If you are like me the BS s go off when you see the ds diet and pill anywhere near each other. Weight loss is a straight mathematical proposition. If nsume e ies than you burn – you gain weight. If nsume fewer ies than you burn – you lose weight. Weight loss ks as certain as the laws of gravity. No exceptions. The chance of waking up in the ning to ver that pounds of fat have flown off your body is as likely as finding that your car has flown onto the roof of the nearest building.
So ive my skepticism when a friend emailed me a BBC article (BBC. Tom Mangold. May 30, 2003) about a “Kalahari cactus diet.” I read it. I did a little e research. I’nvinced!
Even starving people don’t eat themselves to death because within the hypothalamus there are nerve cells that sense se sugar. nsumption puts sugar into the blood stream. The nverts to se. The hypothalamus senses the change in se and eventually tells your brain that immediate survival is assured and that it’s OK to stop eating.
Well, this Kalahari cactus, called hoodia, has a molecule which scientists have named p.57 that is about 10,000 times e active in the hypothalmus than se.
That means that hoodia fires those se sugar nerve cells which makes your brain think you are full. You may not have eaten anything at all. And now you don’t even want to.
Lesley Stahl of 60 Minutes (CBS) traveled to the Kalahari to do a show about hoodia. Stahl tried it. Said it tasted like cucumber and, most tantly, did not have any desire to drink the rest of the day. She ted there were no after side effects.
Big pharma has jumped on this and maybe some day they will be able to synthesize p.57. But now Mother Nature has not given up her secrets and the only way to benefit from what the BBC call “anic pill that kills the appetite and attacks obesity” is to get natural hoodia from the Kalahari. There are plans to farm the plant but nobody knows sure mercially grown hoodia will have the same properties as the wild plant.
Apparently not all hoodia is equal. Only Hoodia donii has p.57. Other Kalahari cactus plants are…cactus. The US government and the South African government regulate the tation and harvesting of Hoodia donii. panies licensed by the Western nservation ity of South Africa, and who have the Certificates to prove it, are selling the genuine article. As you would expect with something this valuable there are lots of exploiters so that Certificate of authenticity is tant.
populations where obesity is a legitimate national ncern, a natural, safe and effective appetite suppressant can’t be anything other than a good thing. You have to wonder about the longevity of the supply however.
individual use there are nsiderations. Your body needs a daily supply of protein and other nutrients to function mally and to stay healthy. Is Hoodia donii so powerful that you won’t eat even the minimal amounts? drink a healthy volume of water?