Hoodia gordonii can be found in the semi-deserts of South Africa, Botswana, Namibia, and Angola. Hoodia grows in clumps of green upright stems and is actually a succulent, not a cactus. It's use and history stretches back over several thousand years. It takes about 5 years before Hoodia's pale purple flowers appear and the cactus can be harvested. Although there are over 20 species of Hoodia, only the Hoodia gordonii variety is confirmed to contain the natural appetite suppressant.

Although Hoodia was "discovered" by the Europeans 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 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.

In 1937, a Dutch anthropologist studying the San Bushmen noted that they used Hoodia to suppress appetite. But it wasn't until 1963 when scientists at the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), South Africa's national laboratory, began studying Hoodia. Initial results were promising -- lab animals lost weight after taking Hoodia.

The South African scientists, working with a British company named Phytopharm, isolated the active ingredient in Hoodia, a steroidal glycoside, which they named p57. After getting a patent in 1995, they licensed p57 to Phytopharm which has spent more than $20 million on Hoodia research.

Eventually pharmaceutical giant Pfizer (makers of Viagra) caught wind of Hoodia and became interested in developing a Hoodia drug. In 1998, Phytopharm sub-licensed the rights to develop p57 to Pfizer for $21 million. Pfizer recently returned the rights to Hoodia to Phytopharm, who is now working with Unilever to bring it to market sometime around 2008.

click here to learn more Hoodoba® the original Hoodia brand.

The next scheduled update for this site is September 1st, 2007.