San medicinal knowledge exploited

Hoodia, the southern African plant which the San have used as an appetite suppressant and thirst quencher for thousands of years, is under threat after being hammered so hard by people by people trying to make a quick buck that it may become extinct within two years.

This year about 500 tons of the succulent were cut from the wild for export. There are now calls for a ban on Hoodia exports until the authorities are able to control what appears to be extensive illegal harvesting.

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Hoodia fever takes a toll on rare plant

The southern African succulent, which is said to suppress hunger, faces danger in the wild.

By Robyn Dixon, Times Staff Writer
December 26, 2006

MARIENTAL, NAMIBIA — When fully grown, the plant resembles something from “The Day of the Triffids” or some other science-fiction creation: a squat succulent with thick, spiky arms, purple fleshy petals and seedpods like rhino horns.

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But do Hoodia diet pills actually work?

Diet miracle from an African plant is a spam special
By Erika Engelhaupt
For The Inquirer

If you haven’t heard of Hoodia yet, you must have a great spam filter on your e-mail.

The diet pill has been clogging computer screens across the continent since Lesley Stahl of CBS’s 60 Minutes told viewers in 2004 that it worked for her. This year, actor Joseph Gannascoli of HBO’s The Sopranos said it helped him drop some of his pasta-fed girth.

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The Buzz about Hoodia Diet Pills

Unless you live in a cave you probably also receive scores of spam mail promoting the latest and hottest weight loss ingredient – Hoodia. As the fattest nation on earth, Americans comprise most of the roughly 25 million web searches for diet pills or Hoodia each month. Hoodia gordonii is actually a legitimate African plant that does stave off hunger and thus promote weight loss, but if you want to buy it over the web, we also have a bridge for sale for you.

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Don't follow super-size Americans, says Prince Charles

By Andrew Pierce

THE Prince of Wales warned the British people last night that they were in danger of becoming as obese as many Americans because they did not walk or cycle enough.

The Prince, who has a fleet of chauffeur-driven cars and has rarely if ever been seen in public on the saddle of a bike, said: “We are perhaps not very far behind our American cousins in the ‘super-sizing epidemic’.”