Searches for hoodia information are going through the roof as major media attention is being focussed on an ancient plant from the Kalahari Desert in South Africa called Hoodia Gordonii that promises to help millions of people looking to shed some pounds finally achieve their dreams.

To be sure, the weight loss market is littered with products high on hype but short on substance. That's why there are still so many overweight people in spite of all the new fangled diet supplements, weight loss programs, and exercise schemes promising to burn off the blubber.

What makes hoodia gordonii differnet than the rest?

We will present you with some broad scope hoodia information so you know what the fuss is all about.

First, there are over a dozen types of hoodia plant species. Only one of these, called hoodia gordonii, contains a molecule in it that can kill one's appetite, thereby helping people consume less calories than they normally would.

Hoodia gordonii has been used for literally thousands of years by a primitive tribe of nomadic hunter-gatherers called the Sans Bushmen.

How was hoodia gordonii's weight loss properties discovered?

Well, in 1996 a body called the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) in South Africa was conducting a study on indigenous foods that comprised the Bushmen's diet. One of the objectives was to test for toxic compounds in any of the plants that the Bushmen were eating.

What they discovered about hoodia gordonii was quite a revelation: not only did it not harbor any toxicity; studies showed it helped animals that ate it lose weight.

Now, this was news to the scientific community, but not to the Sans Bushmen. You see, the Sans Bushmen have been around for an estimated 100,000 years!

And for many of those thousands of years, they would consume hoodia gordonii plant before going on long hunting trips in the desert to help ward off hunger and thirst pangs when they had nothing to eat and little water to slake their thirst.

In any case, the active ingredient in hoodia gordonii was eventually isolated -- since called simply P57 -- and it was licensed to a British based pharmaceutical company called Phtyopharm, which now owns the patent rights jointly with Unilever (the company that owns the hugely popular SlimFast line of weight loss products).

Further hoodia information was revealed when Phytopharm conducted a double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical study. In this clinical study, they divided two groups of morbidly obese people in half, with one group getting placebo, and the other getting hoodia gordonii.

The results were astounding. The group who was using hoodia gordonii consumed on average a 1,000 less calories per day!

This news sent shockwaves through the weight loss industry and hoodia products began popping up all over the Internet and in health food stores.

As for Phytopharm and Unilever, they are still in the process of conducting more studies of efficacy and safety before releasing hoodia gordonii products using P57 in the future.

As for now, there are many good hoodia products on the market, but many outright scams too.

One thing to watch out for is any company advertising free hoodia. Sounds like a seemingly great thing, but the fact of the matter is that hoodia gordonii plant does not grow in many places, its extremely rare, and it has a long maturation time before it can be used (5 to 7 years!)

Because the demand is far outstripping the supply, with many companies trying to capitalize on the craze, some of the products have been tested to contain no actual hoodia (there's simply not enough to go around).

In short, a real hoodia gordonii product isn't going to be cheap, let alone being offered as free hoodia.

Also be aware of the rising amount of spam for hoodia products. No legitimate company is ever going to sell you real hoodia gordonii by illegally spamming people.

Get more facts, advice, opinions and hoodia information at http://www.hoodia-gordonii-central.com.