Ask The Herbalist

I heard about Hoodia on the TODAY show on NBC. It's supposed to suppress your appetite for weight loss. I have printed Wikipedia for a more formal definition. It's supposed to be natural. Hoodia is a genus of 13 species in the flowering plant family Apocynaceae, under the subfamily Asclepiadoideae. [1] They are stem succulents, described as "cactiform" because of their remarkable similarity to the unrelated cactus family. They can reach up to 1mhigh and have large flowers, often with flesh colour and strong smell. Many Hoodia species are protected plants, typical of the Namib Desert, ranging from Central Namibia to southern Angola, especially in plains and rocky areas. Common names include "Bushman's Hat" and "Queen of the Namib". Several species are grown as garden plants, and one species, Hoodia gordonii, is being investigated for use as an appetite suppressant.

Suppression is not cure or healing! You can't solve a problem by suppressing it! A suppressed appetite will manifest in some other area, i.e., an enormous appetite for sex, shopping, drugs, etc. Just because a thing is natural doesn't mean you are addressing the root of the problem, Beloved! It's much deeper than suppressing!