It was almost three years ago when Eyewitness News told you about a supplement that could suppress your appetite, a supplement made from a South African succulent plant that works on the brain to lower your desire for food and water.

“Most people will be compelled to eat either by time of day or by whether or not they have had a recent meal and Hoodia allows you to over come that,” said Dr. Henri Roca, Family-Integrative Medicine at LSU Health Sciences Center.

While there is not much research on Hoodia, it has been used for centuries in the African deserts and doctors believe it works. But now there is a new supplement that could rival Hoodia.

“This is really based on the tradition of the tribal people of India, who also went out hunting and needed to be gone for long periods of time,” Roca said.

Not many people or supplement stores have heard of Caralluma, but it is marketed on the Internet in capsules or powder form. And while there are only a few scientific studies on Caralluma, they’ve shown it could help people trying to eat fewer calories.

“It actually does show a reduced hunger drive and there is some evidence to show that the waist circumference decreases, but the actual weight itself does not necessarily decrease,” Roca said.

“Yes, they did have less food cravings. They did have all the things that you would hope to increase weight loss. They didn't feel as hungry. They didn't think about food so all those things were suppressed,” said Dr. Kim Edward LeBlanc, Chief of Family Medicine at LSUHSC.

While the studies in people showed a little more weight loss in the group that took Caralluma, it was not a significant amount, but the studies only lasted a couple of months. Other studies in animals seem to show it's safe.

“There were about four or five studies done in rats,” LeBlanc said. “The runs in rats were really to detect any toxicity. And they came up—happily—with no toxicity that they could find.”

And doctors warn to check all the ingredients on the label, because some brands have a lot of caffeine in them.

“If you're taking extra caffeine, it does things like cause you to become jittery, it can cause your heart rate to go up, it can cause blood pressure problems, it may dehydration from extra urination, if you drink coffee and soft drinks that have caffeine, that's just adding more caffeine to it,” LeBlanc said.

But doctors caution that one of the worst things you can do to lose weight is not eat. That slows your metabolism, slows the rate at which you burn calories and puts your body into a fat storing mode.

“Same thing happens when you skip breakfast. (Your body) goes into a starvation mode for the rest of the day,” said Roca, “which means anything else you eat, the body works to retain, so it's harder to burn your calories.”

And even worse, not eating enough makes your body burn muscle, which is the fat burning furnace, and also what makes your heart and other organs work. Not drinking enough water will cause your body to retain water. Fitness expert Mackie Shilstone agreed that this product should not be over used.

“If you have to go around suppressing your appetite all the time, you really need to talk to your doctor, because are you a candidate for reactive hypoglycemia, are you a pre-diabetic that may have a problem with your blood sugar,” Shilstone said.

And Shilstone said eating too many sugary carbohydrates can cause you to be hungry, while eating more protein actually causes a hormone to be released in your body that suppresses hunger.

So while there may be promise with Caralluma, doctors say we need more studies, but in the meantime, don't overdo it. Doctors said the best time to take it is an hour before your dinner, since most overeating happens at night when you're less distracted. And remember, it should be part of an over all healthful program.

“There's nothing that says that this or any other approach is going to result in prolonged or sustained weight loss unless you change the way you behave,” Roca said. “That's a key thing.”