Actress Nayanthara arrives to attend Anant Ambani and Radhika Merchant’s wedding at Jio World Convention Centre in Mumbai; Actress shares photo of hibiscus tea | Photo Credit: PTI and @nayanthara/Instagram
Dr Cyriac AB Phillips, popularly known as ‘The Liver Doctor’, who criticised actress Samantha over her post on the use of hydrogen peroxide nebulisation, has now criticised actress Nayanthara for sharing a post on the health benefits of consuming hibiscus tea.
In a post, which the actor has now deleted from her Instagram handle, she credited nutritionist Munmun Ganeriwal and wrote, “Hibiscus flower tea. This is my absolute favourite tea and the most exciting addition to the meal plan prepared by the genius @munmun.ganeriwal
“It has been used in Ayurveda for a long time. It is high in antioxidants and is helpful in diabetes, high cholesterol, high blood pressure and heart diseases. It is very cooling for the body, so it is great for people who have acne, boils on the skin due to heat, etc. Hibiscus tea is great for the monsoon season as it is rich in vitamins and keeps our immune system balanced. It has antibacterial effects that prevent seasonal infections/illnesses.”
Dr Cyriac AB Phillips on her X handle described the post as an advertisement for her “celebrity nutritionist” account, writing, “It would have been fine if she had just stopped at how delicious hibiscus tea is. But no, she has to go ahead and beat the drum of her health-illiteracy and also claim that hibiscus tea helps prevent diabetes, high blood pressure, acne, antibacterial and flu…”
The doctor pointed out that the post did not clarify whether the tea was made from “Hibiscus sabdariffa (or roselle) or Hibiscus macranthus.” Furthermore, he pointed out that there is not enough evidence that the tea has blood pressure-lowering effects; and that it has no blood sugar-lowering effects, and therefore cannot help with diabetes. He added, “There are no studies to prove that hibiscus tea prevents acne or is antibacterial or prevents seasonal infections in humans.”
“One concern that exists is damage to the testes in males, which occurs fairly reliably in animals at 200 mg/kg or more (= 2.2 g dried flower in a 68 kg human) but has not been investigated in humans. Roselle inhibits fertility in males, inducing abnormal sperm morphology. In females, several studies have shown that Roselle can cause abnormal (high) birth weight in offspring with a delay in the onset of puberty; for the most part these are thought to be caused by maternal malnutrition due to the appetite suppressant effect,” the doctor said, citing links to sources and research mentioned in the post.
Following the doctor’s post, Nayanthara posted a cryptic message on her Instagram Stories, which many took as her response to the doctor. The post read, “Never argue with stupid people. They will drag you down to their level and beat you with experience.”
Earlier, Dr Cyriac had criticised actress Samantha after she used hydrogen peroxide nebulisation to treat a viral infection. In response to his suggestion, he called her “illiterate about health and science” and said that this treatment could have adverse health effects.
