Lose Weight with African Hoodia Cactus...

It seems like everytime you turn your head, you're hearing more and more about the african hoodia cactus.

This is not surprising considering it's been covered on CBS's 60 Minutes, the Today Show, the BBC, by Oprah, and even more.

The aim of this article will be to give you a broad overview of this amazing plant, some history, and what research has revealed so far with respect to its ability to facilitate weight loss.

History of Hoodia

First, let's first address one point straightaway. Even though everyone calls it the African hoodia cactus, it's really not a cactus at all; rather, it belongs to the succulent family. To be sure, however, it resembles a cactus and that's why most everyone refers to it as such.

In addition, there are dozens of hoodia plant, but only the hoodia gordonii species harbors a seemingly magical active ingredient that tricks the brain into thinking its full and, therefore, assists with weight loss.

Hoodia gordonii was discovered literally thousands of years ago by a tribe of hunter-gatherers called the Sans Bushmen who roam the Kalahari Desert of Southern Africa.

The Sans used the african hoodia cactus for millennia to suppress their appetite and thirst because they would embark on hunting trips, during which they often had to endure long periods of time with no food or water.

Eating the hoodia gordonii plant, they discovered, quelled the pangs from hunger and thirst.

For thousands of years this amazing plant and its active ingredient remained a secret until the mid 90's when the CSIR (Council for Scientific and Industrial Research) an organization in South Africa, was conducting a study on the indigenous diet of the Sans.

They were actually testing the foods consumed by the Sans for toxicity, but when they tested hoodia gordonii, they found that not only was it not toxic; it helped diminish the appetite of animals it was fed to.

After more research, they isolated the active ingredient that suppresses the appetite, and called it P57.

Soon thereafter, the media got wind of this amazing ancient plant and the floodgates were opened: the long held secret of the Sans Bushmen was a secret no more.

Having read this very brief history of hoodia, you'll note that the Sans do not use it for weight loss but rather to mitigate hunger and thirst urges when faced with a lack of food and water.

However, because obesity is such a large and growing threat in the Western world it was logically concluded that if people could be made to consume less calories, the hoodia gordonii plant could be a boon to the weight loss dreams of millions of people.

Nowadays it seems everyone who even has 10 lbs to shed wants to lose weight with african hoodia cactus.

What do the Studies Reveal?

Other than the studies done by CSIR, a pharmaceutical company called Phytopharm conducted a double-blind, placebo-controlled study with the hoodia gordonii extract P57 with morbidly obese participants.

The results were shocking: the participants who were using the hoodia gordonii P57 extract ended up consuming on average a 1,000 less calories per day than the control group. They also experienced a significant reduction in bodyfat and no negative side effects.

These are astounding results considering your average man consumes approximately 2,500 - 3,000 calories per day and your typical woman consumes about 1,500 to 2,000 calories per day in the Western world.

The results of the study sent shockwaves through the diet industry and companies began popping up everywhere offering hoodia based products.

Now that you know a brief history of hoodia, your next step is to avoid getting scammed by the plethora of phony hoodia products that have flooded the market and learn how to pick products made with authentic hoodia gordonii.