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60 Minutes Hoodia Gordonii On Sunday November 21, 2004, the popular CBS news show, 60 minutes, aired a segment on Hoodia. Hoodia is a plant that has been part of the diet in South Africa for thousands of years. The only place in the world where Hoodia grows wild is in the Kalahari Desert of South Africa. It is an all-natural cactus like plant that suppresses the appetite to make your stomach feel like it is full. Hoodia is different than most diet pills, which are stimulants. Hoodia is not a stimulant at all but rather it is a bitter tasting plant that fools the brain by making you think you are full, even if you have eaten a tiny smidgen of food. 60 minutes hired Toppies Kruiper, a local Bushmen in South Africa, to take a crew on a tour to find the plant. Included in the crew was 60 minutes correspondent Lesley Stahl. When the plant was located, Kruiper cut off a small pickle like prickly stalk. He then cut off the spiky spines and gave it to Stahl to taste it. She said it had a cucumber like texture but wasn’t bad tasting. At the end of the day, she stated she had no food cravings even though she normally has hunger pangs around mealtime. She also stated that she had no side effects including no funny taste in her mouth, no upset stomach and no increased heartbeat. She had no desire to drink or eat the rest of the day. The first scientific investigation of the plant was conducted at South Africa’s national laboratory. It was fed to animals and what they discovered was that the animals were not hungry all day and they lost the weight. This was back in the 60’s. It took 30 years for the lab to isolate and identify the key ingredient in Hoodia that helped suppress appetites. When they found it, they applied for a patent and licensed it to Phytopharm. Phytopharm has spent more than $20 million on research including clinical studies. Subjects given Hoodia ended up eating 1,000 calories less than those who were not given Hoodia. Phytopharm owns the patent on Hoodia. So why do you need a patent on a plant? It owns the patent on the application of the plant as a weight loss product. Many diet products claim to have Hoodia in their products but those are just false claims according to Phytopharm since they own the patent. However, Phytopharm aren't the only ones feeling betrayed these days. The Bushmen never knew about the patent until Phytopharm issued a press release. The Bushmen felt they were the ones who discovered this plant and have being using it for thousands of years. In the end, a settlement was reached. The Bushmen will get a percentage of the profits. All Text Copyright © Safety2005.org |
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