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Reports of Very Little Side Effects of Hoodia

The Bushmen of the Kalahari desert in South Africa have been eating hoodia for centuries as an appetite suppressant during their long hunting trips without any problems. The Bushmen eat the plant only occasionally and not in supplement form or in their everyday nutrition. These notable differences are important, since researchers have not studied Hoodia Gordonii enough to know what the potential side effects are from daily or long term use. What little research has been done and through many people taking the product, there are no known side effects or dangers. The longer length of time people continue to take the herbal supplement or the more research is done, side effects may come to light later on, but for now the product appears to be side effect free. The Ephedra supplement was once considered safe until severe side effects were discovered and the supplement was ultimately banned. The potential side effects of hoodia should be nothing like Ephedra since it is not a stimulant like Ephedra is. Like anything without a long track record, one should use with caution and take the supplement in moderation and with some skepticism.

    There is a concern, with some hoodia diet pills sold today contain very little, if any, hoodia gordonii. They can be usually diluted with worthless fillers and additives and some contain potentially dangerous ingredients. Ingredients lists on any product should be carefully looked at and a person should make an informed decision. When it comes to adding a supplement to one's body, it is considered best to add just one at a time, so as to notice which supplement may be the problematic one. Also, when adding Hoodia Gordonii to one's diet, it is best to find a product that contains 100 percent Hoodia Gordonii so it is pure and not adulterated. A pure product will obviously be more costly but one will be paying for the active ingredient rather than a small amount of Hoodia and a large amount of do-nothing fillers. 

    The other concern surrounding Hoodia Gordonii is if a person takes too much. The obvious first result would be too much of a good thing, but the other problem may arise where a person may not eat enough food during dieting and therefore not get the correct or not enough nutrition. A body's metabolism will halt in reaction to what it feels is a starvation condition and one will discover a lack in benefits or even worse, putting on more weight. 

    The New York Times reported once that although Hoodia Gordonii did appear to suppress appetite, there were indications of unwanted effects on the liver caused by components other than the active ingredient p57 that could not easily be removed during processing. Just as there have not been enough research for weight loss benefits, there has not been enough research to confirm this suspicion as well. If hoodia does affect liver function, it may also interact with other medications a person is taking.

People with diabetes should be cautious about using hoodia. One of the theories about how hoodia works is that it tricks the brain into thinking that it has enough blood sugar. Without proper feedback regulation, it's possible that a person's blood sugar could drop to dangerously low levels while taking Hoodia Gordonii and with the regular hunger mechanism turned off, the normal warning signs may be suppressed too. Hoodia Gordonii is believed to suppress not only appetite but thirst. There have been reports of indigenous peoples in Africa who took Hoodia Gordonii to take the edge off hunger pains, but died of dehydration because they didn't feel thirsty.

    Striving to maintain a healthy, balanced diet and if you want even greater weight loss results, regular exercise can help significantly. Adding Hoodia Gordonii will aid and move the process along to achieving one's weight loss goal.

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