[Jim Sadler]

I've had a question about hoodia for a long time. Hoodia is thought to work by "tricking" the hypothalamus into "believing" that you've eaten already (that is, blood sugar is high).

If you are on a low carb or ketogenic diet, does hoodia knock you out of ketosis even if you haven't really consumed any carbs? If you trigger the glucose sensors of the hypothalamus, does your body revert to a normal state where carbs are the body's preferred energy source?

I am on a carb cyclic diet during which I wouldn't be hard to get into ketosis for a day or two. I just need some keto strips to see if hoodia will end ketosis the same way carbs would.

Anyone care to speculate?

[texzen123]

I never found hoodia to work at all...

[Socrates44]

Actually from what I understand hoodia blocks your Canniboid receptors in your brain. When blocked they help send negative feedback to your hypothalamus which in turn shuts down ghrelin (the hunger hormone)

Now the opposite effect is exciting these receptors, and a very common thing that does this is Marijuana, which contains THC or tetrahydrocannabinol. Thus causing the munchies, which is directly related to increased ghrelin release.

See back when scientists were studying how the human body worked, they would use live animals (dogs, cats, cows etc..) They would crudely cut open the animal under minimal anesthsia and apply different chemcials. The chemicals that exuded effects got there names attached to certain receptors

example

muscarinic receptor- reacted to a mushroom, muscarine
adrenergic receptor- reacted to adrenaline
canniboids receptor- reacted to THC


That was probably way too much information for your question, but atleast you learned something. If anything, in theory the hoodia would help with the hunger pangs seen in keto's.

...I have really never had hoodia do anything for me however.

[bassgirl]

Originally Posted by texzen123

I never found hoodia to work at all...

You probably got fake hoodia. Or one in a very low concentration. There are only 3 or 4 products out there that are real, authentic hoodia stem particles in enough concentration to work.

• The only part of the Hoodia Gordonii that works is the inside of the stem. But companies can put Hoodia roots in your supplement and still say you have Hoodia – it just won't do anything for you.

• It takes a lot of Hoodia to affect your appetite (750mg per dose), so supplements with tiny amounts may indeed be "pure Hoodia," but in too small a dose to matter.

• "Chinese Hoodia" isn't the same as the Hoodia Gordonii grown in the Kalahari Desert of South Africa. If your Hoodia was grown anywhere else in the world, it won't help you.