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Hoodia: the wonder plant from the desert

Hoodia is found in the semi-desert regions of South Africa, Botswana, Nambia and Angola. It is a succulent, not a cactus. Although many plants are related, only the Hoodia gordonii species is known to have an effect on appetite and weight loss.

A wild Hoodia plant must grow for about five years before its pale purple flowers appear and the Hoodia can be harvested. The inhabitants of the Kalahari Desert, the San Bushmen, have chewed Hoodia stems for thousands of years to stave off hunger and thirst during long journeys. They also used Hoodia for severe abdominal cramps, hemorrhoids, tuberculosis, indigestion, hypertension and diabetes. For generations, the plant's remarkable properties were a secret of their culture.

Less hunger; no jitters

In 1937, a Dutch anthropologist noticed the San people's use of Hoodia to suppress appetite, but it wasn't until 1963 that scientists at the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), South Africa's national laboratory, began studying Hoodia.

After years of careful research, the South African scientists, working with a British pharmaceutical company, isolated the active ingredient in Hoodia: a steroidal glycoside, which they named P57. This is said to be the compound responsible for dramatic weight loss. It has been proven safe, and it contains no stimulants that can contribute to the jittery feeling associated with weight loss products from the last decade.

Hoodia has been studied scientifically for more than 30 years. It is registered as a protected species to prevent bio-piracy, but it is allowed to be grown on a handful of commercial farms in South Africa. Although Hoodia takes five years to mature in the wild, it is being cultivated commercially in sustainable quantities in as little as two years.