Does Hoodia Gordonii Really Work For Safe Weight Loss?
Hoodia gordonii (pronounced HOO-dee-ah) is also called hoodia, xhooba, khoba, Ghaap, hoodia cactus, and South African desert cactus.
Hoodia is a cactus that’s causing a stir for its ability to suppress appetite and promote weight loss. 60 Minutes, ABC, and the BBC have all done stories on hoodia. Hoodia is sold in capsule, liquid, or tea form in health food stores and on the Internet. Hoodia gordonii can be found in the semi-deserts of South Africa, Botswana, Namibia, and Angola.
Hoodia grows in clumps of green upright stems and is actually a succulent, not a cactus. It takes about 5 years before hoodia’s pale purple flowers appear and the cactus can be harvested. Although there are 20 types of hoodia, only the hoodia gordonii variety is believed to contain the natural appetite suppressant.
Although hoodia was “discovered” relatively recently, the San Bushmen of the Kalahari desert have been eating it for a very long time.
The Bushmen, who live off the land, would cut off part of the hoodia stem and eat it to ward off hunger and thirst during nomadic hunting trips. They also used hoodia for severe abdominal cramps, haemorrhoids, tuberculosis, indigestion, hypertension and diabetes.
In 1937, a Dutch anthropologist studying the San Bushmen noted that they used hoodia to suppress appetite. But it wasn’t until 1963 when scientists at the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), South Africa’s national laboratory, began studying hoodia.
Initial results were promising — lab animals lost weight after taking hoodia.
The South African scientists, working with a British company named Phytopharm, isolated the active ingredient in hoodia, a steroidal glycoside, which they named p57. After getting a patent in 1995, they licensed p57 to Phytopharm. Phytopharm has spent more than $20 million on hoodia research.
Eventually pharmaceutical giant Pfizer (makers of Viagra) caught wind of hoodia and became interested in developing a hoodia drug. In 1998, Phytopharm sub-licensed the rights to develop p57 to Pfizer for $21 million. Pfizer recently returned the rights to hoodia to Phytopharm, who is now working with Unilever.
Much of the buzz about hoodia started after 60 minutes correspondent Leslie Stahl and crew traveled to Africa to try hoodia. They hired a local Bushman to go with them into the desert and track down some hoodia. Stahl ate it, describing it as “cucumbery in texture, but not bad.” She lost the desire to eat or drink the entire day. She also didn’t experience any immediate side effects, such as indigestion or heart palpitations. Stahl concluded, “I’d have to say it did work.”
One of the first studies of Hoodia Gordonii was done in the UK on obese patients. Half of the volunteers were given Hoodia Gordonii, the other half were given a placebo. The subjects were allowed to read, watch television and eat. After 15 days it was found that those taking Hoodia had reduced their calorie intake by 1000 calories a day. Despite having unlimited access to food, the Hoodia subjects lost weight.
Is Hoodia Safe?
Since Hoodia is a plant (versus a man-made chemical), it is completely natural and experts say it is safe to eat. Scientists have been studying Hoodia for almost 10 years and have not found any side effects. (Not to mention the San Tribesman who have been eating Hoodia for years with seemingly no ill effects).
What Can You Do?
One way to tell if a Hoodia pill is real is to look for a document called the C.I.T.E.S. Certificate (The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora). Since the Hoodia plant is a protected plant species it can only be sold to an exporter who has this certificate.
I have conducted an honest review of all Hoodia weight loss products which claim to give almost miraculous weight loss results for dieters worldwide. Read my Hoodia weight loss review now at http://www.hoodia-weight-loss-review.com
Home Fitness Equipment Is the Ultimate In Convenience
Are you encountering increasing challenges in your attempts to try to eke out the time to schedule a workout on a daily basis? Have you found that by the time you get to your house, change into workout clothes and drive over to the gym, that you could have completed a work out and had a shower, if you only had your own home fitness equipment at your disposal?
While it is true that the huge variety of commercial fitness equipment available to you at the gym is wonderful, the inconvenience often completely negates that advantage. For time savings and convenience, there is simply nothing better than having home fitness equipment, so that you can get the workout done and have no excuses for skipping it.
For a long time it seemed that having a setup of effective home fitness equipment was really very much of a luxury because of both the high cost and because of the amount of space required to use it correctly. But, these days things are different. There are many options to choose from in home gym equipment that are both affordable and also compact, making it possible for most people to have some form of fitness equipment in their house.
One of the best benefits to having your own fitness equipment, in addition to saving time and being convenient, is that you are also able to exercise in the privacy and comfort of your own home. Are you tired of having to listen to the annoying music of other people at the gym, or of being subjected to watching soap operas or talk shows that someone else has chosen?
Working out from the comfort of your house allows you to be in control of your environment, where you can listen to your choice of music or your favorite television show without having to negotiate or worry about offending the person at the neighboring treadmill.
Just about every person who has undertaken a new fitness regimen has also found a whole slew of new excuses when it comes time to get into the workout wear and trudge over to the gym. With the exercise gear in your house, you automatically kill a number of favorite excuses and if you have someone in the house to nudge you, you will virtually eliminate all justifications you can fabricate to avoid working out.
Ultimately, this will result in you working out more often and will help to make the attainment of your fitness goals much easier.
With all of those wonderful benefits to having your own exercise gear in your house, the one big challenge is often finding the space in your living quarters to house a home fitness center. Many of the best machines are also what people consider to be space hogs and can dominate a room easily.
However, many models of home exercise equipment have become more compact as manufacturers have become more aware of this constraint. Also, many have been designed to store easily and can be folded up or rolled away for quick storage. With a bit of creativity and determination, almost anyone can find a few square feet to accommodate a home fitness exercise unit.
There is certainly no lack of choices when it comes to outfitting your home fitness equipment center. Some of the more popular fitness machines for your home are things such as: elliptical trainers, exercise bikes, treadmills, stair climbers, ab and rowing machines.
Additionally, there are a number of different whole-body machines that can do the work of two or three different pieces of equipment.
A whole world of information about home fitness equipment eagerly awaits you from Mike Selvon portal at http://homegym.niche-education.com/. We appreciate your feedback at our blog at http://www.mynicheportal.com/health-beauty/fitness-exercise/.
Do Electronic Muscle Stimulators Work For Weight Loss, Body Building Or Physical Therapy?
Using electronic muscle stimulators for body building provides nerve and flexor training for the muscles and seems to allow the muscle tissue to grow at a rate comparable to simple exercise. However, with the stimulators the body goes without the after-pain associated with strenuous weight training exercises. In this way the electronic muscle stimulators can help the body building enthusiast to better control the level of pain that is felt after a workout. Some people with problem areas such as sore shoulder muscles can use the stimulators to help alleviate the pain before the next session of exercising.
The same applies to anyone looking to lose weight with electronic muscle stimulator use. While the stimulator may help to alleviate the pain sometimes associated with weight loss exercising, the unit itself will most likely have very little to do with actual weight loss. However, by helping the person control any pain associated with the exercising, the stimulator may, in fact, help these people to exercise more. They will then have a better chance at losing more weight.
Electronic muscle stimulators have been thoroughly proven to help with physical therapy where nerve and muscle damage has occurred. Many therapists highly recommend the use of these units when their patients routinely complain of sore muscles during and after exercise workouts, or have some form of nerve damage that prevents them from getting the most out of life.
The effective use of these electronic muscle stimulators depends a lot on the type of patient and the nerve or muscle damage they may be suffering from. In general use, the stimulator units can be used easily by the patients themselves after only a few minutes of training. In this way, the patients control the amount of voltage used and the rhythm cycle that controls the rate of muscle contractions. Many health spas and gyms have electronic muscle stimulators on hand to help alleviate any sudden pain or muscle spasms that their customers may have while exercising. It’s fairly easy to become adept at using these units and many people swear by the relief that these units give them from their muscle and nerve pain.
Many manufacturers of these electronic muscle stimulators are quick to point out the safety and value of their products when it comes to weight loss or muscle building. How would a company stay in business if it didn’t promote its own products? Many federal departments have done exhaustive tests on these electronic muscle stimulators and have found that very few of them do anything at all in the way of weight loss. The results from using one of these units for weight loss is comparable to not using one at all, proving that the units are ineffective at best. In fact, they may end up being harmful if overused to stimulate out-of-shape muscle and fat tissue. Because the stimulators contract the muscles, many people believe that this motion causes the body to lose weight, but it is simply not true.
Tone-A-Matic manufacturers and distributors of electronic muscle stimulation devises, TENS systems for body building and toning muscle. Our systems are used by Osteopaths, Physiotherapists and by doctors working on the treatment of degenerative muscle disorders.
http://www.toneamatic.com/
Exercise Tips: Avoid These to Stick with Your Exercise Program
Starting a new exercise program can be very stressful. Millions of Americans start exercise programs only to give up on it within a couple of weeks. I have found that by avoiding a few things, you can increase your chances of sticking with your exercise program and reaching your weight lost and fitness goals.
Avoid getting out of routine
Just like waking up each morning and going to work or attending Church on the weekend, including exercising in your daily routine is essential to you succeeding. The most important factor in establishing a routine is setting a time of day to accomplish a certain task.
The best time of the day to exercise is early morning. After a good night’s rest, we are well rested and full of energy. Try to avoid exercising late in the night as this is the time we are likely to complain of tiredness and skip exercising all together. Choose a time of day when you know you can consistently, on a daily basis, devote this time to focusing on getting in shape.
Avoid expecting immediate results
Many of us, after a couple of weeks of exercising, expect to see visible results. Most people with this expectation grow frustrated and soon quit. In most cases, it takes years to become 100 pounds overweight. You should not expect to lose this accumulated weight overnight.
The best way to approach a weight lost target is to set short, reachable goals. For example, you may want to give yourself a goal of 5 pounds for the first month. You must understand that beginners to exercising will not be able to keep a consistent, high calorie burning pace. By month three or four, you will be more advanced and will be able to set higher weight lost targets.
Avoid going in alone
When starting an exercise program be sure to find a partner, preferably one that is highly motivated and more advanced than you are. Having a partner will come in handle on those days when you feel like you can not go a day longer. Your chances of pulling through those tough times are much more likely with someone there helping you along the way.
There are also other benefits, like relationship building, when exercising with someone. This can give husbands and wives, parents and children, even siblings a change to spend quality time and grow closer. At the same time, you will also become healthier.
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