The Hoodia Gordonii Plant – Some Details
In recent years the Hoodia Gordonii plant has caused a great deal of media
attention here in the United States. People have been exited about this plant since a British pharmaceutical company, named Phytopharm, conducted research that proved the active ingredient in the plant, P57, reduces an individual’s appetite for food. Since then, various companies have been selling capsules, teas and liquids that supposedly contain Hoodia Gordonii extract.
Where It Grows And What It Looks Like
The Hoodia Gordonii plant is found in certain countries in the southern region of Africa, near the Kalahari desert. The Hoodia Gordonii plant grows only in a very hot climate. People have tried to cultivate the plant in other continents without success. The plant does not develop where there is excess water, humidity or cold weather.
The Hoodia Gordonii plant is not considered to be very appealing. In fact, some people would even characterize it as being unattractive. It is a lush plant that looks very much like a cactus, although officially it isn’t one. The flowers have fleshy pink petals.
A Short History
The San Bushmen of southern Africa have been using Hoodia Gordonii plants for several thousand years. They chewed on the plant in order to quench their thirst and stop their appetite so that they could give their full concentration on hunting game without needing to stop for eating.
In the 1990s, the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research were studying the diet of the San Bushmen. It was then that they discovered that animals which were feeding on the Hoodia Gordonii plant were losing weight. They soon managed to find out what molecule in the plant acted as an appetite suppressant and sold the patent to Phytopharm.
The appetite suppressant molecule that the researchers found is called P57. Since then various pharmaceutical companies have been looking for ways to synthesize the P57 molecule from the plant into pills and other products that can be sold to promote weight loss.
How Does It Work
What exactly does the active ingredient in the Hoodia Gordonii plant do to help people and animals lose weight? Apparently, molecule P57 stimulates the nerve cells of the hypothalamus in the same way as glucose, so that it tricks the brain of the individual who has consumed it into thinking he is full up. As a result, people who ingest the Hoodia Gordonii plant do not have any wish to eat for several hours.
Empirical studies of the Hoodia Gordonii plant have shown that people who consume it, eat an average of one thousand calories less than they would normally do in a one day period. The long term effects of using the plant as food is not yet known, though the San Bushmen have done so for centuries without experiencing any adverse symptoms.