Major News Network Reports On South African Hoodia Gordonii

South African hoodia gordonii is a cactus-like plant with alleged appetite suppressant and weight loss properties. It belongs to a flowering succulent family containing 13 species. South African hoodia gordonii grows only in the South African Kalahari Desert. Coverage of South African hoodia gordonii on the popular media has sparked world wide interest in this proposed weight loss solution.In 2004 a major American television network sent a news crew to get the facts on South African hoodia gordonii. The crew traveled to South Africa and hired a native Bushman tracker to locate the South African hoodia gordonii plant. The tracker located the plant and offered a taste to the reporter, who described the texture as similar to a cucumber and the taste as "not bad."After eating the South African hoodia gordonii, the reporter felt no hunger or thirst pangs the entire day, even when meals were missed. The report went on to say that the Bushmen of the Kalahari have been using the South African hoodia gordonii plant for this appetite suppressing effect for thousands of years.Research on South African hoodia gordonii began in the 1960s, but the appetite suppressant properties were not immediately discovered. It took nearly 30 years for the active ingredient in South African hoodia gordonii to be isolated and identified by the South African national laboratory. The discovery was patented and licensed to a UK pharmaceutical company called Phytopharm.It was reported that Phytopharm has spent many millions on research. Clinical trials of South African hoodia gordonii were said to decrease appetite by about 1,000 calories per day in the test groups. That's about a 38% decrease in calories for an average American man and about 52% fewer calories for an average American woman.One of the stumbling blocks in the South African hoodia gordonii research is that it is very difficult to make a synthetic version of the active ingredient. If the chemical can't be duplicated in a lab, the only alternative is to grow large plantations of South African hoodia gordonii in the Kalahari Desert. These plantations have already been started, but South African hoodia gordonii has never been grown as a crop before. A faster growing variety is being used on the plantations.The popularity of South African hoodia gordonii is due to two effects. First, it suppresses the appetite without hunger pangs. Second, it holds the promise of easy weight loss. With obesity running rampant in many parts of the world, it is not known if South African hoodia gordonii can be grown fast enough to satisfy the demand.