Want To Reduce Weight, There Is Hoodia
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 outside world came to know about the use of hoodia when a Dutch anthropologist reported it in 1937. But it was not until 1963 that scientist began to examine this. The scientists of CSIR (Council for Scientific and Industrial Research), the national laboratory of South Africa, along with the scientist of Phytopharm, a British company, conducted various studies. They were also able to identify and isolate its principal ingredient, a steroidal glycoside, which they named it as p57. Later it began to be sold in the liquid and capsule form all over the world. It gained popularity as hoodia p57. Hoodia is found to suppress appetite when it sends signals to the brain that strongly suggests that the stomach is full. This kills the appetite making the obese people to eat less.
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.
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