Too good to be true? You’ve curbed your voracious appetite and lost excess weight
without feeling the hunger pangs and without the potentially dangerous side effects of
diet pills such as a racing heart, diarrhea and nausea. Herbalists and doctors believe a
herbal plant called Hoodia, might help obese and overweight patients shed excess
pounds. Obesity is fast becoming an epidemic and many people fight a losing battle to
reach and remain a healthy weight, due to disorders such as diabetes and thyroid
conditions, genetics or lifestyle choices.
Discovered thousands of years ago by the Bushmen of the Kalahari Desert, Hoodia
gordonii is a cactus-like plant that thrives in the hot, dry climates of South Africa,
Namibia and Botswana. Considered a protected plant, in danger of over-harvestation and
extinction, the fifteen species of hoodia can grow up to a meter high and have large,
pungent smelling flowers. Common local names for this hoodia include ‘Queen of the
Namin’ and ‘Bushman’s Hat.’
The Bushmen of the Kalahari, or San people as they are known today, are one of the
oldest existing tribal peoples in the world. They have used the herb to cope with hunger
and thirst in the harsh desert environments for generations. While hunting, traveling or
when food was in short supply, the San would chew on a stem of the plant. The hoodia
was able to elevate energy levels and reduce hunger until they returned home to their
villages.