This new miracle wonder root is now for sale everywhere in dozens of combinations. So what is Hoodia, and why do so many people say that it's the real deal?

This so-called weight-loss wonder is derived from a small cactus-like plant that grows wild in South Africa; folks there have known about Hoodia for years, munching on it to suppress both appetite and thirst as they walk across the bush. All of a sudden, the whole world wants a piece of this rare plant. It's the new must-have ingredient in all sorts of weight loss supplements, from lollipops to chocolate squares and, of course, many of the diet supplement pills you see in stores. Watch out; the PR glitz is on. Whether it's a sponsored race car or the "Hoodia Love" t-shirt, big diet companies are fighting to get their name attached to Hoodia any way they can. People everywhere are talking about this mysterious, desert plant and hoping it's the "real deal" weight loss miracle.

As reported in a CBS article, Hoodia is the "appetite killer of the future." The British Phytopharm company spent $20,000,000 researching Hoodia. In an interview, Dr. Richard Dixey from Phytopharm said, "If you take this compound every day, your wish to eat goes down, and we've seen that very dramatically."

When going hunting in the Kalahari, the ancient African tribes chewed Hoodia to prevent feeling hunger or thirst, as their hunting voyages generally lasted for several days.

Hoodia is also called "the green gold," because it grows only in a specific spot in the Kalahari Desert and sells for more the $300 per pound.

The active ingredient in the Hoodia plant that is responsible for the loss of appetite is call b-57. Doctors from Brown University say that this ingredient acts on the hypothalamus, the part of our brain that is responsible for hunger and thirst.

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