Hoodia is a cactus like plant seen in the desert areas of Southern Africa. Though it resembles a cactus with spines and a thick stem, this plant is really a succulent. Since the world heard about it in 2004, there has been a lot of interest centered on the plant. The reason for this is reported ability of this plant to suppress appetite. The San tribal people who inhabit the Kalahari and neighboring areas relate that they have used it for hundreds of years to ward off hunger and thirst while on their days-long hunting trips.
And now, this plant is available every where as a supplement. Health food shops stock it. It is freely available on the internet. You can have it as a powder, a liquid, capsules or tablets. Keen to know first hand the effects of this wonder plant, a reporter went to South Africa where in the desert, hoodia grows. She is said to have had it just like the Bushmen did and felt the same effects. For the whole day she felt no hunger or thirst. In taste, it is said to have been like a cucumber.
Some time later, it was tested by a group of obese people whereas the control group took placebos. They were allowed no exercise than watching TV. The ones on pure hoodia ate 1000 calories less. They felt no preoccupations with food, no cravings. Their appetite had just gone.
How does pure hoodia work to suppress appetite? For that we have to understand how normally metabolism works. When we eat, the food we consume is turned into glucose. When the glucose level spikes, it signals the brain that the body is full and there in no more need of food. In the case of hoodia, there is a substance called P57 that does the same. Only here there is no food. This P57 is said to be 10,000 times more powerful than glucose in producing the feeling of fullness.
Individuals often eat even when they are full. They crave food for reasons that have nothing to do with hunger. When on hoodia gordonii, some of this preoccupation with food is said to have disappeared. If the emotional reason for eating can be removed, hoodia can help people eat smarter meals by making better choices. We make wrong choices when we crave for food. With the craving gone, dependence on hoodia will reduce and maintaining a healthy weight will be easy.