
CBS 60 minutes
Play the Video Clip (courtesy of CBS
60 Minutes)
"When we located the plant, Kruiper
cut off a stalk that looked like a small spiky pickle, and removed
the sharp spines. In the interest of science, Stahl ate it.
She described the taste as "a little cucumbery in texture, but
not bad."
"So how did it work? Stahl says she had no after effects
– no funny taste in her mouth, no queasy stomach, and no racing
heart. She also wasn't hungry all day, even when she would normally
have a pang around mealtime. And, she also had no desire to
eat or drink the entire day. "I'd have to say it did work,"
says Stahl."
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NBC Today Show
It's the look everyone wants — a body to diet for. They're
on the beaches, in magazines and all over Hollywood. How far
will we go to get one? How about thousands of miles and deep
into a distant culture? South Africa’s Kalahari Desert is home
to what could be the answer to an appetite.
It's a cactus called hoodia. “You strip
off the skin, you strip off the spines, and then you consume
it,” says weight loss expert Madelyn Fernstrom.
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Oprah Winfrey’s O Magazine
(Talking about hoodia) “Deep in the heart of Southern Africa’s
Kalahari Desert may lie the secret to weight loss.”

ABC-7 Los Angeles
"South
African San Bushmen who live in the Kalahari dessert drink
hoodia cactus juice to survive when food is
not available. Now manufacturers are harvesting the cactus'
appetite-suppressing properties.
Studies done by the manufacturer show hoodia pills don't
cause the typical side effects of other diet drugs such as jitteriness."

BBC NEWS
Correspondent's Tom Mangold
travelled to Africa and sampled the appetite suppressing Hoodia,
a plant which may make Kalahari bushmen millionaires.
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About.com (by Mary Shomon)
"Desert Plant is Promising Appetite Suppressant
and Weight Loss Supplement. If you haven't heard about the supplement
Hoodia gordonii,
there's no doubt you will very soon. Hoodia,
a natural appetite suppressant, is earning attention as a potentially
powerful weapon in the war against obesity and the American
focus on losing weight. Hoodia supplements
were just introduced to the U.S. market in early 2004. "
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WBAL TV
"Dr. Richard Goldfarb thinks
it works. He is the medical director of research and development
at Bucks County Clinical Research. He says hoodia
isn't a stimulant but it works on the brain.
Goldfarb: "The appetite suppressant effect -- after it accumulates
in your system, after only a few days that we saw in our study
has shown that people will cut their calories probably in less
than half and their not desiring any additional food."
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Hoodia National Geographic Investigative Report
(by Leon Marshall)
"Africa's Bushmen May Get Rich From Diet-Drug Secret... The
drug named P57 is based on a substance scientists found in the
desert plant Hoodia gordinii. The
San call the cactus !khoba and have been chewing on it for thousands
of years to stave off hunger and thirst during long hunting
trips in their parched Kalahari desert home.. A deal has been
signed between the South African San Council and the country's
Scientific and Industrial Research Council (CSIR), which identified
the appetite-suppressing ingredient in Hoodia during research
into indigenous plants in 1996..."
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