Bitter kola, lime and honey mixture won’t cure hepatitis B

A mixture of bitter kola, lime juice and honey is a “powerful treatment for hepatitis B”, claims a Facebook post shared in Nigeria in November 2020.

It reads: “Grind the bitter kolas into fine powder, then mix with the lime juice and honey. Keep for four days. Take 4 spoons 4 times daily for two months.”

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Hepatitis B, a liver infection that affects people of all ages, is caused by the hepatitis B virus, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

People can be infected through contact with the blood, semen or other body fluids of an infected person. The disease is preventable, with effective and safe vaccines available. Hepatitis B infection can be either acute or chronic, and each requires a different kind of treatment.

The World Health Organisation recommends that all infants should be given their first dose of the hepatitis B vaccine within the first 24 hours of birth. To complete the primary vaccination series, they should receive another two to three doses after that.

But will a bitter kola, lime juice and honey cure hepatitis B? We checked.