What's In Your Hoodia Diet Pills?

Yes, it's true that the majority of the hoodia diet pills sold today are fake, but that's not what this article is about. Consumers have always had to be careful about buying hoodia supplements to avoid being scammed, but now there may be another issue they need to think about the potency of the supplements they're buying.

Up until recently, supplements that contained authentic hoodia gordonii contained the wild grown variety. Today, however, most authentic hoodia supplements contain cultivated hoodia gordonii. The obvious question is what's the difference between the two? They're the same exact plant but one grows in the wild and the other one is commercially farmed like any other crop. The biggest difference between the two, however, may be the potency.

According to one of the largest raw hoodia importers in the world, wild grown hoodia has higher levels of the active ingredient, P57, the ingredient responsible for hoodia's appetite suppressant benefits. The reason wild hoodia supposedly has more P57 is because it has been left to grow longer than cultivated hoodia. The hoodia gordonii plant must be left to grow for at least 5-6 years before it reaches maximum potency. The wild grown hoodia that has been used the past few years in supplements was at least five years old before it was harvested.

The cultivated hoodia that is now predominantly used in supplements is being harvested too soon, according to this hoodia importer. They claim it is being harvested after only two or three years about three years before it reaches maximum potency. What you get in the end is a supplement that isn't as effective as it should be.

Not all agree with this assessment, however. There are other hoodia insiders that claim the wild hoodia gordonii stock hasn't been exhausted. Yet, other insiders I've spoken to say wild hoodia is indeed completely gone right now and the only hoodia available is the cultivated variety. Furthermore, these same insiders claim that the cultivated hoodia is equally as potent as wild hoodia gordonii so consumers don't need to worry.

Who do you believe? Unfortunately, there isn't standard testing done with hoodia diet pills to test for potency. There are tests that are done all the time by independent labs to determine if a given supplement contains authentic hoodia gordonii, but they don't test the levels of P57. I doubt that such testing is even feasible. After all, how much would it cost to have every bottle tested for the specific levels of P57?

Regardless of who you believe in this debate there is one thing for certain if the wild hoodia gordonii isn't already depleted, it probably will be soon. If the majority of the supplements today don't contain cultivated hoodia they probably will in the near future. That leads us back to the potency question. Are the hoodia supplements made today as effective as they used to be?

It appears we won't have a conclusive answer anytime soon. I guess the only thing a consumer can do is monitor their own response to the hoodia diet pills they're taking. If the pills don't work as well as they used to at the same dosage, then more hoodia gordonii may need to be taken as today's hoodia supplements may indeed be less potent than those in the past.

Not sure who to believe in this debate and would rather stick with wild-grown hoodia diet pills to be sure you're getting maximum potency? Find out which brands contain authentic wild hoodia by reading the hoodia reviews at http://hoodiaandweightloss.com

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Weight Gain in Adulthood - Slowing it Down

The biggest problem we face in America today is not terrorism it is obesity. This is according to Dr. Julie Gerberding, head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in America. And it seems much of this problem is happening in a slow and creeping way, through gradual young and middle-aged adult weight gain, over very long periods of time.

On the average, a typical American adult gains at least two pounds per year over his or her lifetime. That probably means that approximately 100 extra calories are being consumed each day, according to Dr. James Hill of the University of Colorados nutrition center. If you simply burn off those 100 extra calories, or dont consume them to begin with, you will then not gain that yearly extra weight.

Dr. Gerberding says that fixing the problem will involve changing most Americans daily social norms. This will have to start in our early childhood, she says. People will have to begin performing more physical activity and eating less every day. And Dr. Hill has examined government figures showing that about 40 million adults are currently obese. He has also noted that Americans are steadily gaining more weight than usual in recent years. But what can be done about this socially and personally significant health problem?

The future is not hopeful unless we act now, Dr. Hill says. He estimates that if current trends continue, the obesity rate for American adults in 2008 will be 39%, which compares unfavorably with 31% in the year 2000.

Middle age shows a great increase in the amount of weight gained. There is a doubling of body fat in this time period in both men and women living in the developed countries. Such weight gain is strongly associated with increased morbidity and mortality. But there is ample evidence to conclude that moderate physical activity combined with a steady and healthy diet slows down or stops middle-aged adult weight gain.

Young adults are also at a high risk for weight gain. In America, for adults ages 25-74, the major weight gain was shown to be highest between ages 25-34. This was found by recent US government studies. And in the Coronary Artery Risk Development in Young Adults Study, even though trends were constant across ten years of follow-up studies, age-related weight gain was larger in the early to mid-20s than it was for older age groups.

It may not be wisest to wait until middle age, even though that may be when obesity becomes a more significant health threat, to lose weight. Irreversible health damage from weight being above optimal levels may occur prior to the beginning of a health-related diet and exercise program. But modest weight loss can reduce cardiovascular risk factors, and in high-risk individuals, it also prevents the development of diabetes and hypertension.

The American College of Preventative Medicine endorses the guidelines of the national Institutes of Health when it comes to advising obese and overweight patients on how to go about both losing excess weight and keeping it off. They encourage moderate physical activity for 30 to 45 minutes for at least 3 to 5 days per week for clinically obese or overweight persons, whenever such a program is not contraindicated by any current health problems. They also advise counseling regarding an energy-reduced or low-calorie diet of 800 to 1500 calories per day for an obese or overweight adult until optimal weight is attained. Then it is suggested that the patient should remain on a healthy, normal diet that is not higher in calories than the amount burned by ordinary activities and exercise each day.

It is felt by many experts that simply avoiding excess weight gain during the early adult years may be very important. It may ensure the prevention of adverse health reactions and establish an early foundation for the maintenance of lifelong healthy habits in later adulthood. It is also felt that interventions such as simple changes in diet and the maintenance of a regular exercise program will help parents establish lifelong role models for their children. This would greatly help to prevent Americas steady increase in obesity over the oncoming decade, and its accompanying morbidity and mortality over the next several generations of aging adult Americans.

Information in this article was obtained from the four sources listed below:

The Cutting 100 Calories/day Might Prevent Weight Gain & Obesity page at Weight Control and Obesity;

The "Symposium: Adult Weight Gain: Causes and Implications" page at Nutrition.org;

The Weight management counseling of overweight adults page at National Guideline Clearinghouse;

The NHLBI Working Group Report Preventing Weight Gain in Young Adults page at National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute

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