First, ask yourself- “Does the place I am getting hoodia gordonii from allows ongoing, random, anonymous testing of their hoodia products by an independent lab?” Just as important, are they only getting by with sending in a batch sample with a lot number for testing?

Here’s why.

Some unscrupulous vendors will display their lot numbers and results from a lab considered to be very reputable. However, the only way to know that this is undisputable proof of the hoodia product’s potency is if the company permits ongoing, random and anonymous testing of the actual product that the consumer buys from them. This testing should be completely verifiable, and the testing should be done without the vendor knowing the exact place that the products were to be tested, , where purchased and when the products were tested. The results of each of these tests should be displayed right on the testing laboratory’s website.

Question # 2: PURITY- Is there an easy way to see if the product is made ONLY from 100% pure South African Hoodia gordonii-with no fillers or additives?

There is a way to determine the purity of the hoodi gordonii. Looking at the label, check under the “Supplement Facts” section on the label. If it declares specifically that there are no additives, this will be apparent by your seeing the word “None” in the “Other Ingredients” section of the label. If there is anything else listed, then it’s not pure hoodia.

Sometimes a manufacturer will list the fillers and additives as “Other Ingredients”. This is known as the “O.I.” trick. If the manufacturer lists the other fillers and additives as “other ingredients”- then they can legally say that the product is true gordonii.

The manufacturers are allowed by the government to use “flow agents” to make the manufacturing process easier.

Through the use of magnesium stereate, cellulose, silica, and other similar ingredients, the manufacturers are able to exploit the loophole in the law regarding “other ingredients”- at YOUR expense.

With the new high compression encapsulation machines, it’s not necessary to load up the capsules with fillers and additives- yet still be able to call it “pure”. It might cost more to do so, but it’s the right thing to do.

Now you know how to avoid this common “bait and switch” practice that the less than honorable companies use when they give the lab a “souped up” supposedly authentic sample, yet sell you, the consumer, a watered down product.

Question #3: Does the place that you are wanting to buy the hoodia from claim it to be of South African origin, or just say “hoodia”? There are over 20 varieties of hoodia, but only the one from South Africa has been proven to reduce the caloric intake of humans. If you see “Chinese Hoodia” for example- I wouldn’t buy it.

Question # 4 ACTIVE PART- “Is the Hoodia I buy made from the biologically active part of the Hoodia gordonii Succulent. Does the vendor use only the peeled stem of the Hoodia gordonii plant?”

You shouldn’t buy hoodia gordonii from any company using the “whole plant” or anything that isn’t purely the “peeled stems. These products would automatically have atleast 50% less of the hoodia’s active ingredients necessary for effective appetite control.

You don’t want the root, nor the flowers, nor the bark. The P-57 part of the plant- or “peeled stem” is the part of the hoodia plant that you want.

Question #5: Potency. Are you sure that the hoodia that you are buying is of the highest potency that’s possible? Does the company and/or it’s farmers cultivate the hoodia patiently for the best potency? This takes atleast 3.5 years before they harvest the stems.

Hoodia milled from immature plants may test “positive” for Hoodia gordonii but lack sufficient P57 to suppress the appetite. Additionally, Hoodia loses its strength when exposed or dried in open sunlight or in kilns above a certain temperature; or when milled above certain microns.

This entry was posted on Sunday, June 8th, 2008 at 4:29 am and is filed under Health and Fitness. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.