Walking the Kalahari Desert doesnt seem the obvious place to start a diet when thirst is foremost on the mind. Native San Bushmen featured in the movie The Gods Must Be Crazy live and thrive here for real. Thousands of years ago their ancestors discovered the magical properties of a specific cactus that thwarts hunger pains. 10, 000 times stronger than glucose, hoodia fools the brain into thinking you are full and not hungry.

This all-natural appetite suppressant is made from pure hoodia cactus pulp and seeds. Hoodia gordonii is the specific cactus that has the appetite suppressant qualities. Hoodia can be taken as a pill, powder or a tea. Obesity has never had a foe of this gigantic magnitude, than that of the natural herbal hoodia diet pill!

The secreted cactus, called Xhoba by San Bushmen, collection sat in a laboratory for 30 years after it was discovered before its properties were analyzed. The mega-behemoth pharmaceutical company, Pfizer (producers of Viagra) introduced hoodia to the media while they were in preliminary studies. Pfizer terminated all research on hoodia when terms could not be agreed upon with Phytopharm that owned the patent. Phytopharm bought up the rights from the San Bushmen of Kalahari to harvest, test and produce a laboratory drug called P57. This synthetic Hoodia has the same active ingredient as the real cactus and contains the previously unknown molecule named P57. Phytopharm decided to sell the use of their patent to Unilever, which owns Slim Fast. The sale was for 21 million U.S. plus royalties, that remain undisclosed. The hoodia laced P 57 products by Slim Fast may show up on the market in 2007.

The hoodia works in this way: In your mid-brain called the hypothalamus; you have glucose sensing nerve cells. As you ingest food, your blood sugar rises, and the glucose sensing nerve cells activate, sending an electrical signal that we recognize as, now I am full.

Hoodia has been tested and proven to work overwhelmingly against the double-blind placebo check. Individuals taking pure hoodia extract diet pills ate 1000 fewer calories than those in the placebo check. 3500 calories = 1 pound of body fat. So every three and a half days you would lose a pound of fat by taking Hoodia.

There are natural products for sale that are made from real hoodia pulp that are from hoodia farms or naturally collected cactus. The hoodia plant may take up to six years to grow to harvestable size from seed. In 2005 CITES (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Flora and Fauna) decided to include hoodia gordonii in their list of protected cactus from South Africa and a permit is required to export this cactus from its homeland. It is estimated that by 2010 there will be a shortage of this product as demand outgrows the supply.

Although there are no registered side effects from taking hoodia, the native San Bushmen claim hoodia is also an aphrodisiac. The most heralded use of hoodia by the African bushman is an appetite suppressant, but they also use it as a thirst quencher. The San consume hoodia to end abdominal cramps, apply Xhoba for hemorrhoids, and drink hoodia tea for indigestion. Hypertension and diabetes are hoodia treated by the San Bushman, as well as tuberculosis.

Now that we know it works, will they let us have it?