# What can you tell me about Hoodia Diet Supplement? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [May 22, 2005, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-you-tell-me-about-hoodia-diet-supplement/305008 "2005-05-22T23:50:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 2\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2005, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-you-tell-me-about-hoodia-diet-supplement/305008/1 "2005-05-22T23:50:29Z")
A friend of mine has started taking Hoodia. Supposedly it was featured on 60 minutes. She says that it is an herb, which grows naturally in Southern Africa. I always worry about these new fads. I googled for it, but mostly got sales sites. Has anyone any experience with it good or bad? Has anyone heard anything bad? Thanks ---
**Author:** ![Stark\_Raven\_Mad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Stark\_Raven\_Mad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stark_Raven_Mad)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2005, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-you-tell-me-about-hoodia-diet-supplement/305008/2 "2005-05-23T00:41:26Z")
There are numerous powder sources in the states, but anything that claims to be from Pfizer and is cheap is probably a fake. It’s a moderately effective appetite suppressant, but there are better supplements out there. No big deal, really. We’ve been using it for more than a year now over at the [Bodybuilding.com](http://Bodybuilding.com) [forums](http://forum.bodybuilding.com/search.php?searchid=2266221), and no one’s dropped dead yet, though there appear to be some non-responders. The fact that the concentration isn’t standardized - so that 500mg from Company A contains the same amount of p57 as 5000mg from Company B - might account for this. I haven’t seen any nasty side effects or reports of allergic reactions, though. [PubMed](http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=pubmed&dopt=Abstract&list_uids=15312781&query_hl=1) yields only one article. Me, I prefer my nicotine gum and coffee.