Everything you need to know about the Hoodia cactus
by
site editor Elias J. Derrick, last update: 5/12/2012 10:19:32 AM.
hoodia
Whether it was something you saw on the news or read in a magazine or heard about from a friend, something has obviously sparked your interest in the Hoodia cactus. The Hoodia cactus is one of the greatest discoveries in recent history, and I'll explain why. Though the Hoodia cactus is not actually a cactus but a member of the "succulent" family it is extremely similar to one and for the purposes of this article it will be referred to as the Hoodia cactus.
The Hoodia cactus grows in the Kalahari Desert regions of South Africa and Namibia, although the only Hoodia being grown, harvested and processed for human consumption is in South Africa. This is important to note, as I will explain later on. Though it is a very recent development for most of the world, the Sans Bushmen of the Kalahari have been using the Hoodia cactus for appetite suppression for hundreds or possibly even thousands of years. Of course weight loss was not their goal; to put it simply food can be very scarce in the desert especially on a hunting or scavenging trip far from the rest of the tribe. These ancient hunter/gatherers learnt that by eating a very small amount of Hoodia cactus they could completely block out hunger and quench thirst; allowing them to better focus on the tasks at hand. Though there were a few tests done on Hoodia back in the 1930s by a group of Dutch scientists, it was only in the mid 90s that scientist began to pay real attention to the Hoodia cactus for its appetite suppressing effects.
It was determined that the Hoodia cactus worked on the appetite in a completely different way than the main school of thought in that area. Previously, the only real way to block hunger was with a stimulant; the two main ones being used were amphetamines and caffeine with ephedra just beginning to gain popularity. The Hoodia cactus however could block appetite not by stimulating the nervous system but instead by fooling the brain into thinking that there were very high amounts of glucose in the blood stream. If the brain believes that your blood sugar is high this would suggest that you have just consumed a large amount of food and are quite full. In this way the Hoodia cactus could not only block hunger, but it could do it without side effects or any danger to the user. There are no problems with increased energy while taking Hoodia and no risk of addiction or overdose. This was due to a previously unseen molecule named P-57.
The main type and most famous Hoodia cactus is Hoodia gordonii, which contains the P-57 molecule. There are however 20 different types of plant that belong to the Hoodia cactus family. These can be found in many different parts of the world. But the only place where Hoodia gordonii is being grown for commercial use is South Africa; and this is why it is important not to buy Hoodia cactus extract from China or North America or anywhere else. It doesn't matter where the company is based but where they get their Hoodia from.