Can excess eating be dangerous for one’s health? There should be a proverb in every language meaning ‘More you consume, even the elixir becomes poison’. Yes, the eating habit becomes lethal when it turns to overeating. Overeating is listed as one of the major reasons for obesity and also considered as a disorder that affects both physical and mental health.
Appetite suppressants are prescribed in case of people suffering from food addiction/overeating. While many types of appetite suppressants are advised by dieticians and are available in the markets, one of its best kind is available in the wild in and around villages/habitations. Caralluma adcsendens var. fimbriata (Wall.) Gravely and Mayur is the natural appetite suppressant widely used against obesity in our traditional systems of medicine. It is known as Sanna mangate in Kannada; Kalli Mulaiyaan in Tamil, Manchi Karallum in Telugu and Yugmaphallatoma in Sanskrit. The fresh, tender, succulent stems are eaten raw to reduce appetite hence decreasing craving for food and helping weight loss. The pickled stems of this taxon is used as food, hence the name in Telugu where karallum means wild ginger, that is with reference to usage as Ginger pickle. This also forms the base for genus epithet Caralluma (derived from Telugu name Karallum).
Sanna mangate is a succulent, leaf-less Herb, 20 to 100 cm tall. Stems are 4-angled, tapering towards apex, angles towards the base of the stems acute or blunt. Flowers are subterminal, solitary or paired; stalks 0.3-2 cm long, straight or bent and 2 cm across, bell-shaped, purple with yellow striations; petals oblong-lanceolate, reflexed or not, hairy. Stamens 5. Pollinia 5. Gynostegium c 2 mm long. Fruits are Mericarps up to 8 x 0.5 cm, cylindrical, linear, beaked with curved tip, smooth. Seeds are numerous, c 8 x 4 mm, oblong, brown, tipped with 2 cm long white, silky hairs. It is endemic to southern India and Sri Lanka, grows in tropical thorn forests/dry regions especially among rocks and boulders.