Natural Appetite Suppressants

There are many drugs on the market that claim to reduce your appetite or otherwise speed up your weight loss. But for every drug on the market, there are one or more scientific studies that indicate they may be dangerous to use.

That’s why more and more people are turning to natural appetite suppressants such as Zotrim with three different natural appetite suppressing, naturally occurring plant chemicals, and Caralluma.

Believe it or not, there are foods which are known to suppress your appetite naturally, while adding few calories to your diet. The cheapest appetite suppressant is practically free—it’s water. Much of the time when we think we’re hungry we’re actually thirsty instead. Next time you feel hungry drink a glass of water before eating.

Wait five minutes then re-evaluate your hunger—much of the time you won’t be hungry any more. Foods that suppress your appetite are high in fiber—they make you feel fuller for longer, without adding huge amounts of calories. Vegetables and low-sugar fruits are best and they’ll add lots of great nutrients to your diet too.

For many people who are serious about losing weight, appetite suppressants are becoming more popular. There are several natural appetite suppressants that are increasingly popular as a safe way to reduce food cravings and lose weight. One of these is Hoodia gordoniii, an African cactus used as an appetite for thousands of years by a native tribe known as the San Bushmen.

The effects of the cactus have been studied over several decades and Hoodia is now available to consumers. In clinical trials, Hoodia has been shown to reduce appetite and reduce the amount of calories that test subjects consume each day—and the best part is, these test subjects reduced their calorie intake voluntarily.

The people who took part in this trial were not given a special weight-loss diet to follow. Instead they were given Hoodia supplements and were allowed to eat whatever they wanted—they actually chose to eat less once they began taking Hoodia.

This seemingly inert cactus garnered much public attention in 2004, when “60 Minutes” reporter Leslie Stahl traveled to Africa to test the cactus for herself.

After eating a small piece of fresh cactus she reported that her appetite was significantly reduced for around 24 hours, and more importantly she experienced no side-effects at all—none of the nausea, shakes, palpitations or more serious side-effects often experienced by people who take chemical appetite suppressants.

Hoodia is available as a variety of supplements including pills and hoodia gum, a very popular choice now because of its convenience and more continuous release of the hoodia extract, which results in a more long lasting appetite suppression. For most people, the Hoodia pill is an effective way of using this natural appetite suppressant. The gum form is becoming increasingly popular, particularly for people with sensitive stomachs.

Gum introduces the Hoodia formula to the body slowly and does not require digestion, and gums can be chewed as often as desired without any side-effects. However, some feel that it may not deliver enough of the plant’s naturally appetite reducing qualities, of this P57 molecule that is touted as being a powerful suppressant of both appetite and thirst too, interestingly enough.

A relative of the Hoodia cactus, called Caralluma fimbriata, is now available too. This cactus is native to India, and in addition to being a natural appetite suppressant, the Caralluma cactus also lowers blood sugar.

Like Hoodia, this cactus has been used for centuries to suppress appetite when food is scarce. Since there are so many plants that have shown to be excellent appetite suppressants on their own, it’s a wonder that anyone even takes drugs that have potentially harmful side effects any more to help end their insatiable hunger. Caralluma is available in pill form as well as in the form of meal replacement shakes.

For your consideration, there are a few other supplements that have demonstrated mild hunger reducing properties that people take for reasons other than dieting actually. Those are 5htp, which is taken for mood enhancement, and another is alpha lipoic acid, which must be taken in abundance to have the desired effect, but was shown to help regulate blood sugar when taken consistently throughout the day. Blood sugar ebbs and flows are a big reason that we feel the need to eat even when we are not truly hungry, so controlling the blood sugar is key to controlling the appetite.