Discovering The Natural Way From Ancient Wisdom
Hoodia gordonii is a succulent plant found in Namibia, Angola, South Africa and Botswana. The San people of Kalahari Desert were found to possess the knowledge of its many uses. They used the plant as an appetite suppressant when they go for hunting which would last a few days. The extracts of this plant was patented by South African Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) in 1997. CSIR named the extract P57. CSIR then sold the exclusive rights of P57 to Phytopharm, a British drug company. Phytopharm in turn licensed the right to produce to Pfizer. But Hoodia became internationally well known only after BBC reported on the plant in 2003. Later in 2004, 60 Minutes reported its use as a natural appetite suppressant.
The drug was introduced and sold in the market as a weight loss drug. In all these hype, the San people were simply not considered. When the media confronted Phyotopharm about biopiracy, the company claimed that the San no longer existed. But the San Bushmen lived in the Kalahari Desert part of South Africa and other region where Hoodia is found. CSIR decided to share a portion of their royalty with the San in 2003. The share was estimated to be 0.003% of retail sales. The P57 rights were later returned by Pfizer to Phytopharm who in 2004 licensed it to Unilever. Unilever was also producing such diet foods as Slim Fast. Unilever claimed that it would use Hoodia to introduce functional food products.
Meanwhile Hoodia began to be marketed widely by a number of companies who claimed that their product contained Hoodia. These are available in a variety of forms as liquid, shakes, powder, capsules and pills such as Dex-L10 Hoodia, Hoodia Pure, Hoodia Extract, HoodiThin Liquid, Tru Hoodia Diet, H57 Hoodia, Hoodia SlimQuick, Hoodia Gordonii Shake Mix, Hoodia Shake, Hoodia Supreme, Hoodoba, and Desert Burn. Hoodia, in most cases, are combined with a few other useful items. Some Hoodia products are marketed for specific sections of consumers for instance Slimquick Hoodia diet which combines calcium, Vitamin D3 and Green Tea for women.
In the meanwhile Phytopharm acquired two more patents for the treatment of gastric disorders. More patent applications have been subsequently filed. There are other potential uses of the Hoodia such as sexual dysfunction, and the operation of glands such as the sweat, saliva and prostrate glands.
Health is significant. That is why, health should always be considered a number one priority among everything else.
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Tags: drugs, fitness, Health, natural herbs, natural remedies, Nutrition, obese, obesity, overweight, slimming down, traditional medicines, weight, weight loss, weight loss drugs
