A Short Introduction to Hoodia Gordonii

One hears and reads about Hoodia as a sensational slimming product everywhere. Hoodia is a South African, thorny plant that looks like a cactus. However, it is not a cactus, but belongs to the family of Milkweed plants.

It is eaten by wandering desert dwellers in its native South African desert and dampens the hunger on barren travels. In rich industrialized countries, Hoodia is used to dampen the appetite for diets. Whether this succeeds in the sensational manner expected is questionable.

The Hoodia plant is threatened by the thinness of overweight Westerners because they can cultivate it and it is therefore hardly harvested in the wild, although it has been included on the protection list in 2004.

Fact sheet

Main applications: Overweight

Medicinal properties: Appetite-reducing

Applications: Cravings, obesity, diabetes, cough, cold

Scientific name: Hoodia Gordonii

Plant family: Milkweed plants = Asclepiadoideae family

English name:  Hoodia

Nickname: Khowab, Kowa, carrion flowers

Used plant: Stalk

Ingredients: Steroids, pregnane P57, cardiac glycosides

Application

Hoodia flutters the brain from high blood sugar levels and alleviates hunger and appetite.

Theoretically, Hoodia can help combat obesity and diabetes.

Hoodia is sold as a food supplement,pills or hoodia tea. However, it is not clear whether all products on the market contain Hoodia or if they are not genuine. Even if the product is genuine, it is questionable whether administration is recommended.

On the one hand, the ways in which Hoodia works are yet unknown. Whether it is healthy for people to take Hoodia over an extended period of being overweight is also unknown. The more serious reason,which speaks against the use of Hoodia products is nature conservation. You should only use Hoodia products from trusted sources.

Traditional application

The Bushmen in Africa took the Hoodia shoots and removed the spines and shell.

Then, they chewed a thumb-long piece of it three times a day. This application helped not only with relieving them from hunger and thirst, but also with coughs.

History

Hoodia has been used by the Bushmen (Khoi-San) of the South African desert areas as food on hunting trips for a long time. They cut small pieces of the plant stems and removed the thorns instead of eating nutritious food. Using the Hoodia stalk suppressed the hunger and thirst until their return back home.

The Bushmen used Hoodia Gordonii against colds, too.

In the first sixty years of the 20th century, the appetite-suppressing effect of Hoodia was known among soldiers who served in the desert service.

Since 1996, the effects of the Hoodia have been studied by scientists looking to produce drugs against obesity.

In the next few years, the marketing rights for Hoodia Gordonii and its agents went from one pharmaceutical company to another, these companies wanting to do extensive business with this sensational appetite suppressant.

The Bushmen were able to enforce the use of Terre des Hommes, a small share in the profits of Hoodia medication. This is a historic triumph of an indigenous minority in the fight against exploitation of their natural resources.

Since 2004, the Hoodia plant has been internationally protected.

When harvested, the plants used must be proven compatible with nature. Of course, these documents are often fake.

Hoodia Gordonii is also grown nowadays. This is achieved quite well, but it is questionable whether the cultivated plants are just as good as the naturally grown ones.

Plant description

Hoodia originates from southern Africa. It is found in South Africa, Namibia, Angola and Botswana. It grows primarily in dry desert soil.

The perennial plant is about 60 cm high.

The spiny succulent plant is evergreen, but, similar to cacti, it does not have normal leaves, but roller-like, upright leaves with thorns.

The large flowers are reddish, yellowish or flesh-colored.

They smell of carrion flies is marvelous.

The flowers develop elongated seed pods that remind a bit of goat horns.

This silky hairy seed capsules contain the seeds that have given the plant family its name.