You have seen the ETHNOAFRICA Hoodia infomercial on the tv, you have seen the ad's in your local magazines, you have seen it on the news; so what is all the hype about? Just take a look at some of the news articles on the right.

Hoodia now being called the miracle plant and is hailed by the Western world as the new wonder of the weightloss industry. The plant has been used by the San Bushman for hundreds of years with no side effects. Hoodia has received such widespread attention that all kinds of unscrupulous dealers are marketing a fake product because REAL Hoodia is scarce. The Hoodia product has become so popular that both the FTC and the FDA are investigating the purity of many sources out there. Ethno Africa has never and will never fail any purity tests. Since the beginning we have stayed true to our motto: 100% Authentic or triple your money back!

Common names: Ghaap, bitterghaap, wildeghaap, Bobbejaanghaap, Ghobba, Hoodia Cactus. Hoodia gordonii is a conspicuous spiny cactus-like succulent with angular stems widespread from the Great Karoo (Parts of W. Cape) Tanqua Karoo and further north to Bushmanland (Mainly the N. Cape) and dry southern and central parts of Namibia. The genus Hoodia consist of 14 species mainly confined to South African and Namibia and with the exception of H. parviflora all are edible. The small flowered species were previously accommodated in the genus Trichocaulon. Most are refer to as Ghaap and were used as by the indigenous peoples as food or medicine. According to Smith (1966) in Common Names of South African Plants this species as a food and medicine was regarded as inferior to the true Trichocaulon (the small flowered Hoodia species). Nevertheless, Ghaap prior have been utilized by the indigenous Khoi and San people for food and medicine and later by the local white farmers. The largest of the species are Hoodia parviflora (leeughaap) an inedible species from northern Kaokoveld (N. Namibia).