So you would like to find a Hoodia supplement that really works for you to lose your excess weight. You must have heard the media buzz about it as a great product for weight loss. Or you must have seen the advertisements of several companies that are marketing the Hoodia Gordonii supplements, in the form of pills or tablets, capsules, powders and other dietary products. Perhaps you need advice on how to find a genuine Hoodia supplement that is sure to be effective in bringing down your weight.

First, you must know as much as you can about Hoodia Gordonii, so that you can differentiate between what is true and what is not. It is a cactus-like succulent plant that grows only in the regions abutting the Kalahari Desert of South Africa. The San Bushmen living there have been eating Hoodia for ages, before setting out on their long and arduous hunting expeditions, because of the plant's ability to kill hunger. Modern scientists have isolated a molecule, which they named P 57, from Hoodia Gordonii, and which is what makes the plant a wonderful appetite suppressant.

A British bio-pharmaceutical company, Phytopharm, holds the sole and exclusive right to market Hoodia Gordonii as a weight-loss product. Unilever, a $50 billion pharmaceutical company, has tied up with Phytopharm in this venture. Hoodia Gordonii is likely to be made available as an approved product for weight loss sometime in 2008. Even now it is available over the counter as a dietary supplement, but not labeled as a weight-loss drug.

After the '60 minutes' program aired by CBS in November 2004, the media hype made Hoodia Gordonii a much sought after product. With the growth in demand, several companies have been marketing all kinds of supplements containing, as they claim, authentic Hoodia Gordonii. These are usually produced in combination with some other appetite suppressant drugs like ephedrine or ma huang, with some fake Hoodia. There is also no standardization in the dosage of Hoodia Gordonii in the pills or capsules marketed by the various companies.

In the circumstances, finding a true Hoodia Gordonii supplement, which alone has in it the active ingredient, P57, for curbing your appetite, becomes quite a tricky or slippery job. If you are not an informed buyer, you will end up losing a lot of money without losing any of your appetite or much of your weight.

When you want to buy genuine Hoodia Gordonii supplements, ensure that:

(1) The company marketing has a permit from CITES (the Convention on the International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora);

(2) The product carries an Analytical Report about its purity;

(3) It carries the license from the Western Cape Conservation Authority of South Africa; and,

(4) The Hoodia Gordonii supplement has no ephedrine, ephedra or ma huang and that it is one hundred percent pure and authentic South African product.

All reputable companies will offer a 'money back guarantee', meaning that if you use their product for, say six months, and are not satisfied with its effectiveness, you can claim your money back ( of course, less the usual handling and shipping expenses) by returning the empty packaging. Some of them also offer free samples.

Remember, only the authentic Hoodia Gordonii obtained under genuine licenses from the Kalahari Desert region, which is quite expensive as it is not easily produced, will really work.