How Hoodia Gordonii Plus Works?

Hoodia gordonii (pronounced HOO-dee-ah) is also called hoodia, xhooba, khoba, Ghaap, hoodia cactus, and South African desert cactus. It's actually not a true cactus at all, but rather is a succulent with sharp spines, that resembles a cactus.

Hoodia gordonii can be found in the semi-deserts of South Africa, Botswana, Namibia, and Angola. Hoodia grows in clumps of green upright stems and is actually a succulent, not a cactus.

Hoodia is causing quite a stir for its ability to suppress appetite, thereby promoting weight loss. The CBS television news program, 60 Minutes, and the British network, BBC have already featured stories about Hoodia.

It takes about five years, or more, before Hoodia's pale purple flowers appear. After that time the plant can be eaten. Although there are at least 40 known varieties of Hoodia, only the Gordonii species is believed to contain the natural appetite suppressant.

Although hoodia was "discovered" relatively recently, the San Bushmen of the Kalahari desert have been eating it for a very long time. The Bushmen, who live off the land, would cut off part of the hoodia stem and eat it to ward off hunger and thirst during nomadic hunting trips. They also used hoodia for severe abdominal cramps, hemorrhoids, tuberculosis, indigestion, hypertension and diabetes.

In 1937, a Dutch anthropologist studying the San Bushmen noted that they used hoodia to suppress appetite. But it wasn't until 1963 when scientists at the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), South Africa's national laboratory, began studying hoodia. Initial results were promising - lab animals lost weight after taking hoodia gordonii.

After 30 years of research, the South African scientists at CSIR isolated the active ingredient in Hoodia, and obtained a patent on the molecule in 1995. It is a steroidal glycoside, which they named P57. The South African government then licensed the patent to a British firm named Phytopharm.

Then, Phytopharm licensed the patent to American drug giant, Pfizer. The intent was to use the molecule, P57, as a base, to mass-create an artificial drug to meet the demands of millions of people. After three years of investigation, Pfizer pulled out of the deal, saying it would be too expensive to ever bring to market.