What is Hoodia? Deep inside the African Kalahari desert, grows a cactus-like plant called the Hoodia. It thrives in extremely high temperatures, & takes years to mature. The San Bushmen of the Kalahari, one of the worlds oldest & most primitive tribes, had been eating the Hoodia for thousands of years, to stave off hunger during long hunting trips. When South African scientists were routinely testing it, they discovered the plant contained a previously unknown molecule, which has since been christened P57. Hoodia is an abundant source of P57.