Hoodia gordonii - Amherst College · • many supplements claim to have hoodia in them, markeng the naturalness and ...

HoodiagordoniiByStacyBrossy

•  GeneralInfo•  Medicinaluses– Appe7tedepressant

•  Howitworks•  History•  Problemswithmakingintoadietsupplement

Basics:•  Apocynaceae,milkweedfamily,

knownforproducingpoisonouslatex.

•  Othernames:xhoobaorghaap•  Kalaharisemi‐desertsofSouth

Africa,Botswana,Namibia,andAngola.

Lookslikeacactus,spinywatercollec7ngsucculentstems

Takes3yrstoreachmaturity

Livesfor15‐25yrs

Producesfleshcoloredflowersthatsmelllikedecayingmeat,aPractfliesthatpollinateit.

•  ItwasusedforthousandsofyearsbytheSanBushmenpeople

•  Appe$tedepressantandthirstquencher–  indiges7onproblems– severeabdominalcramps

–  Indiges7on–  tuberculosis– hypertension– diabetes– smallinfec7ons

P57

•  Makesasteroidalglycosidethataffectsthecentralnervoussystemmessengers.

•  Neuropep7tesreadtheglycosideasacompactversionofglucosesothebrainreceivesamessagethatenoughfoodhasbeeneaten

•  Causesappe7tereceptorstoturnoff,nomorehungerpains.

•  Studiesshowpeopletakingsmallamountsofitover4weekswereconsumingaround1000lesscaloriesperdayandsignificantweightloss

•  hPp://www.diethelper.co.uk/images/diagram.gif

Whycan’tIgetsome?•  P57wasisolatedbyaSouthAfricanCouncilforScien7ficResearch(CSIR)labin1997

•  SoldapatentforP57toPhytopharm,pharmaceu7calcompanyintheUK

•  Teamedupw/PfizerandUnilevertomakeanan7‐obesitydrugbutranintoproblems–  Thereisn’tenoughinAfricatoharvest–  Couldn’tsynthesizeit– Hardtocul7vate–  Possiblycausesharmtotheliver

Americansspendabout30billiondollarsonweightloss

•  Supplementscams•  manysupplementsclaimtohavehoodiainthem,marke7ngthe

naturalnessandthebenefitsthattheSanpeoplearesupposedlygeang

•  80%don’thaveanyhoodiainthem

In2002CSIRofficiallyrecognizedtheSanpeople’srightsoverHoodiasotheycouldgetapercentageoftheprofitsfromanydrugsmadefromit,butthedrughasn’tbeenmadeandmostmoneydoesn’tmakeitbackbecauseoflegali7es.