Hoodia...what the hell is HOODIA?

Apparently I'm the last person on the planet to hear about this little miracle cactus HOODIA that grows exclusively in Southern Africa. The tribal bushmen peal the skin and spine needles from the plant and eat the pulp to suppress their appetite while hunting or making long treks.

Woo hoo! It's finally here the miracle diet pill we've all been waiting for and it's called Hoodia! Of course, the health and diet industry is probably shouting the largest hosanna. People will try anything to get thin(ner). Apparently a drug industry that finds it difficult to share AIDS drugs with Africa is sparing no expense to get their hands on this plant to use it for the burgeoning diet industry. There is much speculation, if you look at this video from the TODAY show that aired last fall, about Hoodia -- if it works, how it works, why it works etc. These are questions that include what strength, what dosage and how often it should be taken. Not to mention the fact that as diet supplements the manufacturing of the supplements isn't regulated. That's scary. You could be buying something that says it contains Hoodia and it doesn't.

I've long been in the war against extra poundage, but it doesn't take a rocket scientist to see that there is a lot more research that needs to go into this product and what the proper dosage should be before we flabby, fat and unfit Americans should be shoving in in our gullets. For instance, one question I had right away was about who uses it. Men in the bush use it most. We already know that men metabolize differently than women. So does it work for women like it does for men? Then there is the fact that the men use it to suppress appetite when on long hunts or journeys that they are usually taking by foot. Do you have to exercise in order to stimulate Hoodia's most effective properties?!!! I already have to exercise to stay fit, so how is taking Hoodia going to make that different?

Yet the inticing siren call of a pill to solve all my problems with my fight against flab is seductive. Huh...maybe all I need to do a is a little more research! If there IS a pill that you can take to lose weight and suppress your appetite that would be waaaaay easier than eating healthy and exercising. Very tempting... BUT, I wonder if there are any side effects? There was that wonder diet drug about 10 years ago that people developed heart problems and some died before it was taken off the market. What was that again? Anyone remember? Oh yeah, phen-phen (fen-fen) I think it was called.

My point is will our good sense override our desperation to lose weight while we continue to overeat? The diet and health food industry is betting it will. All I know is that I'll be checking out Hoodia at my health food store. I won't be able to resist.