Beware Hoodia Gordonii Diet Pill Spam Scam

The spam ads that fill mailboxes promise a miracle in a single pill -- an natural appetite suppressants that makes dieting a snap by killing your desire to eat.

Interest in the plant skyrocketed after a rumor began to circulate that hoodia is the diet drug of choice for the "Desperate Housewives,"s

But popularity aside, experts say proof that hoodia works is anecdotal, that little research has been done to confirm the assumption it has no side effects, and that consumers who are buying the supplements over the

Internet may not be getting what they're paying for. Hoodia cacti are native to the semi-deserts of South Africa, Botswana, Namibia and Angola.


There are about 20 species in this family but the gordonii is the one that contains a natural appetite suppressant. It thrives in extremely high temperatures, and takes years to mature.



Hoodia gordonii is very rare and is protected by national conservation laws in South Africa and Namibia.

The South African government has limited the export and farming of Hoodia to prevent over-exploitation, and have banned wild harvesting of the hoodia plant.

In October, 2004, CITES (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora) provided added protection. Hoodia gordonii cannot be exported as a weight loss product. Limited amounts of the plant can be exported, but only as herbarium collections.

Scientists found that one molecule in the plant is responsible for the appetite reducing effect. This molecule has been named P57. Phytopharm owns the patent to P57, and no other company or individual can sell hoodia as a weight loss aid.

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