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Hoodia appetite suppression is an effective way to reduce your food cravings. So, what causes food cravings and how can you control these hunger signals.

You might think that you should feel hungry when you stomach is empty. But, other causes of hunger are also important.

Hunger Arises From the Body and Mind

Hunger arises from both physiological reasons as well a psychological reasons. Both your thought processes and your body affect your hunger.

How does your thought processes affect hunger? You are conditioned to feel hungry at certain times of the day. For example, at noon you feel hungry, so you say to yourself, "It's time to eat." You also become hungry when you think about, smell, see, or taste food that appeals to you.

You also may eat because you associate eating with good feelings and good times. During periods of stress we want to feel good. So, some people eat to excess in an attempt to counter their stress.

Internally, your body has a "fuel gage" that can increase your appetite when the meter reads "low." As nutrients, like blood glucose are in low supply, your liver (which produces glucose from food nutrients) sends a signal to the lateral hypothalamus in the middle of your brain. Your lateral hypothalamus then tells you that you are hungry and you need to start eating.

As you eat, food eventually moves from your stomach into the intestines. At this point your stomach releases some hormones that signal another part of the hypothalamus, the ventromedial nucleus or ventromedial hypothalamus, that you have had sufficient food. When this part of the hypothalamus receives these signals it tells the body to stop eating and your hunger goes away.

So, how does hoodia appetite suppression enter in to this process?

Hoodia contains a compound called P-57 that is 10,000 times more powerful then glucose at signaling the brain that you are full. In this way, it prevents the hypothalamus from sending its hunger signals. Consequently, you don't feel hungry and won't snack on unhealthy or unnecessary foods.

Does Hoodia Suppress Your Appetite?

Does hoodia actually suppress your appetite? Yes. The Bushmen in South Africa have eaten hoodia for thousands of years when they go on hunting trips where they do not eat for days at a time. Additional anecdotal evidence comes from CBS 60 Minutes reporter Leslie Stahl who ate some hoodia while reporting on the plant and experienced no hunger or thirst even when she should have eaten. Tom Mangold reporting on hoodia for the BBC tried some and didn't think about food at dinner nor at breakfast the next morning.

In addition, you may already know someone who has lost weight using hoodia gordonii.

Clinical studies with animals and humans have shown positive results. Human studies confirmed a reduced level of hunger with a statistically significant reduction in calories. In one test, the average participant using hoodia ate 1,000 fewer calories a day than the control group.

Can hoodia appetite suppression help you reduce your weight?

It seems clear that it can help reduce your physiological (body's) requirement for food by reducing hunger pangs. However, if your intake of food is primarily the result of psychological reasons (your thinking process), hoodia may not be totally effective.

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