Hoodia California - Hoodia News

Phytopharm expects to launch a Hoodia Slimming Drink in US by 2008

admin — Thu, 22 Feb 2007 03:15:36 +0000

Rees pins hopes on slimmers for profit

Phytopharm could be just two years away from going into profit.

Such a statement would, of course, sound ludicrous for most other companies in business almost 15 years, but we are in biotech land where the world is different.

Actually, Phytopharm has never quite fitted into the biotech mould and for years has been referred to in these pages as a botanics business, all its drugs and potions originating from plants.

Now all this is changing, along with the appointment of new chief executive Dr Daryl Rees, who reckons nobody really understands what a botanics company might be, so re-definition might be in order.

Phytopharm names Daryl Rees CEO to succeed Richard Dixey

admin — Sat, 27 Jan 2007 23:27:20 +0000

LONDON (AFX) - Phytopharm PLC said it has appointed Daryl Rees as its new chief executive to succeed Richard Dixey, Phytopharm's co-founder who has led the company over the last ten years.

In a senior board shake-up ahead of the group's next phase in its development, it said it has also appointed Piers Morgan as chief financial officer and board director.

Phytopharm said Rees, who has served as the group's chief operating officer for the past six years, will focus on generating growth and value from Phytopharm's strong product portfolio, in particular its Hoodia gordonii functional food obesity programme which is partnered with Unilever and its Myogane and Cogane pharmaceutical neurological products, which are currently in Phase I and II clinical development respectively.

newsdesk@afxnews.com slm

Phytopharm, Unilever expect Hoodia product progress

admin — Sat, 27 Jan 2007 23:18:18 +0000

By Jess Halliday

03/01/2007 - Phytopharm and Unilever are expecting progress in their efforts to develop products using the active extract of Hoodia gordonii in 2007, and report they are satisfied with efforts to address the problem of ineffective weight-loss products purporting to be Hoodia.

Phytopharm has said that in full year 2007 it expects to receive the balance of its Unilever's £3.5m contribution to the second stage of the five-stage development programme embarked on in 2005. To date £0.66m has been received, in addition to £6.5m for the first stage.

The total potential payments to Phytopharm in consideration of the whole programme amass to £21m. It will also receive an undisclosed royalty on sales of all products containing the extract.

Rees pins hopes on slimmers for profit

admin — Sat, 27 Jan 2007 23:12:39 +0000

Phytopharm could be just two years away from going into profit.

Such a statement would, of course, sound ludicrous for most other companies in business almost 15 years, but we are in biotech land where the world is different.

Actually, Phytopharm has never quite fitted into the biotech mould and for years has been referred to in these pages as a botanics business, all its drugs and potions originating from plants.

Now all this is changing, along with the appointment of new chief executive Dr Daryl Rees, who reckons nobody really understands what a botanics company might be, so re-definition might be in order.

The truth about hoodia

admin — Sat, 27 Jan 2007 22:58:43 +0000

By Rachel Kubicek
THE JOPLIN GLOBE (JOPLIN, Mo.)

JOPLIN, Mo. — It’s an appetite suppressant that has been touted in diet commercials, featured in Oprah’s O magazine and can be found on the shelves at local health-food stores, but hoodia isn’t anything new.

A flowering plant that resembles a cactus plant, hoodia has been used by South African bushmen for thousands of years.

“African bushmen used it when they traveled across the desert to help suppress their appetite and thirst,” said Suzanne Nelson, owner of Suzanne’s Natural Foods, which carries a variety of hoodia products. “It was used by them and as people in our culture found out about it, they thought it would work as an appetite suppressant and it does.”

According to www.florahealth.com, recent studies have shown that hoodia’s appetite-suppressing properties are estimated to be up to 100,000 times as potent as glucose, sending a signal to the brain that the body is in a state of fullness.

Hoodia varieties

Shannon Linder, a nutritionist with Freeman Health Systems, said that her research shows that there are more than 20 different types of hoodia.

But only one kind, hoodia gordonii, has been found to actually suppress your appetite, she said.

“It is very rare and very controlled in South Africa so it will be very expensive,” Linder said. “Fifty percent or more of what you find on the market will be a different variety of hoodia plant. The actual hoodia product should have an independent lab report to show its quality and will be pretty high in cost.”

Always use caution

Those considering using hoodia, or any other diet product, should take caution and be sure to research it first.

“People need to be aware with weight-loss (products) what they are getting. Any reputable company selling a weight-loss product will have a caution on the bottle,” said Nelson.

“It is up to the consumer to check to see if it says ‘Do not take this if you have a heart condition.’ Also, certain weight-loss products may have ingredients that have other things that may not be good for people on anti-depressants or who are suffering from depression. It will say on the bottle. It is good that they look at the labels and know what they are getting or talk to someone here.”

Suzanne’s offers online assistance at the store for customers to see if a product is safe to take with any medications they might be on.

Hoodia hoodoo

Linder recommends checking with a physician before taking any supplement, and said to watch for claims made by makers of some hoodia products.

“Be careful with some claims that hoodia can help with diabetes and high blood pressure,” she said. “In general, for people with type 2 diabetes, losing weight will help control blood sugars and lower your blood pressure. It’s not from hoodia.”

Rachel Kubicek writes for The Joplin (Mo.) Globe.

the buzz log What the world is searching for...

admin — Tue, 09 Jan 2007 04:16:39 +0000

Hot for Hoodia?

By Molly McCall

Fri, January 05, 2007, 2:05 am PST

Endorsed by Anna Nicole Smith, peddled by diet pill makers, and publicized by a legion of spammers, hoodia gordonii has become one of the hottest things to hit the multi-billion dollar weight-loss industry. Reportedly, African tribes have long used hoodia, an endangered, cactus-like plant, for its magical ability to suppress appetites. Now, dreamers hoping to get thin quick and schemers hoping to cash in have packed in the buzz on dieting supplements that use it.

San medicinal knowledge exploited

admin — Fri, 29 Dec 2006 12:51:28 +0000

Hoodia, the southern African plant which the San have used as an appetite suppressant and thirst quencher for thousands of years, is under threat after being hammered so hard by people by people trying to make a quick buck that it may become extinct within two years.

This year about 500 tons of the succulent were cut from the wild for export. There are now calls for a ban on Hoodia exports until the authorities are able to control what appears to be extensive illegal harvesting.

Rachel Wynberg, of the University of Cape Town's Environmental Evaluation Unit, said on Thursday: "The resource in the wild is being devastated. We really need to act on the illegal exports."

Imitation of Hoodia Gordonii can be misleading

admin — Fri, 29 Dec 2006 12:41:44 +0000

Saturday, November 25 2006 @ 01:58 PM Central Standard Time

Originally used for treating indigestion and small infections, Hoodia has long been familiar to the indigenous people of Southern Africa, who seldom use the plant species for said medication. Hoodia is genus of thirteen species in Apocynaceae flowering plants family that are grown and nurtured in a garden. One of the species is the popular Hoodia gordonii which was found to be an effective appetite suppressant.

The South African Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) in 1977 extracted the molecule ingredient in hoodia known now as P57, which is an element responsible for suppressing appetite. The CSIR patented this discovery and subsequently granted the United Kingdom-based Phytopharm a legal right to make use of it. They work together with the pharmaceutical firm, Pfizer to segregate active ingredients from the extracts and to synthesize the latter for use as an appetite suppressant supplement. As Pfizer took out the rights to P57 in 2002, the CSIR in the same period, officially acknowledged the right of some South African tribes over the use of Hoodia, giving them proportional share from the profits and any development related to Hoodia’s market.

The market for the appetite suppressant herbs reached the United States; but unfortunately some products were held as imitations. One identified reproduction of the original is the H57’s product displayed at some stores that, after due laboratory testing was made, was found not originating Hoodia Gordonii.

An independent testing lab, Alkemists Pharmaceuticals situated in Costa Mesa, California, conducted the testing of Hoodia Gordinii by using three particularized testing protocols that show the way to examining samples microscopically and chemically. In view of the deceitful findings, people were cautioned to carefully and properly read the labels including the ingredients on any product that is branded as Hoodia Gordonii. Several products are accordingly containing preservatives and stimulants which can cause increase heart bit rate. There were so may companies and establishments selling the products and claiming they are authentic; while only a few were given privilege to sell the herbal appetite suppressant.

Almost half of the products in the market now containing an ingredient of Hoodia Gordonii do not actually and truthfully have the said component. These companies are just wanting to profit and enrich themselves at the expense of the customers who get nothing out of the fake or imitated product. In view of this, consumers need be on guard to prevent deceit and eventually any harm that these imitations might have caused their bodies. What, instead of loosing weight, you gain more and become obese because of the incorrect prescription?

Furthermore, the United Nation’s Watchdog organization has already placed in its control the harvest and exportation of Hoodia Gordonii not primarily because of the imitation issues, but for the protection of the endangered species of plants and animals, making all shipment undergo strict process of documentation and inspection. The documentation showing the legality of the transaction is made an integral part of the procedure before any shipment or exportation from South Africa can be made. Included in the exacting and probing documentation procedure is the necessity of showing the legitimacy, validity, and the authenticity of the herbs and the farms where they originated.

Buyers particularly dieters must take extra caution before buying some supplements claiming to be Hoodia Gordonii, otherwise it might not be the weight the person would loose, but his money and good health for acquiring a fake Hoodia.

Herbal medicine indeed has a lot to offer; just make sure you are getting the genuine.

Jade Amethyst
www.primeherbal.com

Food producers seek an elixir for a health-conscious age

admin — Fri, 29 Dec 2006 12:07:04 +0000

By Jenny Wiggins and Andrew Ward,By Jenny Wiggins and Andrew Ward

Published: December 22 2006 02:00 | Last updated: December 22 2006 02:00

Seven years ago, Daryl Rees set off on an expedition to the Orange River on the fringes of the Kalahari desert to look for a spiky little plant known as the Hoodia. He had been told that it had unusual properties: when a small amount is eaten, it makes hunger pangs disappear.

Mr Rees works for Phytopharm, a British plant sciences company. He wanted to find out whether Hoodia, which had been tested on rats, could be used to help people lose weight. The biggest problem: the bitter taste. Upon trying it, he realised he would have a tough job making it palatable: "The immediate response is: oh dear!"

Hoodia - The Obesity and Hunger Paradox

admin — Thu, 28 Dec 2006 13:13:39 +0000

by Daniel Avaro
Manager, Hoodia Latina

The world is certainly a curious place with amazing and incredible circumstances happening every day. The hoodia story is one of them.

It is into the developed and industrialized nations where actually we find one of the largest battles the man has embraced to: the fight against obesity. There are about 300 million people worldwide rated as overweight or obese. And the fight is going on, but the final victory is perhaps some years ahead.

By the other side, in the developing world, we find the other largest battle, and it is against the hunger. Accordingly to United Nations agencies, near 852 million people accross the globe are hungry. Here also the battle is going on and the victory is still far away. The largest population with hunger problems is in the Sub Saharan countries in Africa.

But is in Africa where a simple plant, the hoodia gordonii, is starting to emerge as a solution for both sides. It is what I call the Hoodia paradox.

The hoodia goordonii is a succulent which originally grows wild in the Kalahari and Namib deserts in Southern Africa, in certain areas of South Africa, namibia, Angola and Botswana. The hoodia gordonii is a plant having a molecule which suppress appetite.

The hoodia pills made a revolution in the weight loss market in just 3 years, being today at the top of the consumer demand for dieting products. Why?: because hoodia works!!