The Possible Side Effects of Hoodia

What is Hoodia

Hoodia is often advertised as an herbal diet pill having no side effects. However, there has been a lack of published studies on the safety and/or side effects of Hoodia in humans.

The reason Hoodia marketers frequently claim that there are no Hoodia side effects is because the San Bushmen in the Kalahari desert of Africa have used Hoodia for many years. However, Hoodia hasn't been in the region of North America long enough to be subjected to safety testing needed to reveal any possible side effects, drug interactions or safety concerns for its users.

Hoodia Side Effects

A former Researcher of Hoodia stated that there are possible Hoodia side effects. He stated that although Hoodia did show signs of appetite suppression within its user, there were also signs of adverse effects on the liver which were caused by ingredients other than the active ingredient p57 in Hoodia that could not easily be removed throughout processing.

Hoodia has a long way to go before it can earn approval from the Food and Drug Administration and until it receives approval, dieters should be careful of using Hoodia because of possible Hoodia side effects. If Hoodia does affect the liver function of dieters, it could and may also interact negatively with other medications that a dieter is taking.

It is important to note that the San Bushmen are a tribe of hunter-gatherers who more than likely did not take chemical pills for blood pressure, cholesterol, depression and many other diseases as today’s society does. Therefore, there is a great need for testing Hoodia in conjunction with the use of the types of medications taken by many today to assure that it is a safe diet pill to take overall all.

Individuals with sugar diabetes should be cautious about considering using Hoodia because one of the theories about how Hoodia works is that it causes the brain to think that it has had sufficient blood sugar. For a person with sugar diabetes, Hoodia could be dangerous for him because it may cause a person’s blood sugar to drop dangerously low while taking the pill. With the regular hunger mechanism inhibited by the Hoodia pill, the usual and normal warning signs for the diabetic may become suppressed resulting in major problems.

Hoodia is assumed to inhibit not only appetite but one’s thirst mechanism as well. According to several unconfirmed reports, there have been shepherds in Africa who used Hoodia to suppress hunger pains and died from dehydration because they never had a craving to drink anything either due to their need for liquids being suppressed also.

As a general precaution, if a dieter decides to take Hoodia, it is wise to ensure that he or she has adequate water intake and to consult with your doctor if any unusual side effects occur while taking Hoodia.