The San Bushmen of Southern Africa had long known and used an herb, Hoodia gordonii, for a variety of illness. They also used to eat it to suppress their hunger for a number of days when they had to go hunting where food was scarce. After removing the roots, leaves, flowers and spines, they would peel away the skin before eating it. This use of hoodia became popular worldwide only in recent years. Hoodia is found in the Kalahari Desert. What it actually does is to imitate the effect of glucose on the nerve cells of the brain many times over. You will not feel hungry; but instead you feel as though you are full. The loss of the urge to eat will mean lesser calories in your body and lesser still to burn away.
CSIR (Council for Scientific and Industrial Research) of South Africa along with the scientists of the British company, Phytopharm, isolated the bioactive compound and called it p57. It was later subject to various tests and trails which confirmed what the San Bushmen always knew. There were no side effects that were reported in these studies. Of course, this was evident from the fact that San Bushmen have been using this for generations. There was also a big market for a variety of products, both dietary and physical exercises, for tackling the major growing problem of obesity that seemed to effect the younger generation with the new lifestyles and dietary practices. Hoodia seemed to fit the bill eminently. Interest in p57 was natural.
Very soon, hoodia hit the market as capsules and liquid. Newer formulas were conjured up by the market combining it with green tea extracts which offers you caffeine in its natural form, nicotinic acid with its niacin, chromium and cocoa extract. This has come to be called now tru hoodia complex. But the main challenge to the market was getting the right and genuine hoodia. This was collected from the wilderness of Southern Africa alone, hardly sufficient to meet the market demand. With diminishing supply, the cost rose up. It has become too costly now.
There were attempts to produce p57 synthetically in the lab so that this can be produced sufficiently and cheaply. This did not succeed. Hoodia had to be from the naturally collection or cultivated. This led to over exploitation that led CITES to list it as a plant that will soon have to be declared as a threatened species. With this, hoodia became a plant that came under control and restriction with regard to its trade.
Health is essential. That is the very reason why everyone should keep themselves healthy everyday.
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