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Weight gain in mid-40s
I have hit my mid-40s and piled on two stone in weight. I am desperate to get rid of it but can’t seem to shift it. Is there a natural supplement that will dull my appetite or a diet that really will work?
Currently, the most-talked about (and controversial) natural supplement for suppressing the appetite is Hoodia Gordonii; a cactus plant traditionally used by the desperately poor San tribesmen of the Kalahari desert to stave off hunger pangs during their hunting expeditions.
Scientists in Cambridge have isolated and patented the single plant molecule they believe is responsible for this action and Pfizer, which paid £30m for the patent, is now developing a slimming pill. The problem is, the bio-piracy issues surrounding the exploitation of this plant remain unresolved.
While you can patent a molecule, you cannot patent a natural substance like a whole plant and so American supplement makers have also been making slimming formulations that include hoodia. The issue here is that if it is not coming from authorised suppliers in South Africa, then it is being harvested illegally. Furthermore, some of the American supplements you can currently buy over the Internet have been found to contain no hoodia whatsoever.
You can, of course, ignore these issues because these supplements are available now but if you prefer to take a moral stand - which is that the people profiting from the enormous potential of this ingredient should compensate the San tribesmen who first discovered its appetite-suppressing properties – then I suggest you use an alternative and wait for the issues to be resolved.
Green Tea, for example, which is now incorporated in fabric softeners will not only keep your clothes soft, it will make them hang off you more attractively too since this agent has similar fat-burning properties to hoodia.
In University trials carried out in Geneva, scientists reporting their findings in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition confirmed that taking Green Tea extract over 10 weeks prompted significant and dramatic weight loss in those taking part in the trials. Green Tea supplements are now widely on sale in independent healthstores or you can mail order from Victoria Health (0800-413596) where Metasys Green Tea Extract capsules cost £29.95 for 120.