South African Hoodia Gordonii
Major News Network Reports On South African Hoodia Gordonii
The hoodia gordonii is a cactus-like plant with alleged appetite suppressant and weight loss properties that is native to southern Africa. It belongs to a flowering succulent family containing 13 species. The hoodia gordonii grows only in the Kalahari Desert of southern Africa. The hoodia gordonii plant has been a big hit in the popular media because of the interest created by its reported weight loss qualities.
In 2004 a major American television network sent a news crew to learn about the hoodia gordonii. The crew traveled to South Africa and hired a native Bushman tracker to locate some examples of the plant. The tracker located the plant and offered a taste to the reporter, who described the texture as similar to a cucumber and the taste as "not bad."
The reporter felt no hunger or thirst pangs for the rest of the day after tasting the hoodia, even though she missed some meals. She reported that the Bushmen of the Kalahari have been using the South African hoodia gordonii plant for this appetite suppressing effect for thousands of years.
Research on South African hoodia gordonii began in the 1960s, but its appetite suppressant properties were not immediately discovered. Not until 30 years later did scientists isolate and identify hoodia's active ingredient. The discovery was patented and licensed to a UK pharmaceutical company called Phytopharm.
Phytopharm has since spent many millions on research. Clinical trials of hoodia gordonii were said to decrease appetite by about 1,000 calories per day in the test groups. That's about a 38% decrease in calories for an average American man and about 52% fewer calories for an average American woman.
Perhaps the biggest problem in researching African hoodia gordonii is the fact that it is very difficult to make a synthetic version of the active ingredient. If the chemical can't be duplicated in a lab, the only alternative is to grow large plantations of hoodia gordonii in the Kalahari Desert. These plantations have already been started, but South African hoodia gordonii has never been grown as a crop before. A faster growing variety is used on the plantations.
Hoodia's surging popularity is due to its primary two effects. Hoodia suppresses the appetite without hunger pangs. Second, it holds the promise of easy weight loss. With obesity a huge problem in many parts of the world, it is not known if South African hoodia gordonii can be grown fast enough to satisfy the demand.