On Nov 21, 2004 CBS 60 Minutes aired a segment where cameras followed reporter Lesley Stahl as she traveled to the Kalahari Deserts of South Africa to investigate the wild stories circulating about a Succulent "Cactus" eaten by native Bushmen for hundreds of years. It had been reported that the eating of Hoodia Gordonii could stave off hunger and this discovery was attracting the interest and deep pockets of major pharmaceutical companies and being touted as a breakthrough discovery.

Hoodia Gordonii researcher Dr. Richard Dixey explains how he believes Hoodia Gordonii actually works:

"There is a part of your brain, the hypothalamus. Within that mid-brain there are nerve cells that sense glucose sugar. When you eat, blood sugar goes up because of the food, these cells start firing and now you are full."

"What the Hoodia seems to contain is a molecule that is about 10,000 times as active as glucose. It goes to the mid-brain and actually makes those nerve cells fire as if you were full. But you have not eaten. Nor do you want to." Source: BBC News Friday, 30 May 2003.