The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has been saying for years that being overweight is associated with an increased risk for heart disease, high blood pressure, diabetes, arthritis-related disabilities and some cancers. A recently published study reiterated that finding.

But more than just a physical problem, being overweight affects your energy levels, how you feel about yourself and how others feel about you. It can affect your relationships, your career and your happiness. Attaining a healthy weight can have an enormously positive impact on your health and your life in general.

So, if you or someone you know would like to shed those extra pounds, try Hoodia, the newest, proven natural and safe appetite suppressant that works quickly and effectively.

Although the western world recently discovered the benefits of Hoodia, the San Bushmen of the Kalahari Desert have been relying on it for thousands of years to suppress hunger and thirst during long hunting trips. Used traditionally to treat severe stomach cramps, tuberculosis, indigestion, hypertension, diabetes and hemorrhoids, researchers at the South Africa's national laboratory - Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) - began studying Hoodia in 1963 and found that laboratory animals lost weight after taking it. Although there are 20 types of Hoodia, only the Hoodia Gordonii variety is believed to contain the natural appetite suppressant.

Researchers at Brown Medical School in Rhode Island gave Hoodia extract-steroidal glycosides, called P57 - to laboratory animals and found that it affects nerve cells in the hypothalamus that monitor blood glucose. Essentially, the brain is tricked into thinking that it has enough blood sugar that it needs to convert into energy and doesn't need any more. A sense of satiety is produced and the hunger mechanism is shut down - which means that when you take the capsules, the neurons in your brain fire, sending you the signal that you're full and don't need - or want - to eat.

Here's another really interesting discovery that emerged from this study. You might remember the Krebs cycle from high school biology. In a nutshell, the Krebs cycle is an energy cycle of chemical and enzyme actions that produce ATP. ATP - short for adenosine triphosphate - is a nucleotide and universal energy currency for metabolism. Almost all caloric content of food is converted into ATP before it can be utilized for tissue growth, muscle work and other physiological processes. In other words, the more ATP your body produces the better, especially since it helps maintain metabolism. And we all know that the more efficient your metabolism is, the faster you burn up calories and fat.

In the Brown study, Hoodia was found to not only suppress the animals' appetite, but to also maintain and elevate the content of ATP by 50-150% in hypothalamic neurons during a restricted diet - so that metabolism was maintained.2

Interestingly, part of the weight loss conundrum is that often when we consume fewer calories, our metabolism slows down - which means that, in the long run, even though we're eating less we don't lose the desired weight. On top of that, cortisol levels may increase. This was actually shown in a study in which obese men who were on a starvation diet showed elevated levels of cortisol, whereas when they ate a very low calorie diet their cortisol levels returned to a healthier balance.3

So the bottom line is this: it's important to maintain a healthy diet while you're trying to lose weight, to exercise regularly, drink plenty of water, and take a supplement such as Hoodia to increase metabolism and suppress your appetite. Although Hoodia can take up to 1 to 2 weeks to kick in, many people notice its appetite suppressing effects within 1/2 hour of taking a dose.

Side Effects If you are pregnant, nursing or using medication for diabetes, consult with your health care practitioner before taking this product.