What is Hoodia?
Hoodia which is mainly found in Africa, is a large cactus like plant that grows in dessert environments. The plant has been used for many centuries by bushmen to suppress their hunger when food was sparse.

Does Hoodia work?
You may have read or heard about Hoodia recently. The plant started to become popular as soon as it was found to work as a dietary aid. The plant works as an appetite suppressant, and helps people go for longer with our eating. The extract is now used in a number of diet aids and pills, to help dieters lose weight. Hoodia in its natural form is an extremely powerful suppressant, but it’s becoming increasingly difficult to find the extract in its natural form.

So far, there have been no known side effects when hoodia is eaten in it’s purest form and it is considered to be safe. But, the same can not be said for hoodia based products or diet pills. So, be sure to always check first, before you take them. Does Hoodia work? Hoodia isn’t magic, and the weight won’t miraculously fall off. If you want to see real results, you’ll need to use it as part of a healthy diet along with a daily exercise regime.

The Hoodia scams…
There are now an increasing number of hoodia products on the market, Many products claim that they use the extract, but it’s often found that there is little or no traces of pure hoodia present. If you decided to buy a hoodia product, be sure to buy from a reputable site with customer testimonials confirming that the product really works.

Hoodia Gordonii is one of the thirteen varieties of the hoodia plant.  If you haven’t heard of it before, the hoodia plant grows only in one location in the world – the Kalahari Desert in Africa. While it’s considered a cactus, it’s actually a plant that belongs to the genus Trichocaulon.

Hoodia gordonii grows in clumps of green, upright stems that grow over 6 feet tall. It takes a period of approxiamtely five years for hoodia gordonii to mature – when it does, it’s quite a sight to see its pale purple flowers appear. The plant can only be harvested after the appearance of these flowers.

This plant has been known to the tribes living on the fringes of the Kalahari Desert for thousands of years. In fact, this plant is a popular  food substitute in the region. This is especially true when the Bushmen have to venture into the desert to hunt. The reason for this popularity is the fact that after eating hoodia gordonii, all desire for food and water is suppressed. This is ideal in the desert with both food and water being scarce.

This ability of the hoodia gordonii to suppress appetite was discovered in the 20th century. After it was found, a lot of research has been conducted to isolate the active ingredient of the plant that helps supress the appetite. This ingredient was finally isolated. p57 was patented in 1995. Since then, numerous efforts have been made to make this extract synthetically, most notably by pharmaceuticals giant Pfizer, but these attempts have been abandoned because of  prohibitive costs.

Natural extracts from the plant are commercially available in the market today in the form of pills and powders and are extremely popular amongst people who are looking at losing weight. Hoodia Gordonii Plus is one such product that can help you lose weight quickly and safely.