What is Hoodia Gordonii?
Hoodia Gordonii is a genus in the Asclepiadaceae family. There are approximately 20 species in the genus. Hoodia grows in clumps of green upright stems and is actually a succulent, not a cactus. The colorful flowers are flat and saucer-like in shape and red, purple to brown or mottled dark yellow in color. Flowers form near the tips of the stems in the summer season. The short stems are many angled with white spikes appearing at short intervals on each angle. Stems are single or branch forming, they occur in variable shades of green. Plants are found in a large part of Southern Africa. Hoodia Gordonii is also known by the names xhooba, !khoba, Ghaap, hoodia cactus, and South African desert cactus.
Although hoodia was "discovered" relatively recently, the San Bushmen of the Kalahari desert have been eating it for a very long time. The Bushmen, who live off the land, would cut off part of the hoodia stem and eat it to ward off hunger and thirst during nomadic hunting trips. They also used hoodia for severe abdominal cramps, haemorrhoids, tuberculosis, indigestion, hypertension and diabetes.
Hoodia Gordonii contains a molecule called P57 that is estimated to be up to 10,000 times as potent as glucose in signaling to the brain that the body is in a state fullness. In humans, two groups were given equal diets and placed in a setting where there was nothing to do but sit, eat, read or watch the TV.
One group was given hoodia gordonii and the other a placebo. The hoodia group consumed on average 1000 calories a day less than the placebo group.