Now this may sound like a dream come true to many of you, but I certainly have my doubts. For a start I do not believe that any of these hoodia gum products actually contain genuine hoodia gordonii. Hoodia gordonii is a plant that is found only in South Africa, and contains a molecule called P57 which can actually trick the brain into thinking you are full. Even though there are many varieties of hoodia, only hoodia gordonii contains this molecule.
There is a worldwide shortage of hoodia gordonii at present because the supply simply cannot meet the demand. This means that genuine hoodia gordonii is very expensive. Hoodia supplements have been increasing in popularity over the past few years, with many manufacturers deciding to jump on the bandwagon offering everything from hoodia gum to hoodia tea. Many companies though have cut corners to increase their profit margins by either diluting the amount of hoodia gordonii their product contains, or by using a different form of hoodia, so they can still claim to be a hoodia product.
The reason these companies have been able to get away with this is because hoodia supplements are not regulated. It is up to the consumer to get educated on the facts about hoodia products such as hoodia gum to make sure they don't get scammed. The majority of the hoodia supplements and products on the market today are fake - meaning they contain very little, if any, hoodia gordonii. One expert says that the percentage of fake hoodia supplements could be as high as 80%!
However, there are a number of things you can do to protect yourself from scammers. The most important thing to do is to look for CITES certificates and independent lab test results when you are considering buying a hoodia product like hoodia gum. These should be able to be found on the companies website. If you cannot find them, then the product they are marketing is very likely to be a fake that does not contain genuine hoodia gordonii.
You will be hard pressed to find these documents on any hoodia gum website. I have researched many hoodia gum websites and have yet to find both of them clearly displayed. This is the primary reason why I doubt that any hoodia gum product can be a "powerful and fast-acting appetite suppressant" as many claim to be. If you can't find these documents, then the product probably doesn't contain authentic hoodia gordonii and as a result, has virtually no ability to effectively suppress appetite.
Just for a minute let's suppose that these products did actually contain authentic hoodia gordonii. I still doubt they would be effective at reducing your appetite because they simply would not contain the amounts of hoodia needed. Hoodia gum products usually state that they contain between 20-150mg of hoodia per stick. That's nowhere near enough to suppress appetite.
Some experts and doctors say that it can take as much as 3,000mg of hoodia gordonii per day to effectively suppress appetite. At a minimum, most people need anywhere between 800-1,500mg per day to suppress appetite. Assuming you're able to get by with 800mg per day to suppress your appetite, you'd still need to chew several sticks of gum with each stick only containing 20-150mg of hoodia gordonii!
Finally, the other concern I have about hoodia gum products is that most claim to be made using hoodia concentrates, or extracts. These supposed concentrates contain only the active molecule in hoodia gordonii, P57. The problem is, the process to do this hasn't been perfected yet and only one company has the legal authority to do so and that company is Phytopharm.
Phytopharm are a pharmaceutical company based in Britain who are the sole holders of the patent to extract the active ingredient of hoodia gordonii and use it in weight loss supplements. Despite spending a number of years, and millions of pounds sterling on developing a method for extracting the P57 molecule from hoodia gordonii to use in mass-market products, they have so far been unable to do so. Exactly how can all these hoodia gum products be made from hoodia extract when the process hasn't even been finalised yet?
At the end of the day I am still sceptical about hoodia gum products. I doubt they will be effective at controlling appetite because the vast majority of them will not contain any hoodia gordonii, and those that do will only have a very tiny amount. If you are still wanting to try hoodia gordonii though I would highly recommend that you stick with the established hoodia diet tablets.
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