What is Hoodia
Hoodia is often advertised as
an herbal diet pill having no side effects. However, there has been a
lack of published studies on the safety and/or side effects of Hoodia
in humans.
The reason Hoodia marketers frequently
claim that there are no Hoodia side effects is because the San Bushmen
in the Kalahari desert of Africa have used Hoodia for many years.
However, Hoodia hasn’t been in the region of North America long enough
to be subjected to safety testing needed to reveal any possible side
effects, drug interactions or safety concerns for its users.
Hoodia Side Effects
A
former Researcher of Hoodia stated that there are possible Hoodia side
effects. He stated that although Hoodia did show signs of appetite
suppression within its user, there were also signs of adverse effects
on the liver which were caused by ingredients other than the active
ingredient p57 in Hoodia that could not easily be removed throughout
processing.
Hoodia has a long way to go before it can
earn approval from the Food and Drug Administration and until it
receives approval, dieters should be careful of using Hoodia because of
possible Hoodia side effects. If Hoodia does affect the liver function
of dieters, it could and may also interact negatively with other
medications that a dieter is taking.
It is important
to note that the San Bushmen are a tribe of hunter-gatherers who more
than likely did not take chemical pills for blood pressure,
cholesterol, depression and many other diseases as today’s society
does. Therefore, there is a great need for testing Hoodia in
conjunction with the use of the types of medications taken by many
today to assure that it is a safe diet pill to take overall all.
Individuals
with sugar diabetes should be cautious about considering using Hoodia
because one of the theories about how Hoodia works is that it causes
the brain to think that it has had sufficient blood sugar. For a person
with sugar diabetes, Hoodia could be dangerous for him because it may
cause a person’s blood sugar to drop dangerously low while taking the
pill. With the regular hunger mechanism inhibited by the Hoodia pill,
the usual and normal warning signs for the diabetic may become
suppressed resulting in major problems.
Hoodia is
assumed to inhibit not only appetite but one’s thirst mechanism as
well. According to several unconfirmed reports, there have been
shepherds in Africa who used Hoodia to suppress hunger pains and died
from dehydration because they never had a craving to drink anything
either due to their need for liquids being suppressed also.
As
a general precaution, if a dieter decides to take Hoodia, it is wise to
ensure that he or she has adequate water intake and to consult with
your doctor if any unusual side effects occur while taking Hoodia.