Hoodia Gordonii diet pills were broadly available and much written about in the late 1990s. However, the popularly of this diet aid abruptly stopped after the FDA in the United States issued a warning that many forms of Hoodia pills currently available in were actually made of fake Hoodia Gordonii. Word spread fast and Hoodia immediately lost it’s credibility as a diet pill.

Hoodia Gordonii is a succulent plant and is a member of the cactus family. This plant is native to the huge plains of the Kalahari Desert in the southernmost aspect of Africa. Over time, people began to take notice that the nomadic peoples in this area ate the stem of the Hoodia plant to limit their hunger during long hunting and gathering trips from home. The people of the Kalahari call Hoodia by the African name ‘Xhoba’.