The Supposed Hoodia Oprah Connection Exposed

If you've shopped around for hoodia online you've likely read about the supposed hoodia Oprah connection. You've probably seen claims that Oprah Winfrey endorses hoodia or that she uses it herself to reach her weight loss goals. You may have even seen such bold claims that Oprah endorses a specific hoodia product. You'll be surprised to learn that there may not be any truth behind the hoodia Oprah connection.

I've seen some claims that hoodia was "seen on Oprah" or that "Oprah uses hoodia," but I haven't seen any evidence to support these claims. I've never heard of hoodia being featured on her television show nor have I read anything that supports the claims that she has used it. In fact, if you go to her website and search for the term, "hoodia" or "hoodia Oprah" you don't get any search results. Until I can find concrete evidence that she talked about it on her television show or that she uses it, I don't believe there is any Oprah hoodia connection as far as her television show is concerned.

There is a minor hoodia connection, however, in Oprah's magazine, O, that many websites reference as proof that Oprah endorses it. The article all these websites refer to was published in the July 2005 issue of her magazine titled, "Diet Pills: The Next Generation." I wasn't able to find an archive copy of the article anywhere online so I purchased the issue on eBay to find out what exactly Oprah Winfrey supposedly said about hoodia. I was very surprised what I found out.

The article features a picture of a San tribe member with a hoodia gordonii plant. My first thought was there probably is a hoodia Oprah, but after reading the article it was not connected to Oprah at all. In fact, the article was written by someone other than Oprah and there are no quotes from Oprah about hoodia in the entire piece.

The first two paragraphs of the article discussed the history of the plant and its popularity in the weight loss industry. Yet, the article in O didn't speak very favorably of hoodia weight loss supplements and said, "So far, however, there's little proof that the supplements are even mildly effective: Most contain only small, probably insignificant levels of Hoodia extract" If anything, if I didn't know better, this article would make me doubt the benefits of hoodia gordonii supplements, though no brand was mentioned.

The rest of the article goes on to talk about how pharmaceutical firms are racing to come out with the next miracle weight loss supplement. There is no mention of hoodia at all beyond the first two paragraphs. As you can see, there is no hoodia Oprah connection at all - at least not through her magazine.

What I'm surprised is that Oprah's legal department hasn't come down hard on these websites that use her name and her magazine as an endorsement for hoodia. Often times these websites twist the magazine article so far that they make it sound like Oprah herself endorsed their brand of hoodia in her magazine. The next time you see claims that Oprah endorses hoodia or that there is some kind of hoodia Oprah connection, you'll know the truth.