History Of Hoodia
Hoodia has been in use for more than 25,000 years. The local people from the Kalahari Desert region of Africa have been using it quite successfully in the form of an appetite suppressant. They used it primarily for quenching their hunger and thirst while going on long hunting trips. They even used it to feed their dogs, so that they do not binge on their food. Even now they chew its leaves to keep away exhaustion and starvation.
During famines, the plant offered assistance to hundreds of people to move for days without water and food. Its two or three slices were more than enough to keep starvation at bay. In the year 1937, an anthropologist from Holland carried out a study on the San Bushmen. He found that these people utilized the plant for suppressing their hunger. On similar lines, in 1963, scientists from the national laboratory of South Africa, the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) decided to study hoodia. In their study they revealed that lab animals experienced reduction in weight after being subject to hoodia gordonii. A pharmaceutical company called phytopharm carried out clinical research in the 1990s to study the effects of hoodia on human beings. The findings showed that p57 affects the brain to make you feel full. However, its effects are 10,000 times stronger in comparison to glucose. On an average the subjects of the trials experienced 1000 calories reduction and this was possible with no extra activity. This proves that hoodii gordonii is a powerful appetite suppressant. Phytopaharm received a patent for hoodia in the year 1996. In the last few years, Roger Chennells, a lawyer has acted as the representative of the Bushmen in the country. He fought for them on the issue that the use of conventional knowledge about the plant with no compensation was a kind of bio-piracy. Companies harvesting the plant legally from the Kalahari region owe royalties to the locals who are credited with the discovery of its hunger suppressing qualities. In addition, in order to obtain the marketing rights of the hunger suppressant for its marketing with p57, Pfizer made some payment to phytopharm. However, on being unsuccessful in manufacturing it synthetically, Pfizer backed out of the deal. In 2004, Unilever and phytopharm signed a deal for marketing the diet pill in Unilever’s food product line scheduled to enter the market in 2008.
When Leslie Stahl, a 60 Minutes correspondent and her crew members reached Africa just to give it a try, hoodia became immensely popular. They took the help of an indigenous Bushman, for finding hoodia. In fact, they hired him for this purpose. Stahl tasted it and found it like cucumber in terms of texture. On eating it, she revealed that her appetite and thirst both were lost for the remaining day. Moreover, she did not report any immediate side effects including heart palpitations and indigestion. Traditionally, hoodia gordonii has been in use as an effective and safe hunger suppressant. Even today it is a simple method to reduce unwanted weight.
