(formerly)tangentmind.org

It's 2006. This means to me, "a new year", "metroid for DS should be out soon"..and I think that's about it.


I kept noticing the word "Hoodia" in spam I've been getting so I looked it up.

Apparently Hoodia Gordonii is a succulent plant, much like a cactus, that grows only in the African Kalahari desert, and when eaten even in small quantities makes you feel like you are full for a long time. The African "bush people" have used it for thousands of years to stave off hunger during long hunting trips. The first scientific research done on the plant was done in the 60s in a study of indigenous foods, by the South African National Laboratory but only recently did they figure out exactly what caused the reaction in animals. They call the ingredient p57 and it tricks the brain into thinking that an animal is full. The South African national laboratory immediately applied for a patent and licensed the drug to a drug company, Phytopharm. Pfizer teamed up with Phytopharm to do research and try to make the drug into a pill, but after figuring out that they could not mass produce pills, they dropped out. Instead Phytopharm is making weight loss products like shakes and bars and food replacements with Hoodia or p57 in them. They expect to have the products on shelves by 2008.

There are a lot of fake Hoodia products on the market now and many that have very little Hoodia in them. There may be some legitimate products but none that can be sold as weight loss products. However, I guess that's kind of like selling bongs for tobacco use. Here is someone who claims to know something about it, but I'm not sure I'd believe it.

Below are the other links were I got my information. Listed from newest to oldest sources.
http://www.hoodiascam.com/
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2004/11/18/60minutes/main656458.shtml
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/correspondent/2947810.stm