“Clean your kidneys now. Avoid dialysis,” reads a message posted on Facebook in Nigeria. “Buy garden egg leaves.”
The garden egg is a type of eggplant (also known as an aubergine or brinjal) used as a food crop in several African countries. Its botanical name is Solanum gilo.
The post says to boil up the leaves of the garden eggplant and drink the filtered tea.
“When you urinate check your urine,” it adds. “You will notice the salt in the body and some other diseases that can affect your KIDNEY will pass through your urine.”
The kidneys are a pair of organs just below the ribcage that filter waste materials and pass them out of the body as urine. The kidneys also regulate blood pressure and produce hormones. Dialysis is a treatment for kidney failure.
But will this tea really “clean” your kidneys and so help you “avoid” dialysis?
No scientific proof
“I have never come across any research into the leaves of garden eggs and the kidneys,” Agbaji Oche, a professor of nephrology and HIV medicine in the University of Jos faculty of medical sciences, told Africa Check.
“There is no scientific proof for this treatment. People should disregard it. Visit a kidney specialist if you have symptoms of kidney disease.”
Hakeem Fawehinmi, a professor of anatomy in the University of Port Harcourt, also dismissed the claim.
“It hasn’t been scientifically proven,” he said. “The kidneys even cleanse themselves, when the body takes in enough fluid. Water flushes toxins and waste from the body. People shouldn’t consume all kinds of remedies with the hope these will clean the kidneys. They would be doing more harm than good to their body.” – Motunrayo Joel
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