Africa: 'Deliberate Misinformation' - Watermelon and Cuttlebone Mixture Not a Remedy for High Blood Pressure

22 August 2024
Africa Check (Johannesburg)
By Semilore Adelola

'Deliberate misinformation' - watermelon and cuttlebone mixture not a remedy for high blood pressure

IN SHORT: A Facebook video claims that watermelon and cuttlebone can reduce high blood pressure. But a professor of haematology says there is no evidence for this.

A video posted on Facebook in Nigeria claims that a mixture of watermelon and cuttlebone is a remedy for high blood pressure.

The video shows a man holding half a watermelon and a piece of cuttlebone. He gives instructions and explains the benefits of the mixture in Yoruba, one of the languages spoken in Nigeria. He grinds the cuttlebone into a powder and slightly crushes the watermelon before mixing the two.

The video has been viewed over 248,000 times with 900 comments.

High blood pressure, or hypertension, occurs when the force of the blood against the artery walls is consistently too high, causing the heart to work harder. Lifestyle changes such as eating a low-salt diet, losing weight and being physically active can help lower high blood pressure.

Watermelon is a juicy fruit from a plant in the gourd family, originally from tropical Africa and now grown all over the world. It contains vitamins A and C and is usually eaten raw.

The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines cuttlebone as "the shell of a cuttlefish that is sometimes used for polishing powder or for supplying cage birds with lime and salts". Cuttlefish live in shallow tropical or temperate coastal waters.

The video claiming this watermelon-cuttlebone mixture can cure high blood pressure has been posted here, here and here. (Note: See more instances listed at the end of this report.)

'No scientific evidence to back it up'

"Watermelon is rich in vitamin C which helps to improve the skin but it has not been proven to treat high blood pressure," Dr Akinsegun Akinbami told Africa Check.

He is a professor of haematology in the faculty of basic clinical sciences at Lagos State University, Nigeria.

"For many years, there has been no specific treatment for high blood pressure. People are only advised to take safe precautions like using a sphygmomanometer, an electric blood pressure monitor, to regularly check their blood pressure before it gets problematic," Akinbami said.

"So, combining watermelon and cuttlebone for high blood pressure is 'deliberate misinformation' to mislead people as there has been no scientific evidence to back it up."

We also found no credible scientific evidence to support this claim.

The claim that watermelon and cuttlebone treat high blood pressure is false and has not been scientifically proven. Seek medical advice instead.

The same video has been republished here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here and here.

Read the original story, with links and other resources.
Africa Check is a non-partisan organisation which promotes accuracy in public debate and in the media. Twitter @AfricaCheck and www.africacheck.org

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