Joomla! site syndication http://www.thehoodia.org Wed, 07 Jan 2009 06:10:47 +0100 FeedCreator 1.7.2 http://www.thehoodia.org/images/M_images/joomla_rss.png http://www.thehoodia.org Joomla! site syndication http://www.thehoodia.org/news/latest/welcome-to-hoodia-gordonii-resource.html If you have already found the Hoodia website, you might have seen a show on Oprah, 60 Minutes, The Today Show or read an article on Hoodia. One way or the other, if you want to find out more about Hoodia you have come to the right place. As you might have already noticed, there is so much information and misinformation around this plant. In the next few articles we will provide you with the facts and only the facts about this plant. To get you started, these are some facts about Hoodia that you need to know: Hoodia looks like a cactus, but it's actually a succulent found only in the Kalahari Desert, southern Africa. Hoodia is entirely natural and it is not a drug. However, scientists believe that the ingredient in hoodia, known as P57, has appetite-suppressant effect.Only the gordonii variation of hoodia contains P57 appetite suppressant.Pharmaceutical company Phytopharm has a patent rights to the P57. Due to their appetite suppressant abilities, Hoodia Gordonii works by tricking the brain into thinking you've eaten, and would make you feel full. Hoodia Gordonii may work right away, may take several weeks or may not work at all for you. In cases where Gordonii works, the results include a reduced interest in food, delay in the time after eating before hunger sets in again and feeling full more quickly. Hoodia Gordonii appears to be safe for most people and currently has no known side effects. Some people have been taking hoodia since early 2000 without any side affects. News - Latest Sun, 15 Apr 2007 14:55:20 +0100 http://www.thehoodia.org/news-press/newsflash/namibia-will-export-hoodia.html Namibia's hoodia industry plans to export its first consignment of hoodia powder in early 2008. The chairman of Hoodia Growers Association of Namibia (HOGRAN), Dougal Bassingwaighte, told New Era yesterday that a handful of growers would export hundreds of kilogrammes of hoodia powder. "This will be the first export to check where the market is. We want to sell as soon as possible so we can assure our members that there is a market," he said. Hoodia is a succulent plant that grows in the Kalahari Desert in southern Africa. One of its species, Hoodia Gorgonii had its appetite suppressant elements isolated in 1977 as P57 and is made into dietary pills that are in high demand in the US and Europe. Namibian exports come at a time when the hype on the international market has gone down because of counterfeit products. Earlier in February, there were fears that products masquerading as hoodia would take the market if natural range land states of hoodia - Namibia, South Africa and Botswana - did not put their house in order. Products adulterated with sawdust, leaves and other filers were put on the market for as little as US$50 per kg, while genuine hoodia would cost up to US$350 per kg. News Press - Newsflash Tue, 21 Aug 2007 20:00:00 +0100 http://www.thehoodia.org/news-press/newsflash/afriplex-to-harvest-hoodia.html South African company, Afriplex, is busy with its first hoodia gordonii (hoodia) harvest in the Northern and Western Cape. The company has planted about 12-million plants over 120 ha since 2004, and the first harvest is expected to yield about 80 t of dry hoodia, which is sold as an appetite suppressant in various forms. "We are confident that we will reach the 80-t target. We have already harvested 10 t, which will be processed this month, and we expect to process another 20 t to 30 t throughout June and July," Afriplex MD Danie Nel tells Engineering News. Because there are no limits on when hoodia can be harvested, and the harvest is sold in advance, it is up to the customers whether or not they will take the rest of the 80 t this season or next season. Most of the harvested hoodia is exported to companies mainly in the US or Europe, but there are a few companies in South Africa which are using hoodia in some of their products. The hoodia is harvested by slicing off a portion of the plant with a sterile blade, to ensure that no bacterial infection of the plant takes place. This must be done in a sustainable way, to ensure that the plant will continue to grow, and, for this reason, the process is closely monitored by Western Cape conservationists, who must issue permits for harvesting before it is allowed to take place. News Press - Newsflash Thu, 07 Jun 2007 23:16:21 +0100 http://www.thehoodia.org/news-press/newsflash/cross-border-smuggling-of-hoodia.html KARAS Governor Dawid Boois has urged Namibian and South African police to co-operate more closely to fight cross-border crime. Addressing a Regional Technical Committee meeting attended by Police officers from the Karas Region and their South African counterparts Boois urged them to focus on illegal cross-border trade. "We have such valuable resources such as Hoodia Gordonii, fauna and flora to be protected from illegal cross-border trade," he said. The meeting was held at Luederitz on Thursday to review progress under the Regional Joint Technical Committee on Defence and Security. Nampol Deputy Commissioner Josephat Abel told The Namibian on Friday that co-operation between the police in South Africa and Karas had brought "significant successes" in the fight against crime. KARAS Governor Dawid Boois has urged Namibian and South African police to co-operate more closely to fight cross-border crime. Addressing a Regional Technical Committee meeting attended by Police officers from the Karas Region and their South African counterparts Boois urged them to focus on illegal cross-border trade. News Press - Newsflash Mon, 23 Apr 2007 23:35:48 +0100 http://www.thehoodia.org/news-press/newsflash/hoodia-gordonii-replaced-by-caralluma-fimbriata.html Toronto - Millennium Health Supplements Inc. reported that they have stopped the harvesting of wild hoodia gordonii due to all the problems that the product has been encountering, even if hoodia gordonii has been the hottest product to hit the global weight loss market since 2003. Millennium Health Supplements Inc., which is the largest exporter of hoodia gordonii in the world, cannot sell the cultivated hoodia since it has much reduced levels of the active ingredient in it, making it ineffective. In order to fill the supply gap of hoodia, farmers in South Africa are harvesting cultivated hoodia crops in the first 2-3 years, which is problematic since it isn't until about 5-6 years minimum that the cultivated hoodia crops are able to generate the active ingredients in them. Jen Cully, president of Millennium Health, believes that other products are now set to take over the industry, pushing hoodia in a lesser place in the market. One of the newest all-natural suppressing product being offered by Millennium Health is the Caralluma Fimbriata, which Cully believes to be same affective as hoodia gordonii. News Press - Newsflash Sat, 23 Jun 2007 11:28:10 +0100