Green Tea Versus Hoodia

One of the most popular combinations in diet pills these days is green tea and Hoodia. This combination is used in many fat-burning pills, liquids and even patches to help speed up metabolism and weight loss. Hoodia Gordonii is a cactus of the succulent cactus family, which has grown for thousands of years in the Kalahari Desert region of South Africa. Its been used for years by the San people of southern Africa as a natural appetite suppressant during their long hunting trips for generations. When its appetite-suppressing effects become known several years back, Hoodia practically became the #1 natural diet pill overnight.

It was shown in studies to help reduce calorie intake by approximately 1000 calories per day. Normally when you eat, the glucose in your body rises and eventually signals to your brain (the hypothalamus) that you are full. Hoodia Gordonii mimics the effect that glucose has on your brain, telling the hypothalamus (which is responsible for hunger and fullness feelings) that you feel full. Consequently you have no desire to eat. It has been reported that Hoodia is actually 10,000 times stronger than glucose at signalling your hypothalamus to stop eating.

Sipping green tea can have several weight loss benefits. For one, it has been proven to boost your metabolism. A study reported on in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition; found that green tea extract resulted in a significant increase in energy expenditure (a metabolism boost). The researchers also concluded that that over a 24-hour period, green tea extract increases the metabolic rate by 4%. These effects are probably due to the high concentrations of catechin polyphenols in the tea.Keep in mind you can also drink hoodia tea. These work to help intensify levels of fat oxidation and thermogenesis (the rate at which your body burns calories).

Green tea also inhibits fat absorption and helps glucose regulation. Experts tell us that the catechins in the tea help to inhibit the movement of glucose into fat cells. It may also act as a glucose regulator. It helps to slow the rise in blood sugar after a meal. This prevents high insulin spikes (lots of insulin promotes fat storage) and the subsequent fat storage. Given their benefits, its no surprise that manufacturers often add green tea to their hoodia diet pills. It is important to note however that even though green tea can be a powerful boost to your weight loss plan, it does contain caffeine.

So if you find that caffeine makes you jittery or gives you other problems, you should steer clear of any Hoodia product that contains green tea. You might be better off to stick with a product that contains Hoodia only. Bottom line? On their own, Hoodia and green tea are both great tools to help you lose weight. One helps you regulate your appetite, the other helps to boost your metabolism and aid in blood sugar regulation. Together, they can be a powerful fat-burning combination.

Basic facts about Homeopathic HCG

Homeopathic HCG has been the talk of the town for quite some time now. Days of old are gone when it used to hurt just to lose weight. It is now the era of major weight loss without the pain nor downtime. We owe it all to Dr. Simeon, who discovered the natural fat burning effect of HCG in his experiment done through people who volunteered to undergo the said study. And hats off to Dr Samuel Hahnemann who brought the principle of "homeopathy" or "like cures like" to light that it is now widely used in modern medicine. Hence, the birth of Homeopathic HCG came to be.

Based on statistics, Homeopathic HCG is supported and well loved by people, whose family, friends,
acquaintances have had a share of success stories using HCG. With their own eyes, they have witnessed the rapid weight loss effect when using HCG, such that people nowadays are getting their share from the success of the HCG program by being an HCG affiliate themselves. There could be no other genuine testimony than that of the people you know. The best marketing strategy there is.

Most people's stories could be said as positive. Some loses 1-2 pounds a day, while others may lose more. On other occasions, people are dissatisfied with the half-a-pound loss a day because they would ask why other people lost more weight than they do. They could be wallowing on what they have done wrong. In this case, it is important to look at it in a better perspective. After all, losing just half a pound is better than gaining half-a-pound a day, right?

In addition, people must avoid asking why. Instead, they should ask themselves, how. As in, how to make the homeopathic HCG work to their advantage. How to discipline themselves during all phases of the HCG diet without cheating? and so on...All the answer lies beneath the level of your desire in putting those unwanted fats and pounds off, once and for all. The HCG diet protocol would not be able to measure up if one does not believe that the HCG is the solution.

You see, in able for you to also make it work, you have to believe that it does work. This kind of attitude, if applied, would give one an edge and encouragement to advance in the program. Pretty soon, you would find out that you are actually enjoying HCG diet as it made you a determined person from the inside that would quickly show in the outside.

A Short Introduction to Hoodia Gordonii

One hears and reads about Hoodia as a sensational slimming product everywhere. Hoodia is a South African, thorny plant that looks like a cactus. However, it is not a cactus, but belongs to the family of Milkweed plants.

It is eaten by wandering desert dwellers in its native South African desert and dampens the hunger on barren travels. In rich industrialized countries, Hoodia is used to dampen the appetite for diets. Whether this succeeds in the sensational manner expected is questionable.

The Hoodia plant is threatened by the thinness of overweight Westerners because they can cultivate it and it is therefore hardly harvested in the wild, although it has been included on the protection list in 2004.

Fact sheet

Main applications: Overweight

Medicinal properties: Appetite-reducing

Applications: Cravings, obesity, diabetes, cough, cold

Scientific name: Hoodia Gordonii

Plant family: Milkweed plants = Asclepiadoideae family

English name:  Hoodia

Nickname: Khowab, Kowa, carrion flowers

Used plant: Stalk

Ingredients: Steroids, pregnane P57, cardiac glycosides

Application

Hoodia flutters the brain from high blood sugar levels and alleviates hunger and appetite.

Theoretically, Hoodia can help combat obesity and diabetes.

Hoodia is sold as a food supplement,pills or hoodia tea. However, it is not clear whether all products on the market contain Hoodia or if they are not genuine. Even if the product is genuine, it is questionable whether administration is recommended.

On the one hand, the ways in which Hoodia works are yet unknown. Whether it is healthy for people to take Hoodia over an extended period of being overweight is also unknown. The more serious reason,which speaks against the use of Hoodia products is nature conservation. You should only use Hoodia products from trusted sources.

Traditional application

The Bushmen in Africa took the Hoodia shoots and removed the spines and shell.

Then, they chewed a thumb-long piece of it three times a day. This application helped not only with relieving them from hunger and thirst, but also with coughs.

History

Hoodia has been used by the Bushmen (Khoi-San) of the South African desert areas as food on hunting trips for a long time. They cut small pieces of the plant stems and removed the thorns instead of eating nutritious food. Using the Hoodia stalk suppressed the hunger and thirst until their return back home.

The Bushmen used Hoodia Gordonii against colds, too.

In the first sixty years of the 20th century, the appetite-suppressing effect of Hoodia was known among soldiers who served in the desert service.

Since 1996, the effects of the Hoodia have been studied by scientists looking to produce drugs against obesity.

In the next few years, the marketing rights for Hoodia Gordonii and its agents went from one pharmaceutical company to another, these companies wanting to do extensive business with this sensational appetite suppressant.

The Bushmen were able to enforce the use of Terre des Hommes, a small share in the profits of Hoodia medication. This is a historic triumph of an indigenous minority in the fight against exploitation of their natural resources.

Since 2004, the Hoodia plant has been internationally protected.

When harvested, the plants used must be proven compatible with nature. Of course, these documents are often fake.

Hoodia Gordonii is also grown nowadays. This is achieved quite well, but it is questionable whether the cultivated plants are just as good as the naturally grown ones.

Plant description

Hoodia originates from southern Africa. It is found in South Africa, Namibia, Angola and Botswana. It grows primarily in dry desert soil.

The perennial plant is about 60 cm high.

The spiny succulent plant is evergreen, but, similar to cacti, it does not have normal leaves, but roller-like, upright leaves with thorns.

The large flowers are reddish, yellowish or flesh-colored.

They smell of carrion flies is marvelous.

The flowers develop elongated seed pods that remind a bit of goat horns.

This silky hairy seed capsules contain the seeds that have given the plant family its name.