When a new diet supplement hits the marketplace and people begin making claims of incredible weight loss, media hounds jump all over the chance to expose the phenomenon as hype. But when investigators from 60 Minutes and BBC News tried to dispel the buzz about Hoodia, they were unable to find the story they were hoping for.



As an appetite suppressant, Hoodia has come under fire because of its incredible ability to stave off hunger and increase energy using natural ingredients found in a plant that grows in the Kalahari Desert.

When journalists got wind of a supplement that was gaining in popularity and actually showing promising results, they decided to test it themselves to see just how real the claims of Hoodia benefits were.

Leslie Stahl, A CBS News correspondent working on a story for the show 60 Minutes, took a Hoodia supplement and found that unlike other dietary supplements, Hoodia left no aftertaste in her mouth, didn't make her heart race, and never made her feel queasy in her stomach.

Stahl also found that the hunger pangs that normally plagued her at mealtime were simply vanished thanks to the Hoodia supplement she tried. In a multi-billion dollar industry that frequently has false hype surrounding its product lines, weight loss experts are amazed at the way Hoodia has been embraced by the media.

At BBC News, Tom Mangold approached Hoodia the way Leslie Stahl did it by traveling out to the Kalahari Desert and taking a bite of the plant directly. After he and his camera crew nibbled on the delectable growth, none felt hungry for at least 24 hours after consuming it.

To have journalists at this level agreeing that the Hoodia plant is a formidable opponent to fat in the war on obesity is virtually unheard of. Short of tabloid reports, most dietary supplements have failed to garner even a single endorsement from the traditional news media.

Many dietary supplements today include Hoodia in the primary ingredients thanks to the way this plant passed the media test with flying colors. To date, no other natural ingredient has generated the kind of positive response Hoodia has, which has undoubtedly caused other diet supplement companies to squirm as they try to downplay the extracts beneficial qualities. It will be hard, however, with the backing of media giants from CBS and BBC News, to go against the plants praises and proof of success for long.