Hoodia Gordonii is actually not a cactus at all, it is a plant. Hoodia Gordonii plants lack a few of the characteristics that would be necessary to be a cactus, Most people still call it a cactus though. It does look much like a cactus.

Hoodia Gordonia grows in the Kalahari desert in South Africa. There are a couple dozen plants that belong to the Hoodia family. The Gordonii variety of plant grows in the Kalahari.

Recently, the Hoodia Gordonii "cactus" has gained a lot of publicity for being a wonder diet supplement. With all the news about it lately, one would think that it was a newly discovered plant, but actually the Hoodia Gordonii plant of South Africa was first studied in the 1930's. It was documented then that Hoodia Gordonii possessed a strong ability to suppress the appetite. A general feeling of well being is the second most noted effect of Hoodia Gordonii.

African Bushmen in South Africa have reportedly used the Hoodia Gordonii for over 1,000 years as an appetite suppressant. They used it to stop hunger at times when other food sources were scarce.

In the 1990's a British Company PhytoPharm discovered the active ingredient in Hoodia Gordonii and named it molecule P57. The studies behind this molecule are closely guarded, but there most be a lot of potential for it, as millions of dollars in development money has been spent. Some drug companies are also trying to create a synthetic form of the molecule.