The Hoodia Diet Is Big Business

Is the hoodia diet the Holy Grail of the weight loss industry? Many companies think so. The UK Phytopharm was the first to obtain a license to produce the main ingredient of the hoodia diet, called P57. Phytopharm has licensed some of its product creation and distribution rights to hoodia diet products to other companies. Why is the hoodia diet so popular?If you've read anything about the hoodia diet, you know it originated with The San Bushmen of the Kalahari Desert in Southern Africa. These roaming desert dwellers first discovered the hoodia diet, using the cactus like plant to stop hunger during long hunts or when food was scarce. This hoodia diet went unrecognized for hundreds of years until recent media coverage brought the hoodia diet into the spotlight. Ever since, overweight people and pharmaceutical companies alike are clamoring to get a bite of the hoodia diet.The South African Council for Scientific and Industrial Research, or CSIR, was the first to patent the appetite suppressing qualities of the hoodia diet plant. Later, a profit-sharing deal was worked out with the San Bushmen, who were originally left out of the deal. The CSIR then granted a license to the UK firm Phytopharm for product creation and distribution of hoodia diet products.Although many hoodia diet products are being sold, some do not contain real hoodia diet ingredients. This is because the active ingredient in the hoodia diet plant has proven very difficult to create in the laboratory. The pharmaceutical giant Pfizer found this out the hard way, after partnering with the UK firm to reproduce the hoodia diet ingredient.This shortage of the hoodia diet ingredient means that the only source is the hoodia gordonii plants growing natively in the Kalahari Desert. It has been reported that large desert farms to grow large quantities of the hoodia diet plant have been started. Despite regulations enacted by many countries, illegal hoodia diet plants are sometimes sold.The company that can create bulk quantities of the hoodia diet ingredient cheaply and quickly will have an immediate advantage in the weight loss supplement market. Sales estimates for hoodia diet products range from $600 million to $2 billion annually. Obesity is epidemic in many western countries including the U.S. People are seeking the easiest and most effective weight loss solution available. Right now that is the hoodia diet. The first company to crack the riddle of creating hoodia diet products inexpensively and in large quantities can expect massive sales.