Hoodia Gordonii – The Next Diet Fad?

Hoodia gordonii is the Latin name of a cactus-like plant that is native to the semi-arid deserts of Angola, Botswana, Namibia and South Africa. Other names include hoodia, hoodia cactus, Ghaap, Ikhoba, South African desert cactus and xhooba. Hoodia has become popular recently due to its appetite suppressant qualities. The San Bushmen of the Kalahari desert have used hoodia for thousands of years to fight thirst and hunger on extended hunting trips. The Bushmen would cut off and eat the stem of the bitter tasting plant.

Hoodia gordonii has green upright stems and grows in clumps and is a succulent plant that is often confused with a cactus. It takes almost five years for the pale purple flower to appear allowing the plant to be harvested. There are over thirteen different types of hoodia. Only Hoodia gordonii, it is believed, contains the active ingredient P57 which is a steroidal glycoside.

A Dutch anthropologist when studying the San Bushmen noticed the appetite suppressant effects of hoodia gordonii in 1937. The study of hoodia began in 1963 with the scientists at the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research a national laboratory in South Africa. They stated that lab animals that were given hoodia gordonii lost weight. They began working with Phytopharm, a British company, to try to isolate the active ingredient. They found that a steroidal glycoside, p57, was the active ingredient they were looking for. In 1995 Phytopharm obtained a patent and they have spent over $20 million on research. Eventually Pfizer, a pharmaceutical giant, heard about hoodia and wanted to help develop the drug. In 1998 they obtained the rights to develop p57 for $21 million. Since then Pfizer returned the rights to Phytopharm who is now working with Unilever on developing hoodia.

There has always been a demand for diet pills but the market really opened up when ephedra was banned. The hype around hoodia as a potential replacement as the leader and the next new diet pill began with a spot on 60 Minutes. Leslie Stahl and the 60 Minutes crew went to Africa to try hoodia. They went into the desert with local Bushman to track down hoodia. Ms. Stahl tried hoodia and said that it had a ‘cucumbery texture but was not that bad’. She reported the loss of the desire to eat or drink for the entire day. She also indicated that she did not experience any immediate side effects that included heart palpitations or indigestion. There are not published studies or controlled trials to demonstrate that hoodia is effective or safe in pill form. There was a study published in September 2004 that stated injections of p57 into the appetite centers of rat brains resulted in altered levels of a molecule that may affect hunger.

Hoodia gordonii is marketed today in various forms that include: capsules, liquid, powder and teas. It can be found in health food stores and online. Trimspa, the popular diet pill, contains hoodia. With so much not known about Hoodia and its scarcity you should be very careful when you purchase any product that touts it contains hoodia.