Q: What is your opinion of hoodia? I have been trying it, and it hasn''t really reduced my appetite. I know there is no magic pill, but does it take awhile for this stuff to reduce an appetite? - M.L., Manchester

A: We''ve got good news and bad news for you. Simply put, hoodia in plant form has been shown to reduce appetite and thus aid in weight loss. However, what''s found in the pill form you see at nutrition stores may not be what''s in the plant.

Natalie Allen, a dietitian with Barnes-Jewish Hospital, says, "We don''t exactly know how, but hoodia works with the brain to suppress appetite. It''s currently being studied to isolate what is in the plant that actually works with your brain."

Hoodia is a plant that grows in the wild in the Kalahari desert of South Africa; people there have used it for centuries to help them suppress appetite.

The supplements that are out now, like all supplements, are not regulated by the government, which means that they may have just a touch of hoodia and perhaps even a part of it that doesn''t work.

"So you may be spending your money needlessly at this point," says Allen, "but I really think we''ll see a boom in the next few years."

The good thing about hoodia, says Allen, is that it''s not a stimulant, which means it doesn''t have the side effects a stimulant can have. You don''t burn more calories with hoodia, you just eat less. And from the studies so far, there are no harmful side effects.

When Lesley Stahl tried the plant on "60 Minutes," she had this to report: "Well, first of all, I had no after-effect, no funny taste in my mouth, no queasy stomach, no racing heart, nothing. And, secondly, I was never hungry all day. Even when I would normally have a pang, say, around lunchtime or dinnertime, I didn''t. I had no particular desire to eat or drink for the entire day. So, I guess I had to say it did work."