and together with their rotten smell, conjure up a very good likeness to rotting meat, completely fooling any fly into thinking that they are a source of a lovely stinky meal. As the fly alights on the flower, it begins one of the most complex pollination mechanisms in the floral kingdom. The fly, and its fly brethren, swarms over the blooms aHave you heard of the latest fad diet? I know you have unsuccessfully tried the Five-Day Cabbage Diet and the Russian Air Force Diet and you have never yet lost one of those extra 150 kilograms. How many staples (or vacuuming) can one body endure? If it’s overeating that’s a problem then nature may be able to assist you.

It comes in the form of a foul smelling succulent called Hoodia gordonii, which grows in the Kalahari Desert. Although some people who love succulents find the plant attractive, even lovely, most of us would think of it as, well; ugly. The plant thrives in hot arid climates and takes about three to four years to mature. The Bushmen have used this plant for thousands of years; a fact noticed by a Dutch anthropologist in 1937. While traveling in the Kalahari, he noticed that Bushmen hunters would break off a cucumber sized piece of the succulent, prior to leaving on extended hunting trips. It seemed to quench hunger pains, and it gave them energy and a sense of well-being, which helped them endure the arduous conditions of tracking and hunting in the desert.

Hoodia gordonii was initially identified and named by Colonel Robert Jacob Gordon in 1779 when he found one flowering not far from the Augrabies Falls in the North Western Cape Province. The flowers vary in colour from a pinkish brown to purplish brown or mottled dark yellow, and together with their rotten smell, conjure up a very good likeness to rotting meat, completely fooling any fly into thinking that they are a source of a lovely stinky meal. As the fly alights on the flower, it begins one of the most complex pollination mechanisms in the floral kingdom. The fly, and its fly brethren, swarms over the blooms an

form of a foul smelling succulent called Hoodia gordonii, which grows in the Kalahari Desert. Although some people who love succulents find the plant attractive, even lovely, most of us would think of it as, well; ugly. The plant thrives in hot arid climates and takes about three to four years to mature. The Bushmen have used this plant for thousands of years; a fact noticed by a Dutch anthropologist in 1937. While traveling in the Kalahari, he noticed that Bushmen hunters would break off a cucumber sized piece of the succulent, prior to leaving on extended hunting trips. It seemed to quench hunger pains, and it gave them energy and a sense of well-being, which helped them endure the arduous conditions of tracking and hunting in the desert.

Hoodia gordonii was initially identified and named by Colonel Robert Jacob Gordon in 1779 when he found one flowering not far from the Augrabies Falls in the North Western Cape Province. The flowers vary in colour from a pinkish brown to purplish brown or mottled dark yellow, and together with their rotten smell, conjure up a very good likeness to rotting meat, completely fooling any fly into thinking that they are a source of a lovely stinky meal. As the fly alights on the flower, it begins one of the most complex pollination mechanisms in the floral kingdom. The fly, and its fly brethren, swarms over the blooms a

housands of years; a fact noticed by a Dutch anthropologist in 1937. While traveling in the Kalahari, he noticed that Bushmen hunters would break off a cucumber sized piece of the succulent, prior to leaving on extended hunting trips. It seemed to quench hunger pains, and it gave them energy and a sense of well-being, which helped them endure the arduous conditions of tracking and hunting in the desert.

Hoodia gordonii was initially identified and named by Colonel Robert Jacob Gordon in 1779 when he found one flowering not far from the Augrabies Falls in the North Western Cape Province. The flowers vary in colour from a pinkish brown to purplish brown or mottled dark yellow, and together with their rotten smell, conjure up a very good likeness to rotting meat, completely fooling any fly into thinking that they are a source of a lovely stinky meal. As the fly alights on the flower, it begins one of the most complex pollination mechanisms in the floral kingdom. The fly, and its fly brethren, swarms over the blooms a

the arduous conditions of tracking and hunting in the desert.

Hoodia gordonii was initially identified and named by Colonel Robert Jacob Gordon in 1779 when he found one flowering not far from the Augrabies Falls in the North Western Cape Province. The flowers vary in colour from a pinkish brown to purplish brown or mottled dark yellow, and together with their rotten smell, conjure up a very good likeness to rotting meat, completely fooling any fly into thinking that they are a source of a lovely stinky meal. As the fly alights on the flower, it begins one of the most complex pollination mechanisms in the floral kingdom. The fly, and its fly brethren, swarms over the blooms a

and together with their rotten smell, conjure up a very good likeness to rotting meat, completely fooling any fly into thinking that they are a source of a lovely stinky meal. As the fly alights on the flower, it begins one of the most complex pollination mechanisms in the floral kingdom. The fly, and its fly brethren, swarms over the blooms and in so doing pick up the pollen and transfer it to other flowers. Pollen is formed in two wax-like sacs, linked by an arm that hooks into a fly’s foot as it walks on the open flower. When the fly lands on another flower of the same species, it will slot perfectly into a groove. The ‘fit’ varies from species to species so that no cross-pollination is possible! Isn’t nature wonderful? Once pollination is complete, two V-shaped pods are formed that look just like goat’s horns, which is why the local people call it ‘bokhoringtjies’. Hoodia gordonii is also called by the Hottentot name, Wildeghaap or Ghaap. The Kung Bushmen call it Xhoba, and the rest of us call it Queen of the Namib or African Hats.

There are 20 different species of Hoodia, but the gordonii variation is thought to be the one that contains the natural appetite suppressant. It contains a previously unknown molecule that was isolated by South Africa’s CSIR (Council for Scientific and Industrial Research). This molecule is said to on a part of your brain called the hypothalamus which contains nerve cells that sense glucose sugar. Simply put, when you eat, the level of sugar in your blood goes up and the cells within the hypothalamus start firing and send the ‘I am full’ message to your mouth. In theory Hoodia works in a similar manner, tricking the brain into thinking that the body has eaten.<