Tag: San people

For the San people of the Kalahari, who have one of the oldest cultures on Earth, plant foods gathered by women often make up around 75% of their total dietary intake, a surprising fact for a traditionally "hunter-gatherer" society.

The San people, Southern Africa's oldest human inhabitants, developed an intricate knowledge of desert plants to ensure their survival in harsh environments. This traditional knowledge included chewing the succulent Hoodia during extended hunts to effectively suppress feelings of hunger and thirst.

For hundreds of years, the Khoi and San indigenous peoples of South Africa used the buchu plant, which they considered sacred, for a wide range of practical applications, from treating internal ailments to cosmetic use. The plant is part of the Cape Floral Kingdom and was an essential component of their traditional knowledge.

For over 20,000 years, the San people have inhabited the challenging environments of Southern Africa, relying on extensive plant knowledge for survival. A key part of this knowledge answers the question: **What did the San people use hoodia for?** They used it to suppress hunger and thirst during strenuous hunting expeditions across the harsh Kalahari Desert.