Hoodia is often claimed as the new wonder herb for the overweight person. How does hoodia help?

Overweight and obesity is caused by the accumulation of body fat. This has adverse effect on health. Overweight and obesity is measured by Body mass index (BMI). It is the measure of a person’s weight in relation to the height. A BMI between 25 kg/m2 and 30 kg/m2 is considered the pre-obese stage overweight. Those with BMI over 30 kg/m2 is considered to be obese. Many health problems are associated with obesity such as certain types of cancer, heart disease, type 2 diabetes and osteoarthritis. There are a number if factors that lead to obesity. But the most common factors are absence of or very low physical activities, excessive intake of calories, psychiatric reasons, genetic susceptibility and medical reasons.

Despite overweight and obesity are preventable, yet it has spread across all sections within the development world and the affluent sections in the developing countries. This is very disturbing. It is now recognized that this problem is now a major public health issue of the 21st century. The problem can be addressed with a combination of things that can be done. These actionable things are dieting, medication, physical exercises, appetite suppressants, dietary supplements, surgery and anti-obesity drugs.

Hoodia originated from the Kalahari Desert of South Africa. It has been reported that the local San Bushmen consumed this when they travel for day’s together hunting in the desert and without food. This acts as a appetite suppressant. This was reported by media and soon enough hoodia found its way into the market in various forms as Hoodia powder, Hoodia capsules, liquid Hoodia, Hoodia extracts, and Hoodia shake.

The world of medicinal plants and its traditional knowledge is a world that is being opened up. This world is a part of the world of traditional communities, particularly indigenous people. The traditional knowledge of these peoples are also an ecological map. The modern world has been trying to pry open this world with all possible means, threats to enticement, and plain thievery to benefit sharing partnership. Africa, a vast continent with a vast eco-diversity has traditional people who have been using medicinal plants for centuries, often exclusively for all health needs. The nutraceutical, cosmeceutical and pharmaceutical industries have been systematically scanning the information that has come out of the continent for potential treatments and remedies of diseases. Hoodia is one such great discovery from this Dark Continent.

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Tags: Obesity

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