If you happened to come upon the hoodia gordonii plant somewhere in Angola or Namibia in Africa, you would likely just see a rather squatty little cactus that would not seem too appealing, but hoodia extract is the main substance in many weight loss pills. You may also purchase pure hoodia pills but the extract is certainly powerful enough to get the results you are looking for.

This well known succulent from South Africa has been known to the indigenous people living there for years.They would swallow quantities of the hoodia plant when food was scarce or hard to find, and the active ingredient would decrease their hunger. Hunters would use it to keep appetite from being a distraction while they caught the foodto sustain life

When people from other locations learned of hoodia, they immediately saw how it could be helpful in weight control by shutting off appetite, cravings and other bodily signals to eat. It is believed that it works by fooling the hypothalamus into thinking you are full and shutting down the hunger and eating signals.

Some have called the tiny hypothalamus gland in the brain an "appestat" because it is like a thermostat to control perceiving hunger. When blood sugar is low, the hypothalamus detects this and sends out messages that food is needed. Hoodia pills or the extract cloak the signaling and little or no hunger is felt.

People willingly buy hoodia for several reasons, the most important being the there have been excellent results with it taken in the correct dose and form. Customers should be looking for absolutely pure hoodia without any preservatives or fillers that can be ineffective or make it too weak. Most people want hoodia pills because the plant is slow to grow yourself, and isn't very tasty to eat on its own. Reading labels can reveal which brands have the most real hoodia and the least milk sugar or other filler.

In addition to controlling appetite, hoodia also seems to speed up metabolic processes and even seems to burn fat faster. No doctor visit is required and while a drug company has a patent on the synthetic molecule , plants cannot be patented which leaves hoodia open to the market. For most people this natural miracle is safe, but anyone taking any supplement or non prescription medicine should check with a doctor first .