Hoodia Gordonii Plus Frequently Asked Questions Is the Hoodia gordonii diet pill safe? All the hoodia gordonii diet pills featured on my site will only contain natural and organic ingredients, they will contain NO stimulants such as caffeine and ephedra and many of the Hoodia gordonii diet pill will be suitable for vegetarians and vegans. Hoodia has been classified as a food rather than a drug in South Africa, which show just how safe hoodia really is. How does the Hoodia gordonii diet pill work? The Hoodia gordonii plant contains an active ingredient that fools your brain into believing that you have had enough to eat. All you need to do is take your pill 20-30 minutes before your meal. Everyone is different and the effects of the Hoodia diet pill may take up to 14 days to work. Pfizer, who developed Viagra, has invested approximately $21 million for the right to develop the active ingredient, P57 which mimics the effects that glucose (ten thousand times as active as glucose) has on the brain. This mimicking effect of the active ingredient in Hoodia is what fools the brain into believing that it is full and no more food is required. How fast will I lose weight with the Hoodia Diet Pill? Studies done in Leicester, England have shown that people using the Hoodia gordonii diet pill reduce their calorie intake by up to 1000 calories a day and when you put that into pounds lost it may equate up to 4-6 pounds a week. Are you sure the Hoodia in your diet pill is pure? Hoodia gordonii is one of many species in the Hoodia genus and it takes a trained botanist or San collector to be able to distinguish species without looking at the flower. Without the flower Hoodia gordonii is difficult to distinguish from other species and unscrupulous collectors will not wait for their flowering period. Hoodia gordonii is a CITES (Convention of Illicit Trade of Endangered Species) protected succulent which means that the collecting of Hoodia in the wild is illegal without a permit (which is very difficult to obtain from the South African government). The Hoodia gordonii in the approved diet pills on this site will carry their CITES export permit from and have proof that the raw Hoodia is indeed from a government approved Hoodia grower in South Africa. How was the Hoodia cactus secret discovered? The active ingredient, P57, was not discovered by accident. In 1996 the CSIR (Council for Scientific and Industrial Research) was doing research on the food that the local "Bushmen" or San ate. The CSIR was amazed when they analyzed Hoodia gordonii, the animals they where testing it on did not die or have any side effect except weight loss. It was concluded that the Hoodia gordonii succulent was non-toxic and a natural appetite suppressant. By 1997 the CSIR had isolated the bioactive compound in Hoodia that had the appetite suppressing properties. They obtained a patent and licensed P57, named P57 because it was the 57th product the CSIR had spent funds on, to Phytopharm.