HoodiaNow™

Frequently Asked Questions

1. How do I know that your Hoodia products are REAL Hoodia products?  We go to great effort and expense to not only import VERIFIED Hoodia gordonii, and have proof by providing our CITES Certificate HERE.   Once we import the raw Hoodia gordonii, we then send them to a lab to ensure the consistency and the potency of our Hoodia products, making sure that all the active components of Hoodia, including the P57 molecule are present.  All of our Hoodia products are manufactured by www.eSutras.com, and are distributed exclusively by us.
 
2. How many capsules do I take per day? - The FDA recommends 2 capsules per day.  Effects last about 12 hours.  We have heard of customers taking 2 sets of 2 capsules per day, but we would never encourage this, and offer it only for informational purposes and anecdotal evidence.

3. "I took the recommended dosage, but felt nothing!" - Hoodia gordonii is an herbal supplement that may take a few days to build up in your system. Do not get discouraged if you do not feel it's effects after the first day. As with many natural, herbal products, you may not feel the effects until 2-3 days later, but if you take your 2 capsules per day, you will notice a marked decrease in your appetite within those few days or your money back.

4. How much is shipping? - Unlike many other sites with hidden shipping costs, we charge a flat rate of $4.95 for Ground orders in the USA. Overnight Express is $17.95. International orders (WE DO NOT SHIP TO CANADA OR GERMANY, SORRY!) are $7.95 for Uninsured Air Mail, and $14.95 for Insured Air Mail. Tracking info is sent automatically when your order ships.  Orders placed before 3:00PM, CST will ship the same day.  Orders placed after 3:00PM, CST will ship the next day.

5. What if I have more questions? - Feel free to call us from 10:00AM - 6:00PM, CST, from Monday - Saturday.  We are happy to answer any questions you have and we are also happy to take your order over the phone.  For customers inside the USA and Canada, our Toll Free number is (866) 649-2117.  For customers outside of the USA and Canada, you can call us at (312) 455-8475.

6. What if I am unhappy with my product? - We offer a 100% Satisfaction Guarantee.  If you are unhappy with your product, simply return the unused portion to:

HoodiaNow
Attn: Returns
PO Box 12614
Chicago, IL 60612

We will refund your money (minus shipping) as soon as we receive it back.  Yes, it's THAT simple!

7. Where can I send a Money Order? - Send Money Orders to the same address as above, except address it to "Orders" instead of "Returns".

8. How come your Hoodia products are so much cheaper than everyone else's? - We believe in making our customers happy, rather than milking them for every hard earned penny they have, just because they are looking for a way to help control their weight.  Many companies seize on the diet craze in the United States, knowing that there are many people who will do anything to shed their extra weight.  We believe in our products, and offer them at the most reasonable price we can, because we are here for the long run, and want to see customers return to us again and again.

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MORE INFO:

Imagine this: an organic pill that kills the appetite and attacks obesity.
It has no known side-effects, and contains a molecule that fools your brain into believing you are full.

Deep inside the African Kalahari desert, grows an ugly cactus called the Hoodia. It thrives in extremely high temperatures, and takes years to mature.

The San Bushmen of the Kalahari, one of the world's oldest and most primitive tribes, had been eating the Hoodia for thousands of years, to stave off hunger during long hunting trips.

When South African scientists were routinely testing it, they discovered the plant contained a previously unknown molecule, which has since been christened P 57.

The license was sold to a Cambridgeshire bio-pharmaceutical company, Phytopharm, who in turn sold the development and marketing rights to the giant Pfizer Corporation.

A molecule in the cactus makes you feel full

When I traveled to the Kalahari, I met families of the San bushmen.

It is a sad, impoverished and displaced tribe, still unaware they are sitting on top of a goldmine.

But if the Hoodia works, the 100,000 San strung along the edge of the Kalahari will become overnight millionaires on royalties negotiated by their South African lawyer Roger Chennells.

And they will need all the help they can to secure the money.

Currently, many bushmen smoke large quantities of marijuana, suffer from alcoholism, and have neither possessions nor any sense of the value of money.

The truth is no-one has fully grasped what the magic molecule means for their counterparts in the developed world.

Blood sugar

According to the British Heart Foundation 17% of men and 21% of women are obese, while 46% of men and 32% of women are overweight.

So the drug's marketing potential speaks for itself.

Phytopharm's Dr Richard Dixey explained how P.57 actually works:

"There is a part of your brain, the hypothalamus. Within that mid-brain there are nerve cells that sense glucose sugar.

"When you eat, blood sugar goes up because of the food, these cells start firing and now you are full.

"What the Hoodia seems to contain is a molecule that is about 10,000 times as active as glucose.

"It goes to the mid-brain and actually makes those nerve cells fire as if you were full. But you have not eaten. Nor do you want to."

Clinical trials

Dixey organised the first animal trials for Hoodia. Rats, a species that will eat literally anything, stopped eating completely.

When the first human clinical trial was conducted, a morbidly obese group of people were placed in a "phase 1 unit", a place as close to prison as it gets.

All the volunteers could do all day was read papers, watch television, and eat.

Half were given Hoodia, half placebo. Fifteen days later, the Hoodia group had reduced their calorie intake by 1000 a day.

It was a stunning success.

The cactus test

In order to see for ourselves, we drove into the desert, four hours north of Capetown in search of the cactus.

Once there, we found an unattractive plant which sprouts about 10 tentacles, and is the size of a long cucumber.

Each tentacle is covered in spikes which need to be carefully peeled.

The San will finally throw off thousands of years of oppression, poverty, social isolation and discrimination


Inside is a slightly unpleasant-tasting, fleshy plant.

At about 1800hrs I ate about half a banana size - and later so did my cameraman.

Soon after, we began the four hour drive back to Capetown.

The plant is said to have a feel-good almost aphrodisiac quality, and I have to say, we felt good.

But more significantly, we did not even think about food. Our brains really were telling us we were full. It was a magnificent deception.

Dinner time came and went. We reached our hotel at about midnight and went to bed without food. And the next day, neither of us wanted nor ate breakfast.

I ate lunch but without appetite and very little pleasure. Partial then full appetite returned slowly after 24 hours.

The future

Mr Chennells is ecstatic:

"The San will finally throw off thousands of years of oppression, poverty, social isolation and discrimination.

"We will create trust funds with their Hoodia royalties and the children will join South Africa's middle classes in our lifetime.

"I envisage Hoodia cafes in London and New York, salads will be served and the Hoodia cut like cucumber on to the salad.

"It will need flavoring to counter its unpleasant taste, but if it has no side effects and no cumulative side-effects."

Do not travel to the Kalahari to steal the cactus as it is hard to find and illegal to export.

And beware internet sites offering Hoodia "pills" from the US as we tested many competitor's product, and many of them had no discernible Hoodia in it.  We offer our C.I.T.E.S. certificate for all customer to view, which not only shows that we legally harvest and import our Hoodia, but that we have verified Hoodia in our product as well.