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What is Hoodia Gordonii?

By Robert Schuster

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Published: 27Mar2007
Word count: 786
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Kingdom: Plantae Division: Magnoliophyta Class: Magnoliopsida Order: Gentianales Family: Apocynaceae Subfamily: Asclepiadoideae Tribe: Stapeliae Genus: Hoodia ЕЕ..

And now under Hoodia, there would be 13 different species, one of them actually being Hoodia Gordonii. I am quite certain, you will not be offended, if I do not mention the other twelve.

What you just read above, is the scientific description of Hoodia. If you are a botanist, congratulations, it actually means something to you. If you are anything like me, you actually wish, never to see or hear all of this again.

Ok, promise, we are done with Latin! If I would be asked what Hoodia is, I would tell you: It looks like a cactus Ц and because it grows in the desert, needs only little water and actually has stings Ц I would say it is a cactus!

But what do I know! Science tells us (me), Hoodia is only a "cactiform", because it is so similar to a cactus, but it really is a stem succulent. Other specifics of the plant are: it can grow up to one meter and it has remarkably large flowers, some of them in flesh colour and with a very strong smell.

Because of the flowers, some of the species are actually used and grown as garden-plants. They look nice, are easy to handle and you can grow them almost everywhere, from sandy ground to rocky gardens and they use just very little of water.

In nature, you will find Hoodia mostly in deserts, especially in the Namib Desert, which ranges from Namibia to Angola, and in the Kalahari. Their preferred grounds are either plains or the rocky parts of the deserts. All thirteen species of Hoodia can be found in these areas and obviously they were there, long before the first scientist set foot into South Africa. Therefore we have other names for Hoodia, such as "Queen of the Namib" or "Bushman's Hat". And long before that, it was named by the bushmen "Xhoba" or "Ghaap".

These bushmen were also the first, to actually use the Hoodia plants. They discovered that all Hoodia plants had some ingredients, which helped them to treat indigestion and small infections.

But then there was amongst the thirteen Hoodia species one, which not only helped with the treatment of small inconveniences. The Bushmen found out very quickly that Hoodia Gordonii was useful even beyond that.

As you can probably imagine, the biggest problem in the harsh life of the Bushmen, is food. This is not a big surprise when you look at the region they live in. The Namib Desert and the Kalahari are quite certain not the friendliest places on earth and the next McDonalds is, even nowadays, not just around the corner. In a hostile environment such as this, you taste everything, which is not clearly poisonous and Hoodia Gordonii was not.

So, they gave it a try and soon it was clear, Hoodia Gordonii is not really "Food" in the actual meaning of the word, but they discovered one astonishing fact: whenever they consumed Hoodia Gordonii, it took them considerably longer, until they became hungry again!

Now, in an environment, where you actually have to fight for each little piece of food, it comes quite handy when you find something that helps you, to survive longer on less food. Especially when you have to go on hunting trips, which might take some days and you either have to find your food on the way, or carry it with you. So with Hoodia Gordonii, it was possible for them to carry less with them and concentrate more on hunting. All this together made the hard life a little bit easier.

This was hundreds of years ago and nobody was even thinking about weight loss, appetite suppression or similar things. But without knowing, the Bushmen had discovered the ideal weight loss product. (How it works and what it actually does in your body, is not part of this story. Let's just say that Hoodia contains a mixture of chemical ingredients, which help to digest the food slower.)

So, to cut a long story short and to answer the question "What is Hoodia Gordonii?":

Hoodia Gordonii is a plant, which grows in the deserts of South Africa. It grows to about I meter of height and to reach this, it takes between three or four years. For a long time it was of no use to us, except as a garden flower, but it helped the San-People, the Bushmen, to survive in the harsh environment.

Today we grow Hoodia Gordonii in Farms, because what helped the Bushmen to survive on the hunting trips, is nowadays the easiest way to lose weight.

The author was born in Switzerland, but is now living in Spain, enjoying the lifestyle, Sun and Fun. Over the years, he became quite an expert on Diets and Weight Loss. Other areas of interest are politics, sports and environment.

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