Hoodia P57 Extract: A Brief Overview

By now everyone has most likely heard about the Hoodia cactus plant extract, with its widespread broadcast by numerous major media sources, like the BBC, The Today Show, CBS and many more, the news was sure to reach every corner of the world. Because of this, Hoodia Gordonii products have quickly gained momentum into becoming one of the fastest growing segments of the ‘diet supplement market’ today.

If this advanced appetite suppressant, metabolism booster, fat burner and energy enhancer sounds like something you’d be interested in using to lose weight, before choosing a Hoodia product you should know that there are many kinds of Hoodia plant, but it’s only the Hoodia Gordonii type that has the ‘appetite suppressing’ quality.

These properties have been known about for centuries by a primitive tribe known as the ‘Sans Bushmen’. During mid 1990s an institute called the C.S.I.R. ‘Council for Scientific and Industrial Research’ was conducting a study of native plants eaten by the local ‘Sans Bushmen’. The study was to see what foods, the these locals were consuming that protected them from toxic compounds.

When the C.S.I.R. studied Hoodia Gordonii, they found it was not only non-toxic, but it also helped to suppress the appetite. Finally, the C.S.I.R. isolated the active ingredient responsible for the ‘appetite suppressing’ effects and called it ‘P57′. This is the ‘Hoodia cactus extract’. They then sold the rights of ‘P57′ to a British pharmaceutical company called ‘Phytopharm’.

You may be wondering how it can be there are so many Hoodia products on the market if only ‘Phytopharm’ hold the rights to the ‘P57′ extract. The answer lies in the patent laws. Only ‘Phytopharm’ can extract the active molecule called ‘P57′ from Hoodia Gordonii and use it in their product line. But a whole natural plant – in this case the Hoodia Gordonii plant – cannot be patented.

Phytopharm is a pharmaceutical company with a plant extract division, who are involved in the development and registration of plant derived, or botanical, prescription medicines for human use.

As a result of this, other companies’ can very well produce supplements or products made from Hoodia Gordonii and sell them legally. This is a remarkably successful way to lose weight but you MUST make sure that you are buying a 100% pure product. The important thing for consumers right now is to make sure that they are buying a product that contains genuine South African Hoodia Gordonii.