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Anybody ever heard of this?


Lori
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I wasn't sure where to post this, so just put it here.

This link is to an article from 2003.  Supposedly, the product is now for sale.  I found it on several French and UK websites.  Have any of you ever heard of this stuff?  Sounds really odd, but hey, maybe it works.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/correspondent/2947810.stm

It is supposed to be the active ingredient in the diet pills Anna Nicole Smith used.  Not sure if that is a good thing or a bad thing.

Anyway, I am tempted to try them, but a little apprehensive as it sounds too good to be true.  Have been trying to lose about 4 or 5 kilos and just seem to be going nowhere.  Yes, I'm sure it is my age !  The pounds just don't come off like they used to.

 

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The last I heard, just before Christmas last year, was that there is a legal wrangle between the Kalahari tribesmen (where the stuff grows) and some mega drugs company that wants to market it as a slimming product.   Personally I'm on the side of the tribesmen.
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I haven't heard of this at all.

I am a member of http://survival-international.org/?default_lang_code=en_en   , if anyone is interested in helping the indigenous peoples of the world, there are many causes on here that invite you to write letters to various people. You don't have to be a member to do it. They don't seem to have taken on this cause yet, but give it time!

Hope you don't mind me briefly interrupting  your thread Lori [:)]

 

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[quote user="Lori"]

It is supposed to be the active ingredient in the diet pills Anna Nicole Smith used...... 

  Have been trying to lose about 4 or 5 kilos and just seem to be going nowhere.....

[/quote]

In her case the pounds seemed to gravitate upwards and become personal airbags. So maybe you shpould avoid this product ?

John

not

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Pierre - that makes me wonder if the product actually has the Hoodia ingredient in it at all.  I don't know what controls there are over the sale of health supplements in the UK.  The Trimspa and the Hoodia Lean products both say they contain the actual Hoodia Gordonii in them.

Here is the link to one supplier who sells them.  They also have a French site.

http://www.biovea.net/

The Hoodia product link is on the first page of the website.  You can see the Trimspa product by searching on it.  Hoodia Lean says it has 400 mgs per tablet of Hoodia Gordonii.  Trimspa says it has 150 mgs.

 

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Very funny Iceni.  I remember seeing her on Larry King, after she had lost the weight.  He asked her what size bra she wore - yes, he actually asked her that.  She said 95 DD.   I know for a fact that was a lie.  I won't say HOW I know, but I know.

 

 

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Hi Lori, didn't the article say that Hoodia isn't available yet and that many products offered over the internet that claim to have it don't? If someone knows differently, I too would be interested.[:)]

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You'll have to wait a bit.

The UK company Phytopharm is behind the development - you can read about it and their relationship with the CSIR and the San people here:  http://www.phytopharm.co.uk/hoodiafactfile/#q9 

Phytopharm, in turn, have been working (since 2004) with Unilever to introduce Hoodia gordonii into a range of foodstuffs. If all goes well, then Unilever should be introducing such a range worldwide (patents granted in US,UK & Japan, pending in Europe and elsewhere) in about 2009.

The only legal wrangles at the moment are against the "illegal" purveyors of (usually) fake products. I believe that Unilever is beginning to get its act together on that front.

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Yes, the BBC article was written in 2003.  It said to look for the product in the coming years.  It is actually linked from the Biovea website where the two products in question are sold.  So, it seems interesting to me that the Biovea company would claim to sell a product that didn't contain the ingredient they state it contains.  I will try to go to the Phytopharm website to see if I can inquire about these two products with them.

 

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Thanks for that website chessfou.  I sent them an email questioning the Biovea products - Trimspa and Hoodia Lean.  I asked them if the ingredients are not available for sale, as their Factfile implies, then how can these products claim to include them as active ingredients.  I asked them if they are "fake" products.  I have no idea if they will reply or even if they will know, but I'll post any reply I get.

 

 

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That BBC article predates an awful lot of subsequent action, not least the inclusion of Hoodia gordonii under Appendix II of CITES (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of

Wild Fauna and Flora), which occurred in October 2004 and should by now have helped cut back significantly on the illegal harvest and export of the stuff from RSA, Namibia & Botswana (which is why most of the stuff now on sale is fake).

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Decided to call Phytopharm.  The receptionist has been instructed to say that they "cannot comment" on the products claiming Hoodia as an active ingredient.  I told her that I had called one of the suppliers and, naturally, the phone operators have been trained to say that "yes, of course the ingredient is real," but after having read their Factfile on the product, I had questions.  I went on to say that I find it frustrating that I cannot seem to find a definitive answer to the question - Are these products fake or not?  She told me to email their company and I should get a more comprehensive reply.  I told her I had already done that, so I guess we'll see how they reply.  She said that SHE had been instructed not to make any comment.

Very interesting, don't you think?  Now, I am tempted to look into the controls over the sale of health remedies in the UK.  I suspect I'll get no where with that too.  I am trying not to be one of those dumb consumers, buying something that isn't legit.  Finding it hard to get the facts.

Next, I will call Trimspa in the U.S. and see what they have to say.  Have to wait a bit on that though, they are still sleeping.

 

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Have been trying to lose about 4 or 5

kilos and just seem to be going nowhere.  Yes, I'm sure it is my age! 

No it's not, Lori: you're simply eating too much and not exercising enough! Try cutting out cheese and all fried foods, and cutting down on alcohol. Works wonders. Good luck - JimJams

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Yes, I know.  I'm trying to find a lazy way out !

I have cut back enormously on fats for a long while now.  I also eat very few processed carbs (rice, pasta, bread, etc.)  Lately, the weather has cut back my normal 45 minute walk in the afternoon.  I hope to get back into that habit very soon.  I'm sitting here suffering from two hours of strimming yesterday and a half day of window washing.  Back is killing me - now that IS age.

As to alcohol.  Yes, I do have my couple of glasses of wine every evening.  When I was younger, I could eat nearly anything and get very little real exercise and still maintain a slim figure.  Now, it isn't that simple.  So, I really do think age adds to the challenge.

After reading many of the online testimonials from Trimspa users, I have, for the moment, decided to pass on the idea.  Sounds like your usual rip off.  Too many, "didn't do anything for me" testimonials than "lost 20 pounds !"  I figured that was the case.  Most comments were just "lost 60 euros !" thats about it.

Oh well.

 

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How disappointing, I was hoping you would have good news, I too am looking for an easy way to lose some weight. [:)] Oh well,  guess I will have to do it the hard way as well.  Having said that, when this is truly out on the market and a product can honestly claim that they do have this ingredient, I will be the first to buy. [:D]

I will be looking out for it and if you do learn of any product, do please let us know.

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