Via “Flora of Africa“ - Hoodia gordonii farm.
It is said that along with it’s relative C. fimbriata, as well as other members of Caralluma and Hoodia, Hoodia gordonii has been farmed now for many years for weight loss treatment. It is said that it will enable someone to lose appetite without a true loss in full BMI in important area’s of the body and allows the user to feel relatively energetic despite not eating. With this said, there is no true studies that seem to provide enough concrete evidence that H. gordonii is truly an effective method for long term benefits. The conceptual effect was discussed after originally observing the San people of Namib. The majority of people who will make any claims on drugs/supplements will tell you to steer clear of remedies ,even if they are natural, if there is not enough research to back up the claims or enough research to explain what is actually occurring. I am not a person who makes claims but I will tell you right now that I too agree with these people on staying clear of supplements such as H. gordonii extract until evidence that proves otherwise is presented.
“However, there's no evidence from scientifically sound clinical trials that hoodia aids weight loss. Evidence about the safety of hoodia also is lacking. Still, some dietary supplement manufacturers market hoodia products as a way to suppress appetite and aid in weight loss. The Federal Trade Commission has warned manufacturers to stop making these unsubstantiated and misleading claims about hoodia and weight loss.” - Brent A. Bauer (M.D.) -via Mayo Clinic.org under “Healthy Lifestyle Weightloss”
This photograph is still really cool though and it also has a pretty neat yellow H. gordonii that is pretty noticeable in the photo.
http://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/weight-loss/expert-answers/hoodia/faq-20058476 reference sheet can be found at the bottom of Brent A. Bauer’s post as well as more information on Hoodia gordonii
