Exposed: Hoodia Gordonii

The local people call it Ghaap, Xhooba or Khoba. A flowering plant belonging to the Apocynaceae family, Hoodia Gordonii is found in the semi-deserts of Southern Africa. Though specific to the Namib Desert, Hoodia is found in the countries of Angola, Botswana, Namibia and South Africa. It is a plant that grows to a height of 1 meter. Its large flower has a strong smell and has a tan or purple color. It is also called ‘Bushman’s Hat’ and ‘Queen of the Namib’.

The San Bushmen who inhabit the Kalahari Desert have always known about the various uses of Hoodia. They are known to consume the stems of Hoodia plant during the long drawn hunt that takes them far away often without sight of food for days. The plant suppresses their urge to eat and drink. They also use the plant for treating various other health problems such as severe abdominal cramps, diabetes, hemorrhoids, hypertension, tuberculosis and indigestion. There are varieties of Hoodia plants, about twenty of them. of them, it is only Hoodia Gordonii that is found to contain hunger. The plant flowers after about five years.

The fact that the San Bushmen used Hoodia was first noted and reported to the outside world by a Dutch anthropologist in 1937. A scientific examination of the plant of its reported benefits however commenced only in 1963 when the national laboratory of South Africa, CSIR (Council for Scientific and Industrial Research) began to study the plant. Along with the scientists of a British company, Phytopharm, they isolated the active ingredient of Hoodia. This ingredient, a steroidal glycoside, was named p57. It soon began to be commercially exploited and sold worldwide through the health food stores. Sold in the capsule and liquid form, much has been written about it in h57 hoodia reviews. Hoodia is marketed as an appetite killer for those who wish to lose weight and control obesity. Hoodia is found to send signals to the brain than makes you feel that you are full.

Hoodia became instantly popular world wide. The market for the Hoodia products boomed. The result was rapid lose of Hoodia from its natural habitat. This led Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) to include Hoodia in Appendix II which meant that Hoodia will have to be declared as an endangered species if its extraction from nature was not immediately restricted. In fact, in 2008 the Botanic Gardens Conservation International listed also declared that the plant faced extinction due to indiscriminate exploitation. The government soon took to farming in government controlled farms in the Kalahari Desert. This regulation also subsequently led to the San Bushmen, the originators and holders of the knowledge, to receive a share in the royalty from the sales.

Almost everything that we need is provided by nature. Thus, we should never abuse nature, instead we take care of it.

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