If you ever stumbled on the hoodia gordonii plant in Southern Africa, you would likely just see a rather squatty little cactus that would not seem too appealing, but hoodia extract is the key ingredient in many weight control products. You can also buy pure hoodia pills but the extract is certainly powerful enough to get the results you are looking for.

This well known succulent from South Africa has been known to the indigenous people residing there for centuries.They would swallow quantities of the hoodia plant when food was scarce or hard to find, and the active ingredient would keep them from being hungry. Hunters would use it to keep appetite from being a distraction while they caught the foodto sustain life

When people from other locations learned of hoodia, they immediately saw how it could be helpful in weight control by shutting off appetite, cravings and other bodily signals to eat. It is believed that it works by fooling the hypothalamus into thinking you are full and shutting down the hunger and eating signals.

Some have called the tiny hypothalamus gland in the brain an "appestat" because it is like a thermostat to control the feeling of hunger. When blood sugar is low, the hypothalamus detects this and sends out messages that food is needed. Hoodia pills or the extract cloak the signaling and little or no hunger is felt.

People willingly buy hoodia for several reasons, the most important being the there have been excellent results with it taken in the correct dose and form. A customer needs to look for absolutely pure hoodia without any preservatives or fillers that could be harmful or make it too weak. Many prefer hoodia pills because the plant is hard to grow yourself, and does not have a pleasant taste. Reading labels can reveal which brands have the most real hoodia and the least milk sugar or other filler.

In addition to suppressing the urges for mindless eating, hoodia also seems to speed up metabolic processes and even seems to burn fat faster. No medical advise is required and while a drug company has a patent on the synthetic molecule , plants cannot be patented which leaves hoodia open to the market. For dieters this natural weight loss aid is safe, but anyone taking any supplement or non prescription medicine should consult with their physician . They may even learn their doctor has tried hoodia pills too!