Hoodia – the name has suddenly caught the fancy of people who want to lose weight and all many of them can think of is how to pop those hoodia diet pills and how quickly they can lose weight. However, it might be a good thing to go back and take a look at what hoodia gordonii is all about.
Hoodia gordonii is a plant which grows in Africa and which looks like a cactus. It grows in the deserts of Africa and there is a reason why it has burst into public consciousness. Actually, more than one. The main reason is that in Africa, for generations, men have relied on this plant in order to curb their feelings of hunger as well as of thirst. This is really great in the dessert where very often they have to walk miles through hot sand under a hot sun. All these bushmen did was to break off a bit of plant and eat it. Hoodia is very bitter and it is an upright plant that grows in clumps. It is actually a succulent though it looks like a cactus. The plant flowers only when it is five years old and this is the time when it is harvested. The flowers are a pale purple in color. There are many different kings of hoodia plants and it is the hoodia gordonii that has been identified and used for commercial purposes. This seems to be because this is the only variety that is supposed to contain the substance P57 which is what contributes to suppressing the hunger pangs in a person.
The other reason that hoodia diet pills have shot into prominence could have nothing to do with how effective it is. Hoodia has been known about for years. It was only when ephedra was banned that people started looking around for something else to take its place. This wonder herb happened to be around at the right time. Weight loss is such a big agenda in most people’s lives that anything to do with is usually successful. When a new substance is presented where it does all the work of losing weight for you, it makes it even more exciting. What hoodia actually promises is to control your hunger pangs – not make you lose weight. However, for us, that has become synonymous. Eating is very often the problem and if there is some way to control or suppress those hunger pangs, people feel there’s no way they can gain weight. While this is true to a certain degree, there need to be other weight loss measures that are resorted to as well. Hoodia is great in that it is half the battle won when you don’t feel hungry and want to stuff your face ever so often. The next step is to shed those extra pounds that have piled up through exercise.