these thorny cucumbers.
What's safe for Bushmen to eat twice a year tracking antelope might not be such a good idea for you to eat twice a day on a similar hunt for cheesecake.
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