History of Hoodia

Hoodia (pronounced HOO-dee-ah) is also called xhooba, khoba, Ghaap, hoodia cactus and South African desert cactus hoodia. Hoodia is one of the rarest botanicals in the world.
It can be found in Kalahari Desert region in South Africa.
It grows in clumps of green upright stems and is actually a succulent, not a cactus. It takes about 5 years before hoodia's pale purple flowers appear and the cactus can be harvested. This plant is known to suppress appetite and promote weight loss.
It contains a molecule called P57 that is 10,000 times as active as glucose. It goes to the mid-brain and makes those nerve cells feel as if you are full. It basically tricks the brain into thinking that you are full.
Although there are 20 types of hoodia, only the hoodia gordonii variety is believed to contain the natural appetite.

Although hoodia was discovered relatively recently, the San Bushmen of the Kalahari Desert have been eating it for many years. 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, hemorrhoids, tuberculosis, indigestion, hypertension and diabetes.

Hoodia History

In 1937, a Dutch anthropologist studying the Bushmen noted that they used Hoodia to suppress appetite. But first in dept study of Hoodia has preformed in 1963 by the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) in South Africa.

CSIR was doing a study of indigenous foods that the Bushmen ate. Part of the CSIR study was to test for toxic effects any plants that were consumed by the Bushmen. During these testings they have discovered that animals which have used Hoodia Gordonii have shown loss of appetite and weight.

By 1977, the CSIR have isolated the bioactive compound in Hoodia believed to be responsible for appetite suppression called P57. The P57 was patent in 1996 and was licensed to Phytopharm Plc. In 1998, Phytopharm sub-licensed the rights to develop p57 to Pfizer for $21 million. After for (4) years of unsuccessful attempts to make P57 synthetically, Pfizer released the rights to the primary ingredient in 2002. It is believed, the reason Pfizer pulled out the deal is due to inability to recreate P57 in the lab.

In December 2004, Phytopharm announced that Unilever had entered a deal to market Hoodia Gordonii in its diet food product line. Rather than producing diet drugs, it looks like Phytopharm and Unilever will have product diet supplements and diet foods with hoodia gordonii as an ingredient. The first Unilever products is expected to be on a market sometime in 2008.

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