For hundreds of years, African tribesmen have eaten the Hoodia to suppress hunger and thirst on their long hunting & gathering trips. The Kung bushmen who live around the Kalahari desert in southern Africa used to cut off a stem of the Hoodia gordonii plant about the size of a cucumber and chew on it over a couple of days. The Anikhwe of northern Botswana feed children who "eat too much" pieces of Hoodia gordonii to make them eat less.  Already decades ago obese members of the Khomani community were eating the Hoodia gordonii to slim down.

Hoodia gordonii contains an active ingredient which research has shown could reduce appetite by 40 - 50% (up to 2,000 calories a day for some). It works by mimicking the effect glucose has on the nerve cells in the brain, in effect signaling to us that we are full, even when we are not; thus curbing our appetite.

Hoodia gordonii has no known side effects , and contains a molecule that fools your brain into believing you have just eaten and also enhances your energy levels.