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All About the South African Hoodia Gordonii Cactus

By: Philip McDonald The South African Hoodia Gordonii Cactus is also known by several other names. The Sans Bushmen refer to it as xshoba or xhooba; they eat it to suppress their appetite and thirst and also as a remedy for indigestion and minor skin infections.

Actually, the plant is a succulent. The commonly-used names such as Hoodia Cactus and South African desert cactus are misnomers. Hoodia Gordonii is the scientific name.

There are issues connected with growing the South African Hoodia cactus for commercial purposes. Obviously, one is temperature. For the Hoodia cactus to thrive, it requires desert like conditions to reach full maturity.

Another is time. Typically, it takes four or five years for the African Hoodia Gordonii cactus to reach full maturity. Also, quantities of this wild plant are very limited and are protected by the governments of South Africa from harvesting.

The first corporation committed to researching the potential health benefits of Hoodia Gordonii was Phytopharm. Although they have several plantations in South Africa for this plant, their products will not be sold commercially for at least two years.

There are over twenty types of Hoodia, but only the Gordonii type is thought to contain an appetite suppressant. If you come across a product from a different company that claims to suppress appetite, make sure the company is using Hoodia Gordonii or else the product will not work.

Before you buy any health-related supplement, including those purported to contain Hoodia, make sure you are dealing with a well-known company that has a full line of items available for purchase. Hoodia is known as a thirst suppressant as well, so purchasers are advised to drink plenty of water when taking this product.

The African hoodia cactus is a very attractive plant, no matter what you call it. After the plant reaches full maturity, its pale purple flowers appear. Many dieters would love to obtain a large immediate supple, but it is vital to protect the wild African hoodia cactus from over harvesting. This way it can be enjoyed generations to come.

Article Source: http://www.lifeweightloss.com

Hoodia extract is one of the many products that author Philip McDonald writes articles on. Weight loss and exercise tips are covered at length in these articles.

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