hoodia gordonii | The Effects of Hoodia Gordonii

The Effects of Hoodia Gordonii



The hypothalamus is the part of the brain that regulates certain metabolic processes and other activities of the autonomic nervous system. It synthesizes and secretes neuro-hormones, often called hypothalamic-releasing hormones, and these in turn stimulate or inhibit the secretion of pituitary hormones. Its basic function is to control body temperature, hunger, thirst, fatigue, anger and circadian cycles (body clock).

It is affected by the steroidal glycosides molecule that is found in hoodia gordonii because it is basically the area where the glucose sugar levels in the body are sensed. When you consume food, the glucose levels in your body rise accordingly, triggering these nerve cells. When you are full, these cells will basically send that ‘message’ to the brain via the hypothalamus.

This steroidal glycoside molecule is estimated to be 100,000 times more potent than glucose, so as soon as it is sensed by the hypothalamus, the body is ‘told’ that it is full, even if you haven’t eaten anything. From the first animal trials through to human testing, it was found that hoodia gordonii did actually help suppress the appetite thus enabling the participants to decrease the amount of calories consumed.

But despite all the hype, what effects did hoodia gordonii have on ‘normal’ people- and by normal I mean not in an experimental environment? Below are the findings of one such person:

“Hoodia does help suppress your appetite, but there are many questions that still need to be answered. The dosage of hoodia that was actually needed to truly suppress my appetite was much larger than the dosages claimed by many websites promoting and selling hoodia. While various hoodia product formulas contained only 100mg of hoodia per recommended dose, I found that I needed at least 500mg of hoodia three times daily to have any real effect. That works out to 1.5 grams of hoodia per day.

Hoodia does not counteract the blood sugar level drops that follow the consumption of refined carbohydrates such as soft drinks, cookies, white bread, white rice and other simple carbohydrates. In fact, the times that I ate carbs, my appetite wasn’t lowered at all. Hoodia only seemed to work in conjunction with a controlled carbohydrate diet.

Hoodia in no way stops your body from feeling intense hunger after a heavy workout. When engaging in strength training, I get really hungry within minutes. Of course, I train harder than most people out there, but let this be a lesson: if you work out hard, you’re still going to feel hungry, hoodia or not. In other words, hoodia doesn’t cause your body to lose its mind. Your muscles still scream out for calories.

The best form of hoodia was the powder extracts which seemed to turn off the hunger more rapidly as this requires slow digestion to extract the chemical compounds. ”