November 24, 2008

In The News: Another One Bites the Dust... Yay!

Those of you who watched my YouTube video on appetite suppressants know how much I loathe them.

So, as you may imagine, I was pleased as punch to find out today that multi-national giant Unilever has canceled negotiations with Hoodia supplier Phytopharm to use the plant extract in Slimfast products, despite plunking down $25 million in research and developments costs over the last four years.

Unilever's official statement is very PR-friendly: "the extract would not meet our safety and efficacy standards."

In other words -- the whole thing is bunk and they want nothing to do with it. Good!

By the way, Hoodia was one of the "magic indredients" in TrimSpa. We all know how THAT ended.

For those of you unfamiliar with Hoodia, it is a plant native to the Kalahari Desert in South Africa, which Natives have supposedly eaten for centuries to keep hunger at bay while on long treks.

The "magic" apparently occurs due to a molecule in the plant known as P57, which allegedly shuts off appetite by targeting the hypothalamus.

Mind you, there is absolutely no evidence that Hoodia works. All we have are anecdotal accounts (generously provided by companies selling the product, of course.)

It's also silly to assume that processed parts of a plant, either in powder or capsule form, yield the same results as consuming it in unadulterated ways.

That's like someone hawking fruit juice concentrates in pill form and claiming they offer the same health benefits as a piece of raw fruit.

Even if Hoodia did work, appetite suppresants are the worst thing you can do for long-term weight loss.

They don't teach new behaviors and can have risky side-effects (remember, the term "appetite suppresant" is a euphemism for "amphetamines.")

How about a pill that makes consumers immune to diet scams, frauds, and "magic bullets"?

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