Hoodia is a type of Cactus that can be found in the semi-deserts of Botswana, Namibia, South Africa and Angola. Hoodia grows in clumps of green upright stems and are rather succulent. From inception of the plant, it takes about 5 years before Hoodia’s pale purple flowers appear and the cactus can be harvested.

Western Culture has only begun to experience all of the wonderful effects of Hoodia. In fact, Hoodia is so new that it was only in 1963 when scientists at the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), South Africa's national laboratory, began studying hoodia.

The Research that was being conducted consisted of South African scientists working with a British company named Phytopharm. The two groups worked to isolate the active ingredient in hoodia, a steroidal glycoside, which they named p57. After getting a patent in 1995, they licensed p57 to Phytopharm. Since then Phytopharm has spent more than $20 million on hoodia research.

View more Diet Pills Here