Surveys world over have rated hoodia as the number one weight loss pill and the most sold on the Internet. The demand is so high that the supplies are short and the cactus is soon to become an endangered species.    

Since last two years, Hoodia has become a well-known, well-searched, well-televised herb. If you haven't still heard about it, you will.  

Hoodia is a succulent plant from the Cactus family, group - Asclepiadaceae. A native of the Kalahari Africa, a desert region. It thrives in high temperatures and matures over many years. A popular appetite suppressant among the Bushman, it is very popular and an instant hit abroad too.    

Hoodia gordonii taken in small quantities too can instantly suppress hunger and is a natural mood enhancer too. Hence helps the dieter to keep a positive frame of mind and restricts the hunger. Hoodia helps to control food intake, which means lessened calorie intake providing the dieter a stopgap to burn the already ingested calories - the burning of these accumulated calories leads to weight loss.    

The HoodiaFactor.us states that, in 1996, the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) in South Africa was doing research into the food habits of Bushmen. Mostly to test for toxicity in the plants they consumed but they discovered that Hoodia gordonii was not only non-toxic it also helped weight loss in the animals that fed on it.  Within the year the CSIR had isolated the bio-active compound and obtained its patent. The patent is licensed to Phytopharm and the molecule is named P57.  

The CSIR told Phytopharm that the Bushmen tribe that had discovered Hoodia has died out but when the Bushmen were informed that there were billions of dollars to be made from their tribal lore, they approached a lawyer in South Africa , Roger Chennells, to represents them. He quickly applied a strong legal, moral, and political pressure on both Phytopharm and CSIR that “bio-piracy” should be stopped.    

This landmark case made certain that the companies who harvest hoodia from the Kalahari pay a royalty to the Bushmen, which is an excellent way to check if you are getting authentic hoodia. Unilever made a deal with Phytopharm to produce it in their diet food line.