Hoodia Gordonii is a leafless spiny succulent plant (not a cactus) with fleshly finger-like stems. Rows of thorns are present along the stems, bearing flesh coloured flowers. H. Gordonii grows naturally in the harsh desert conditions of the Kalahari Desert of Southern Africa. For many generations the nomadic SAN tribe's people of the region have used the Hoodia Gordonii plant to suppress appetite and thirst during long hunting trips of several days duration. Although there are over 20 species in the Hoodia family only the Hoodia Gordonii plant contains a natural appetite suppressant.

In 1937, a Dutch anthropologist visited the Kalahari and recorded the SAN tribe’s people using Hoodia Gordonii as an appetite suppressant. International pharmaceutical firms did not research the plant using modern techniques until just a few years ago when it was discovered that a new, previously unknown, naturally occurring, molecule was responsible for the appetite suppressing effects of the Hoodia Gordonii plant. It was not possible to patent a naturally growing plant, so the SAN tribes people sold the 'traditional knowledge' rights to develop a drug based on the new molecule contained within Hoodia Gordonii to a UK based firm called Phytopharm.